Interpretation Of Educational Transition: Vertical And Horizontal Transitions In Singapore

What is educational transition?

Discuss about the Interpretation of Educational Transition.

Educational transition is considered as the process of change that children undergo from one phase or place of education to another over time. Changes in teaching style, relationship, space-time, contexts for learning, and learning style, combine at transition moments for making accelerated and intense demands (Wortham & Hardin, 2015). According to Feeney (2017) transitions are identified as central to experiences and wellbeing of children, and as a strong integrative framework for research in education. The generic definition for transitions in context of early childhood education refers it to be the set of key processes and events occurring at different turning points or specific periods during course of education. They are linked with the changes in educational settings, educational activities, teaching style, pedagogical approaches and extent of family support in education. Educational transitions involve key cultural and psychological adjustments with social, emotional and cognitive dimensions. Transitions can be classified as ‘vertical’ or ‘horizontal’ each with its own set of characteristics and implications for early childhood education experience. Horizontal transitions are known to be less distinctive in comparison to vertical transitions and take place on a daily basis.

Wortham and Hardin (2015) explained horizontal and vertical transition in context of education. As per the researchers, there is a common agreement between scholars that horizontal transition refers to the movement across educational settings which takes place during the day, more specifically the shift between informal and formal situations and cultures. This enables the learners to interpret their surroundings and understand what is expected from them in the setting. chances are high that a children would be faced with two distinct cultural systems beside their informal social network, that is friends and home, in an ordinary day. Some example of  horizontal transition includes activities like children taking part in an annual day event or engaging in playground activities. In contrast, vertical transitions refer to the major changes occurring from one state or status to another, as ‘upward’ shifts, for example from primary to secondary level. In this context it is to be mentioned that horizontal transitions uphold the characteristic of being less distinctive in comparison to vertical transitions. In case of such transitions, the main focus is on the movements children engage in on a daily basis in different spheres of their lives.

In Singapore, both vertical and horizontal transitions are cleary marked in education system where student’s movement along transition lines have a deep impact on the overall wellbeing. Vertical transition in education in Singapore primarily revolves around the shift across the different levels of education; preschool, primary school, secondary school and post-secondary education. Preschool education is of prime importance in respect to the education system in Singapore. It comprises of one year of nursery and two years of kindergarten. At preschool, the primary focus is on the development of basic writing skills and language skills. In addition, children are encouraged to develop physical activity skills, creativity, social skills and communication skills. Local kindergartens follow the guideline of the school year as is observed throughout Singapore. Sessions start in January and end in November with a one month break in June. They offer three or four hours of schooling per day. From the age of seven onwards, children are supposed to attend a primary school, which consists a four-year foundation course and a two-year orientation stage. Secondary school further is of five years up to the age of 17 years (internations.org, 2018).

Vertical and horizontal transitions

According to Ting (2015), horizontal transitions in Singapore context can be attributed to the adjustments and changes children are to undergo in their everyday life in the social context. Several studies have highlighted that as part of the successful transition, children are to build competencies socially apart from building competencies academically. Ability of the children to make a new friend and adjust to the social needs influences the overall wellbeing. Horizontal transition is marked by the multifaceted task of embracing changes in the emotional, social, behavioral and intellectual front. 

Expansion of provision to education in the early years has led to a miscellany in the emotional changes children experience while attending educational settings. Majority of children have a positive transition enabled by the educators and parents across early childhood education course. However, certain concerns remain regarding the children’s emotional wellbeing and social adjustment, thereby impairing future learning (Feeney, 2017).

The two issues of vertical transitions faced by children in Singapore are as follows-

Changes in educational philosophy-  As students move into higher level of education, they face significant changes in the educational philosophy used by the educators at each of these levels. The educational philosophies are the educator’s guiding principles about the education associated issues, and the role of educators in school and classroom. The teaching philosophies become increasingly complex with increasing levels of education. Coping up with the changes in educational philosophy is challenging for the learners as the focus shifts from one learning priority to another. The key issue lies in the fact that educational philosophies applied are often not student-centred and sufficient emphasis in not given on the individuality of the students. Involvement of students in the educational approaches are less at times, signifying that the individual needs of the students are not addressed at these instances. Singapore is a country where families are from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Education is of priority for all the section of the society and thus the cultural diversity in educational system is evident. It is imperative that the educational needs vary from one child to another guide by their cultural and ethnic background. As a result, absence of student-centred educational philosophies is a concern (Yeo & Clarke, 2006).

Modifications in teaching style – The teaching style of educators vary greatly as one moves into the higher level of education, imposing a challenge for the students to cope up with. The approaches to teaching are determined by the educational goals set at each stage of education. At present, the teaching styles in Singapore schools are determined by two primary factors. Firstly, education is viewed as the process of facilitating autonomous learning and self expression. Secondly, education has the goal of transmitting knowledge from one student to another. As a result, the teaching styles vary remarkably from one state to another, and children are to face different teaching styles as they move into the higher level (Silver, 2011). The researchers reported that educators often depend on the ‘convergent’ teaching style as the primary teaching approach. The convergent approach has been indicated to be a highly structured one apart from being highly teacher-centred. In such cases, the students act as passive recipients of knowledge commonly transmitted by the educators to them. Further, the learning achievements are usually measured by a set of standardised tests. Students have the opinion that most of the teachers are not friendly and act as being firm. Lastly, students suffer as the teachers do not play a major role in providing assistance for developing  sense of identity (Ebbeck et al., 2012).

Vertical transitions in Singapore

The two issues of horizontal transitions faced by children in Singapore are as follows-

Lack of parental support- Parental involvement in early education of children has drawn significant attention in the Singapore context in the recent past. Parental involvement has been shown to be not up-to-the-mark in Singapore as the same is influenced by family social class, family ethnicity and single-parent status. Lack of support and counselling by parents on a daily basis is a crucial concern for children as they struggle to adjust to the social changes. Research indicates that parental support has a direct impact on learning during formal education. In addition, parental guidance is much required for maintaining health, exhibiting behaviours and establishing social interactions. In case there is a lack of adequate parental support, learners are deprived of a role model for learning. Parents often deter from giving guidance to children to organise the priorities in education (nie.edu.sg, 2015).

Different pedagogical approaches- Learning is reliant on pedagogical approaches that teachers use in the respective classroom. Pedagogy refers to the interactions between teachers, learners and the learning environment. The issue with pedagogical approaches used in Singapore education settings arises when children are placed in a context of teacher-centred pedagogy. Teacher-centered pedagogy puts the educators at the centre of the whole learning process and relies on methods that have been criticised profoundly. Students face difficulties in communicating with their educators on a daily basis while engaging in a diverse set of activities. Each educator might be adhering to a certain pedagogical approach that is different from another one adhered by a different educator. Students therefore face issues in adapting to these changes in communication styles and the demands to establish a strong bonding through communication (Ebbeck et al., 2012).

A rich pool of evidence points out that transition practices in childhood education have a key link with the outcomes. An increased number of transition activities results in academic gains. The use of transition practices has the potential to improve the ability of children to adapt to the classroom environment. Effective transition practices connect the support system of the child to offer all forms of support at a challenging time (Wortham & Hardin 2015).

Student centered education philosophies when applied would be appropriate for addressing the challenges faced by children due to changes in educational philosophy. With the student-centered education philosophy the focus of instruction woud be shifted from the teacher to the student. The aim would be to develop learner independence and autonomy. Such a philosophy can be applied to the setting by putting the interests of the students first and acknowledging the student’s voice. Students are to be given the option of what they aspire to learn within a particular context, how they would learn them and how assessment is to be done for their learning. Individual differences are also to be considered while teaching in the setting, mainly relating to the ethnic and cultural background of the student (Roopnarine & Johnson, 2012).

Horizontal transitions in Singapore

Divergent teaching style can be the strategy to address the issue faced by learners due to inappropriate teaching styles. Learning through play and creative projects are the key aspects of divergent learning. Teaching methods for enabling the same would involve offering the learners with encouragement to find creative ways to learn. The same would enable the children to take risks and learn to be flexible in learning using novice ideas. One key strategy would be to reverse the question-answer paradigm. The underlying principle is simple; instead of presenting the learners with questions they can be asked to create a problem question. They can after that tap their own goals and find answers to the problems.

Parent education sessions would be the transition practice to address lack of parental support in early education. The strategy has been reported to make a positive influence on parents as they show more positive attitude to act as role models to their children. The central idea is to increase the involvement of the parents in the course of early education of the learners. Sessions can be held on a regular basis, more suitably once a month, for enlighting the parents about the progress of the children and the specific needs. Educators can arrange for sessions with educational counselors, and the diverse topics covered in the sessions would be directed towards supporting and motivating the children to demonstrate active participation in school activities (Feeney, 2017).

Communication is of prime importance for setting the stage for effective learning, and thus informal interactive sessions with children can be effective to ensure that the pedagogical approach is appropriate. Such sessions can be held once a month with subsets of the whole student population at a time. The prime benefit would be that the educators would be better able to identify which pedagogical approach sits aligned with the needs of the learners. The educators would also be able to establish a relationship with the learners based on trust, respect, and affection (Wortham & Hardin 2015).

References

Ebbeck, M., Saidon, S. B., nee Rajalachime, G., & Teo, L. Y. (2013). Children’s Voices: Providing Continuity in Transition Experiences in Singapore. Early Childhood Education Journal, 41(4), 291-298. DOI:10.1007/s10643-012-0566-3

Feeney, S. (2017). Early childhood education in Asia and the Pacific: A source book (Vol. 6). Routledge.

Parent Engagement in Education. (2015). Nie.edu.sg. Retrieved 5 February 2018, from https://www.nie.edu.sg/docs/default-source/nie-working-papers/niewps7_parent-engagement-in-education.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Roopnarine, J., & Johnson, J. (2012). Approaches to early childhood education. Pearson Higher Ed.

Silver, R. E. (2011). Curriculum implementation in early primary schooling in Singapore. Research Brief; 11-004.

The Education System in Singapore. (2018). Internations.org. Retrieved 5 February 2018, from https://www.internations.org/singapore-expats/guide/29461-family-children-education/the-education-system-in-singapore-16071

Ting, T. C. (2007). Policy developments in pre-school education in Singapore: A focus on the key reforms of kindergarten education. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 1(1), 35-43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/2288-6729-1-1-35

Wortham, S. C., & Hardin, B. J. (2015). Assessment in early childhood education. Pearson.

Yeo, L. S., & Clarke, C. (2006). Adjustment to the first year in school—A Singapore perspective. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 14(2), 55-68. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13502930285209911.