Abstract
This article argues that the social practice of learning (SPL), involving life-long learning, meta-learning, deep reflection, and dialogue in a community, should be the distinguishing knowledge base of schools in the twenty-first century. This article also analyses the strategies and challenges of the recent education reforms in Singapore through the lens of an SPL education paradigm. Although the Singapore government has done much to train teachers, trim syllabi and introduce new ways of teaching and learning, such as project work, the real challenge is to go beyond the provision of structural changes to the substance of the epistemological reform.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ashton, P. T., & Webb, R. B. (1986). Making a difference: Teachers’ sense of efficacy and student achievement. New York: Longman.
Barab, S., & Duffy, T. (2000). From practice fields to communities of practice. In D. Jonassen & S. Land (Eds.), Theoretical foundations of learning environments (pp. 25–56). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Barab, S. A., & Hay, K. E. (2001). Doing science at the elbows of experts: Issues related to the science apprenticeship camp. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38(1), 70–102. doi:10.1002/1098-2736(200101)38:1<70::AID-TEA5>3.0.CO;2-L.
Barot, J. E., & Raybould, R. (1998). Changing schools into collaborative organizations. In D. G. Pounder (Ed.), Restructuring schools for collaboration: Promises and pitfalls (pp. 27–42). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Bazerman, C. (1988). Shaping written knowledge: The genre and activity of the experimental article in science. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Bohm, D. (1990). On dialogue. California: Presentation at the David Bohm Seminars.
Cervero, R. (1988). Effective continuing education for professionals. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Edelson, D. C. (1997). Realizing authentic science learning through the adaptation of science practice. In B. J. Fraser & K. G. Tobin (Eds.), International handbook of science education (pp. 317–331). Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Firestone, W. A., & Louis, K. S. (1999). Schools as cultures. In J. Murphy & K. S. Louis (Eds.), Handbook of research in educational administration (2nd ed., pp. 297–322). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder.
Gee, J. P. (1997). Thinking, learning and reading: The situated sociocultural mind. In D. Kirshner & J. A. Whitson (Eds.), Situated cognition: Social, semiotic and psychological perspectives (pp. 235–260). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Gee, J. P. (2004). New times and new literacies: Themes for a changing world. In A. F. Ball & S. W. Freedman (Eds.), Bakhtinian perspectives on language, literacy and learning (pp. 279–306). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Goh, C. T. (1997, June 2). Shaping our future: Thinking schools, learning nation. Speech by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong at the opening of the 7th international conference on thinking, Singapore.
Heifetz, R. (1994). Leadership without easy answers. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.
Hung, D. (1999). Activity, apprenticeship and epistemological appropriation: implications from the writings of Michael Polanyi. Educational Psychologist, 34(4), 193–205. doi:10.1207/s15326985ep3404_1.
Latour, B. (1987). Science in action: How to follow scientists and engineers through society. Milton Keynes, UK: Open University Press.
Latour, B. (1993). We have never been modern. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Lee, H. L. (2004, August). Our future of opportunity and promise. Address by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the 2004 national day rally at the University Cultural Centre, National University of Singapore.
Little, J. W. (1990). The persistence of privacy: Autonomy and initiative in teachers’ professional relations. Teachers College Record, 91(4), 509–536.
Lortie, D. C. (1975). Schoolteacher: A sociological study. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Macintyre, A. (1981). After virtue. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
Ng, P. T. (2003). The Singapore school and the school excellence model. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 2(1), 27–39. doi:10.1023/A:1024465302953.
Ng, P. T. (2004). The learning organisation and the innovative organisation. Human Systems Management, 23(2), 93–100.
Ng, P. T. (2005a). The learning school: Innovation and enterprise. Singapore: Prentice Hall.
Ng, P. T. (2005b). Students’ perception of change in the Singapore education system. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 3(1), 77–92. doi:10.1007/s10671-004-3935-8.
Ng, P. T. (2005c). Innovation and enterprise in Singapore schools. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 3(3), 183–198.
Ng, P. T. (2008a). Educational reform in Singapore: From quantity to quality. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 7(1), 5–15. doi:10.1007/s10671-007-9042-x.
Ng, P. T. (2008b). Quality assurance in the Singapore education system: Phases and paradoxes. Quality Assurance in Education, 16(2), 112–125. doi:10.1108/09684880810868402.
O’Neill, D. K. (2001). Knowing when you’ve brought them in: Scientific genre knowledge and communities of practice. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 10(3), 223–264. doi:10.1207/S15327809JLS1003_1.
Palmer, P. (1998). The courage to teach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Petraglia, J. (1998). The real world on a short leash: the (mis) application of constructivism to the design of educational technology. Educational Technology Research and Development, 46(3), 53–65. doi:10.1007/BF02299761.
Popper, K. R. (1979). Objective knowledge: An evolutionary approach (Revised edition ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Putnam, R. T., & Borko, H. (1997). Teacher learning: Implications of new views of cognition. In B. J. Biddle, T. L. Good, & L. F. Goodson (Eds.), The international handbook of teachers and teaching (pp. 1223–1296). Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Sachs, J. (2003). The activist teaching profession. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Sarason, S. B. (1982). The culture of school and the problem of change (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York: Basic Books.
Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday Currency.
Sfard, A., & Prusak, A. (2005). Telling identities: In search of an analytic tool for investigating learning as a culturally shaped activity. Educational Researcher, 34(4), 14–22. doi:10.3102/0013189X034004014.
Sng, B. B. (2005, April). Academic staff’s responses to educational changes in a School of Engineering in a University in Singapore. Doctoral dissertation, Nanyang Technological University.
Teo, C. H. (2001, 30 May). Opening address by RAdm Teo Chee Hean, Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence at the 2001 teachers’ conference, Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre, Singapore.
Tharman, S. (2004, 29 September). To light a fire: Enabling teachers, nurturing students. Speech by Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the Ministry of Education Work Plan Seminar, Singapore.
Tuomi-Grohn, T., Engestrom, Y., & Young, M. (2003). From transfer to boundary-crossing between school and work as a tool for developing vocational education: an introduction. In T. Tuomi-Grohn & Y. Engestrom (Eds.), Between school and work: New perspectives on transfer and boundary-crossing (pp. 1–18). London: Pergamon.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. UK: Cambridge University Press.
Wenger, E., Mcdermott, R., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating communities of practice. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hung, D., Ng, P.T., Koh, T.S. et al. The social practice of learning: a craft for the 21st century. Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. 10, 205–214 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-009-9025-0
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-009-9025-0