How do school leaders navigate ICT educational reform? Policy learning narratives from a Singapore context

Abstract

The purpose of this research inquiry focuses on how school leaders ‘make sense’ of educational reform in their local contexts. In order to do this, an exploratory qualitative case study of two schools that took part in policy reform initiatives directed at ubiquitous use of information communication and technology (ICT) in the Singapore city–state context is undertaken. Using focus group discussions (FGDs), interviews and observations this inquiry investigates and builds emerging explanations to sense-making experiences of actors in the midst of reforms. Using Bruner’s narrative analysis, findings from this inquiry provide a picture of how school leaders cope in periods of uncertainty. School leaders in the midst of leading-edge reforms in ICT experience shifting identities, emerging roles and ambivalent capacities. This inquiry proposes a policy learning approach for educational leaders facing uncertain futures.

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by a grant from the Office of Education Research (OER), National Institute of Education (NIE). The principal investigator of this research project is the author. The author acknowledges Dr Catherine Chua as co-investigator for this project. The contents of this article are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of OER-NIE. The author would like to thank the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.

Notes

1. The main ethnic groups for the Singapore resident population (this includes Singaporean citizens and Permanent Residents) are Chinese (74.1%), Malays (13.4%), Indians (9.2%) and Others (3.3%). More information can be obtained from the Singapore Department of Statistics 2013.

2. The 2009 instrumentation and baseline study was designed to evaluate the implementation of IT Master Plan 3 and its impact on Singapore schools. The study was undertaken by a team from the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

3. In order to honour the confidence of those persons who were interviewed in the course of this research, their names and complete job designations are omitted here. Nonetheless, where data source is reported from an interview, the interviewee is identified by their position.

4. In order to preserve the anonymity of the schools, their actual names are not provided.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vicente Chua Reyes

Vicente Chua Reyes is a lecturer (Social Sciences) at the School of Education, University of New England, 8 Milton Building, Armidale 2351, Australia. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Educational Research Association of Singapore (ERAS), a fellow of the Centre for Chinese Studies of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and also a visiting academic at the Institute of Education, University of London. Trained as a political scientist, his current research interests are in young people’s conceptions of economics, business, legal studies and civic participation. He also pursues research inquiries into educational leadership, issues of corruption and governance and educational reform. Email: [email protected]