School Leadership & Management

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Learning from Singapore: the power of paradoxes

Clive Beck

To cite this article: Clive Beck (2018) Learning from Singapore: the power of paradoxes, School
Leadership & Management, 38:3, 345-349, DOI: 10.1080/13632434.2017.1397081

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2017.1397081

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SCHOOL LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT, 2018
VOL. 38, NO. 3, 345–349

BOOK REVIEW

Learning from Singapore: the power of paradoxes, by Pak Tee Ng, New York
and Abingdon, Routledge, 2017, 201 pp., US$34.95 (PBK), ISBN:978-1-138-92691-2

This deeply insightful and innovative book looks at school improvement through the lens
of Singapore’s past educational achievements and current emerging directions. Pak Tee
Ng, a former teacher and now a professor of educational policy and leadership and
Associate Dean of Leadership Learning at Singapore’s National Institute of Education,
brings a sympathetic yet critical eye to his topic. The book is accessible, enjoyable to
read, scholarly but without undue academic jargon. Many anecdotes, examples, and
interesting facts are included. It does not of course provide detailed solutions to all
the problems of modern schooling, but it takes us a long way along several key
dimensions.
The backdrop to the discussion is Singapore’s rapid rise, in just 52 years since inde-
pendence, from widespread social tensions, poverty, and educational deficiencies to
being ‘one of the top countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita’ (23) and
the leader in math and science teaching, according to the 2015 OECD PISA results.
In literacy too it scores very highly: ‘In PISA 2012, Singaporean students demonstrated
better English reading skills and comprehension compared with English speaking
countries such as Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the United States and the UK’ (3–
4). The educational and economic advances are seen as connected, the high education
level helping Singapore perform strongly in local and international economic
enterprises.

A balanced approach to schooling and school reform

The central theme of the book is the need to steer a middle course between various sets
of extremes, hence the book’s sub-title: The Power of Paradoxes. For example, while Ng
begins by detailing Singapore’s stellar educational achievements on international assess-
ments (not only PISA but other competitions as well), he moves quickly to arguing that
additional types of educational development and achievement are also needed. ‘As a life-
long citizen and resident of Singapore, I am proud of my country and its education
system … . [But this] does not mean that we have arrived at where we would like to
be’ (5). There is a parallel here with Sahlberg’s (2015) downplaying of the importance
of Finland’s high PISA test scores, despite the accolades they have brought his
country. The other goals Ng emphasises, apart from academic achievement, are: the hol-
istic growth of the child; inclusion and support of students from less privileged back-
grounds; and greater engagement of students so they enjoy their studies more,
understand more deeply, and become life-long learners.

Balancing top-down and bottom-up change processes

In order to attain the range of educational goals envisaged, Ng stresses the need for a
reform approach that is both top-down and bottom-up. He describes how Singapore
has already gone down this path to a considerable extent, and is committed to going
further. The strong government leadership in education for which Singapore is
346 BOOK REVIEW

renowned (and sometimes criticised) is matched by bottom-up input from education

professionals and the public. He argues that, provided this kind of balance is in place,
concerted state leadership can be a powerful force for good – as Singapore’s dramatic
educational growth over the years has demonstrated.
Everything depends on how the leadership is exercised. Singapore has adopted what
Ng calls Centralised Decentralisation, and Chapter 5 is devoted to this topic. Unlike
countries in which the educational agenda keeps changing, depending on which party
or minister/secretary of education is in control, Singapore has been able to keep to a
fairly steady course. But this has required the government to work hard at keeping every-
one informed, providing explanations for policies, and responding to bottom-up con-
cerns and suggestions. Educational policies in Singapore are in fact often modified or
even changed entirely. However, this is done not for political reasons but because an
initiative is ‘not working,’ and whether or not something is working is decided as far
as possible by consensus. Going forward, he stresses the need for even more respect
for teachers’ autonomy and judgment and more interaction with the public.

Balancing a subject emphasis and a ‘holistic’ approach

As noted, Ng discusses at length (especially in Chapter 3) the need for Singapore to
pursue a wider range of educational goals, and he says it is already moving in this
direction. ‘Singapore is reforming its education system. Values, innovation, student-
centredness, holistic education – these are the new catchphrases’ (40). However, as
his use of the word ‘catchphrase’ suggests, more needs to be done to get everyone
on board with the new goals. He reports that teachers’ practices have not yet
changed a great deal and many parents are still strongly committed to a cover-and
test approach to schooling. But he is confident that, as in the past, the government,
educators, and public will gradually come together in embracing a more holistic edu-
cation. ‘[T]he change process in Singapore involves debates, persuasion and nudges.
The system evolves surely but sometimes messily. It does not transform clinically or
by magic’ (42).
Although the subject-oriented approach paid off handsomely in the past, a more hol-
istic type of education is necessary to ensure continued economic growth.

The global economy that Singapore now participates in is driven by new technologies,
business concepts and value propositions … . Singapore can only continue to generate
wealth if it can create and exploit knowledge, pursue new technologies and offer high
level services. (40)

Much of the discussion in Chapter 3 is focused on career preparation and in particular the
SkillsFuture initiative, which has school and work interspersed rather than sequential.
However, there is also considerable stress on designing education to promote personal
development and well-being. In 2014 the Ministry of Education launched a framework for
education in twenty-first century competencies, which included ‘self-awareness, self-
management, social awareness, relationship management, and responsible decision-
making’ (44).

Maintaining continuity between the past and the future

Ng believes that movement in a more holistic direction need not be at the expense of
subject learning: Singapore can ‘kick away the ladder that got it to where it is now,
while still standing on that ladder’ (41). Apart from continuing to teach subjects
 SCHOOL LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT 347

effectively, Ng sees other important continuities in education in Singapore. The title of

Chapter 3 is Timely Change, Timeless Constants, and the three constants highlighted
are: education as an investment not an expenditure; good teachers as the key to good
education; and character and citizenship education as crucial. Regarding the first two
constants, these point to the high level of funding of education in Singapore and the pro-
vision of extensive training and support for teachers. These elements have been a big
part of the reason for Singapore’s educational success and will continue to be so. The
third constant – an emphasis on character and citizenship education – shows that the
country has always had a degree of breadth in its goals, although the main focus in
the past was on the academic.
The emphasis on continuity here is in line with the gradualist approach to educational
reform advocated throughout the book. For example, in talking about the need for greater
student engagement in schools, Ng says frankly that the challenge of achieving this goal
‘will continue for many years to come’ (109). This gradualist approach ties in with Kenne-
dy’s (2010) opposition to ‘sudden’ reform initiatives that are ‘unrealistic, out of range, over
the top [and] fail because they don’t take real circumstances into account’ (17). Elsewhere,
Sykes, Bird, and Kennedy (2010) observe that we need a combination of ‘(a) more realistic
aspirations, (b) a process of continuous improvement, and (c) a generous regard for
[current] practice’ (473). Ng says that a key lesson for the rest of the world lies in the con-
certed and steady change process Singapore has followed. ‘The way that Singapore has
approached these changes matters even more than the changes themselves’ (179).

Combining inclusion and meritocracy in education

Ng offers a perceptive and measured discussion of meritocracy in a society and how it
may or may not conflict with inclusion. Chapter 4 is titled Compassionate Meritocracy
and Chapter 7 Every School, a Good School. He states that ‘Singapore is unarguably
and unapologetically a meritocratic society’ (61) but is also strongly committed to
inclusion. This latter claim would have had clear plausibility in earlier years when Singa-
pore worked hard to build its multiracial, largely immigrant society into a cohesive, well-
educated, and prosperous whole. During that time, many people made the transition
from poor backgrounds to upper middle-class careers. ‘The hawker’s son might
become a lawyer. The cleaner’s daughter might become a doctor’ (61).
More recently, as Ng readily admits, social mobility in Singapore has become increas-
ingly difficult. The children of those who succeeded in earlier times are now in a better
position than other children to do well in entrance exams and be admitted to elite
schools, colleges, and universities. As in most of the rest of the world, the rich are becom-
ing richer and the poor are advancing slowly if at all. Moreover, under an ideology of mer-
itocracy it is easy for people to think they are rich because of their innate abilities, rather
than because their parents introduced them to test-friendly vocabulary in the home or
could afford special tutoring (he cites the case of a child who was receiving 30 h a
week of after-school test preparation.)
Nevertheless, Ng affirms the necessity of meritocracy in some form, arguing that
without it the nation’s prosperity would be in jeopardy and, actually, many opportunities
for social mobility would be lost. However, he believes meritocracy must be combined
with an equal concern for inclusion. Achieving such a combination involves (a) providing
‘a clear definition of “merit”’ (60) that broadens it beyond narrow subject knowledge and
test-taking skills; (b) putting ‘huge efforts … into levelling up students who are strug-
gling’ (59) (unlike in many countries where schools in poorer neighbourhoods have con-
siderably fewer resources to help struggling learners); and (c) ensuring that all young
348 BOOK REVIEW

people ‘have access to an education that will provide a good foundation for a meaningful
adult life’ (64), rather than one where the main outcome for many students is being
declared (and seeing themselves as) academically weak.

A constructivist, dialogical, engaging approach to teaching

Chapter 6 of the book is called Teach Less, Learn More (TLLM) and Chapter 8 Every
Student, an Engaged Learner. The basic idea of these chapters is that instead of ‘covering’
vast amounts of subject content so (some) students will do well on tests, schools should
as far as possible focus on topics that have the relevance and intrinsic interest to engage
all students deeply.

[T]he education paradigm is shifting from a focus on quantity to a focus on quality.

Simply acing examinations does not equip one for life! Curriculum and pedagogy
must be changed so that students are truly engaged in the learning process. (43–44)

The move to more focussed learning should in part be brought about by teachers, as
they ‘select relevant, authentic and meaningful learning content for students’ (95). But
students should also have a say in the topics and sub-topics they study and how they
study them. When the Teach Less, Learn More policy was introduced in 2005, the then
Education Minister explained that one of its goals was ‘to give students themselves
the room to exercise initiative and to shape their own learning’ (93).
Key elements of the TLLM approach are ‘Construction of knowledge, not just trans-
mission of knowledge’ and ‘Self-directed learning, not just teacher-directed tasks’ (95).
While teacher input is still crucial, knowledge should be ‘constructed’ jointly by
teacher and students, with teaching taking the form of a dialogue rather than top-
down transmission. A constructivist, inquiry-based pedagogy is proposed in many
countries today, with a focus on ‘students as active participants in the process of acquir-
ing knowledge’ (OECD 2012, 39), but actual implementation of the approach has often
been limited. Even in Singapore, there is a long way to go:

Has Singapore reached its TLLM destination? Hardly! A journey from quantity to quality
is a long, continuous one. Personal habits in teaching and learning die hard! … Student
engagement and teacher professionalism have improved, but the pressure cooker
environment due to high stakes examinations and parents’ expectations remains. (97)

However, Ng is confident that the approach will steadily become a reality in Singapore
because the system is genuinely committed to it, academics and teachers are working
hard (and together) at figuring out the theory and practice of the approach, and intensive
pre-service and in-service teacher education along these lines is being implemented.
‘The officials from MOE, teachers from schools, and teacher educators from NIE are con-
stantly interacting through official and invisible networks about educational policies,
school practices and teacher development’ (180).

Involving the community in the change

While Ng notes the challenges of gaining community support for the proposed new
directions, he says there is no alternative if Singapore is to have the type of education
it needs in today’s world. Chapter 10 is titled Every Parent, a Supportive Partner. After
discussing at length how a large number of parents continue to emphasise standardised
tests and put enormous pressure on their children to prepare for them, he says:
 SCHOOL LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT 349

As part of the strategy in reforming education in Singapore, the MOE actively tries to
engage parents to influence their mindsets and get them to embrace holistic education.
The MOE has implemented various strategies for parental involvement to achieve this
goal – for example, the Parents in Education (PiE) website, Parent Support Group (PSG),
and COMmunity and PAarents in Support of Schools (COMPASS). (168)

In Chapter 11, the Conclusion, Ng reiterates the need to get everyone on board, even
though this will require great effort and extensive resources. ‘Instead of taking simplistic
steps, [Singapore] faces the tensions in the system … . Instead of following the path of
least resistance, it engages with its own culture to challenge entrenched mindsets’ (179).

Conclusion
This is an extremely valuable book. The direction for education it advocates is sound, as is
the approach it proposes for getting there. While over time more detail will need to be
added, the proposals are already comprehensive and well argued, and illustrated at
length in an actual national context. It might be thought that Ng is being overly optimistic
about implementing such an engaging, holistic type of schooling in a world seemingly
bent on going in the opposite direction. However, he is in fact very realistic about how dif-
ficult the implementation will be and how long it will take. Moreover, he repeatedly states
– rightly, I think – that it is possible to combine the proposed new elements with a contin-
ued high level of subject learning: this will help gain the acceptance of many traditionalists.
Apart from the soundness of the type of schooling advocated, the book’s approach to
the process of school improvement has three key features that so many reform initiatives
lack: (a) it envisages going steadily in the same direction (rather than continually changing
direction, depending on who is in charge or what is the latest fad); (b) it stresses working to
get everyone on board throughout the society (thus practicing the kind of collaborative,
dialogical approach it advocates for the classroom); and (c) it accepts the need to move
gradually, building on the past (rather than adopting sudden, over the top reforms that
in fact result in slower progress or no progress at all). I strongly recommend this book to
all those involved in educational policy development, school improvement research, in-
service and pre-service teacher education, and teaching and administration in schools.

References
Kennedy, M. 2010. “Against Boldness.” Journal of Teacher Education 61 (1–2): 16–20.
OECD. 2012. Preparing Teachers and Developing School Leaders for the 21st Century: Lessons From Around
the World. Paris: OECD.
Sahlberg, P. 2015. Finnish Lessons 2.0: What Can the World Learn From Educational Change in Finland? 2nd
ed. New York: Teachers College Press.
Sykes, G., T. Bird, and M. Kennedy. 2010. “Teacher Education: Its Problems and Some Prospects.” Journal of
Teacher Education 61 (5): 464–476.

Clive Beck
OISE/University of Toronto
clive.beck@utoronto.ca
© 2017 Clive Beck
https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2017.1397081