Abstract
The Singapore government has launched kindergarten curriculum reform since 2003 to promote constructivism in teaching and learning, which seems to contradict the traditional pedagogy. Using video analysis, we examined the actual classroom dialogue in six Chinese language classrooms to understand to what extent the constructivist pedagogy has been implemented in Singapore kindergartens. Evidence indicated the classroom dialogs in the Singapore kindergartens were knowledge-driven and teacher-directed, which is per se instructivism-based. The findings call for a further reflection on the progressive early childhood education reforms and the enhancement of professional support for early childhood teachers in Singapore and other similar contexts.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 583-600 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Journal of Research in Childhood Education |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 26 Feb 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2020 |
Keywords
- classroom dialogue
- constructivism
- early childhood education
- Singapore
- teacher-child interaction