Navigating diversities: experiences of youths in one Singapore school

ABSTRACT

Singapore has established a reputation as a country with social harmony. But in recent times, increasing reports on issues of social cohesion have begun to emerge in the media about tensions among its citizenry and between foreigners and migrants. Yet, little is known about youths’ lived experiences of everyday multiculturalism amidst this changing demographic landscape. The discourses on diversities in Singapore classrooms have remained largely within the State’s narrative of race-based harmonious multiculturalism based on inherited colonial racialised categories. This paper investigates the understanding and lived experiences of multiculturalism of students in one secondary school, situating the analysis of everyday multiculturalism within the complexities of local diversities and the structure of schooling in a postcolonial multilingual society.

KEYWORDS:

• Diversities
• everyday multiculturalism
• everyday racism
• conviviality
• Singapore schools

Acknowledgements

This paper makes use of data collected for the ‘Navigating Diversities and Differences in Singapore Schools: an exploratory study of students’ intercultural mindedness’ research project funded by Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE) under the Education Research Funding Programme (OER 34/17 TSS) and administered by National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Singapore MOE and NIE.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 The term, ‘race’ refers to the racial categories used pervasively in various aspects of administration in Singapore, through which the society’s multiculturalism is mediated. While we prefer to use the concept of ‘ethnicity’ to avoid connotations of biological determinism, we do have to sometimes use the term ‘race’ when they are used by our respondents or the school.

2 The other three days are International Friendship Day, Total Defence Day and National Day.

3 Under Singapore's bilingual policy, students undertake a mother tongue which is mostly determined by their father's ethnicity for citizens. Foreign students are given a choice of the mother tongue.

4 Streaming has been an integral part of the Singapore education system since 1979. Students are streamed based on their performance in the Primary School Leaving Examination. Subject-based banding was instituted in 2009 in primary schools to replace streaming and Full Subject-Based Banding (FSBB) will be implemented in secondary schools in 2024. FSBB is currently being piloted at 25 schools.

5 We have chosen to do our study in a neighbourhood school as they constitute the bulk of schools in Singapore. Besides neighbourhood schools, Singapore has its fair share of elite schools which draw students from all over the country.

6 The CMIO categories are used pervasively in Singapore society and schools. The study uses them in an attempt to understand the engagement with and impact of racialised categories among youths.

7 Student codes assigned to participants to maintain anonymity.

8 Markers of identity for each FGD participant are provided in parentheses throughout this article to underline their positionalities in the everyday intercultural encounters we are analysing. These markers include ethnicity, gender and the stream the student is studying in.

9 There is a noticeable presence of Filipino migrants in Singapore.

10 Racial Harmony Day is commemorated once a year on 21st July to mark the tumultuous 1964 communal racial riots which began on 21st July and ended only on 3rd September. It is a school-wide occasion and is marked by a school holiday.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mardiana Abu Bakar

Mardiana Abu Bakar is a lecturer in the Policy, Curriculum and Leadership Academic Group at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She is also programme leader of the Master of Education, Curriculum, Teaching and Learning (MEd C&T). In these roles, she teaches and partly administers the core programmes on curriculum policy and theory; and an elective on curriculum implementation. She is currently co-Principal Investigator in three research projects: 1. Diversity and intercultural mindedness amongst secondary school students; 2. The role of a child support model for low-income families; and 3. The pathways and life trajectories narratives of vocational students in Singapore. She will be embarking on a fourth funded research as Principal Investigator on a qualitative study of lower-tracked learners’ literacy practices in – and out-of-school in 2021.

Siao See Teng

Siao See Teng is a Research Scientist at the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Trained as a sociologist, she has taught and researched at various institutions in both academic and think-tank settings in and beyond Singapore. Her research spans the diversity and equity in education, cultural identities and intercultural education, comparative education and interethnic relations. The topics of funded research she has led and worked on include educational issues relating to children with migrant mothers, youths navigating diversities, and school to work transitional pathways in Singapore.

Heidi Layne

Heidi Layne is a University Lecturer in Sustainable and Global Education at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. She gained her PhD in the Philosophy of Education from the University of Helsinki and worked as a Research Scientist at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her background is in social context of education, teacher education and qualitative research methods. Currently, she is engaged in a research project on the role of a child support model for low-income families and in research projects on understanding everyday multiculturalism, racism and transitions in education in Singapore and Finland.

Sanam Naraindas Kaurani

Sanam Naraindas Kaurani is a Research Assistant at the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice (CRPP) at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Prior to joining CRPP, she was with the Mathematics and Mathematics Education Academic Group at NIE for two years, where she worked on a research project exploring students’ mathematical reasoning and justifications. Sanam graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor in Social Sciences with Honours (Distinction) in Sociology. Her research interests include multicultural education, social inequalities and qualitative research. She has just completed her involvement on a research project on students’ navigation of diversities in Singapore schools.