CHAPTER 3 Design and Methods
3.6 Research setting
3.6.1 Selecting countries
For a cross-cultural comparison, the compatibility of the two countries from which the participants come is crucial. The following criteria were used to select a country from which to select students for comparison with Australian students:
technological sophistication of the students;
an education system similar to Australia’s;
English being the main medium for instruction/learning; and
a culturally and racially diverse society.
Table 3.4 presents the seven countries which satisfied the first criterion of technological sophistication, and the status of each of these countries in terms of meeting the remaining three criteria.
Table 3.4 Candidate comparison countries’ compliance with the selection criteria
Source: http://www.classbase.com/Countries
Criteria Australia India Japan Malaysia Singapore South Korea Taiwan Thailand
Technological
sophistication
Compatibility with the Australian education system
Elementary – 8yrs Secondary – 4yrs Primary – 6yrs Middle – 3yrs Secondary – 3yrs Primary – 6yrs Middle – 3yrs Secondary – 2yrs
Primary – 6yrs Middle – 3yrs Secondary – 3yrs Elementary – 6yrs Junior H S – 3yrs Senior H S– 3yrs Elementary 1 – 3yrs Elementary 2 – 3yrs Secondary – 3yrsMain medium for instruction/learning (English)
English Hindi Japanese Bahasa Malaysia English Korean Mandarin Thai
Culturally and racially
diverse society
Diverse Indian groups Monoculture Japanese
Monoculture Korean Monoculture Taiwanese Monoculture ThaiAs Table 3.4 demonstrates, only one country –Singapore – meets all four criteria. Table 3.5 elaborates upon Singapore’s and Australia’s compatibility.
Table 3.5 Social and technological compatibility between SIN and AUS
Criteria SIN (Singapore) AUS (ACT – Canberra)
Technological sophistication Schools equipped with online facilities
Schools equipped with online facilities
Education system Primary – 6 yrs
Secondary (Special, Express & Normal Stream) – 4 or 5 yrs College – (2–3 yrs)
Primary – 6 yrs Secondary – 4 yrs College – 2 years Main medium for
instruction/learning
English
Ex-British colonial country
English
Ex-British colonial country Culturally and racially diverse society Multi-racial (Malay, Chinese,
Indian & Eurasian)
Diverse in
nationality/race/cultural background
Source: http://www.classbase.com/Countries
The researcher’s familiarity with and prior knowledge of each country’s bureaucracies, ideology and socio-cultural backgrounds was important in understanding and interpreting participants’ behaviour and responses.
Information and Communication Technology has been a part of Australian school systems for nearly 20 years, although the way in which ICT learning is delivered in schools is very different from the Singaporean approach. Table 3.6 presents the timeline of the implementation of ICT education in Australia and Singapore from 1997 to 2010.
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Table 3.6 Timeline of the implementation of ICT education in AUS and SIN
AUSTRALIA YEAR SINGAPORE
1997 The 1st Masterplan for ICT in Education (1997–2002)
To build a foundation for schools to provide basic ICT infrastructure and equip teachers with a basic level of ICT integration competency. Achieved widespread acceptance in education.
1998
National Online Curriculum began in 1999
Proposed by the Federal Government, this was a federal, state and territory government collaboration.
1999
2000 Infocomm 21 (Information Communication 21)
Over the next 5 years, to develop an ICT industry competitive at the international level and transform Singapore into a global information communication capital.
Learning Federation started in 2001. A school online curriculum content initiative. 2001 2002
2003 The 2nd Masterplan for ICT in Education (2003–2008)
To promote use of ICT in education by actively integrating ICT into the curriculum, setting ICT competencies for students, and encouraging inventive use of ICT in schools.
2004 2005
2006 IN2015 (Intelligent Nation 2015)
The Government of Singapore to outline a 10-year masterplan for Infocomm.
2007
The Digital Education Revolution early 2008
An education policy announced by the Australian Government. ICT Trends in Education
Australian Council for Education Research, Gerald White (30 June 2008)
2008
Preparing Australian Students for the Digital World: Results from the PISA 2009 digital reading literacy assessment. Sue Thomson, S. & Lisa De Bortoli, L. (2012)
2009 The 3rd Masterplan for ICT in Education (2009-2014)
Following up from the first and second Masterplans, to refine the ICT learning environments of our students so that they can acquire the vital ICT competencies to excel in the Infocomm economy.
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AUSTRALIA YEAR SINGAPORE
Australian Education Review
Building Innovation: Learning with Technologies
Australian Council for Educational Research Kathryn Moyle (2010)
2010
Sources: http://ictconnection.moe.edu.sg/masterplan-4/our-ict-journey/masterplan-1; http://ictconnection.moe.edu.sg/masterplan-4/our-ict-journey/masterplan-2; https://www.imda.gov.sg/infocomm-and-media-news/buzz-central/2008/9/singapore- unveils-third-masterplan-for-ict-in-education; https://www.mci.gov.sg/web/department/infocomm/developing-infocomm/infocomm-masterplans/intelligent-nation-2015-in2015; http://ictconnection.moe.edu.sg/masterplan-4; www.thelearning federation.edu.au; http://research.acer.edu.au/digital_learning/2;
Table 3.6 shows that the Australian approach focuses on providing an overall ICT framework to enable schools in six states and two territories to develop individual ICT programs and pathways tailored to the needs of students and staff. In contrast, the Singaporean approach emphasises the systematised implementation of ICT initiatives which support the schools to work towards achieving specific goals in ICT education that align with the national vision of an Infocomm economy.
In Australia, education systems do not standardise teaching and learning programs and management across all schools (Puteh & Vicziany, 2004). On the other hand, the Singapore education system is highly centralised and regulated.
As in Singapore, the proportion of Australian students in 2011 attending private schools had increased over recent years. Private schools have larger budgets than public/state schools and have developed idiosyncratic ICT programs. For example, in an ICT program launched in one of the largest private schools in Melbourne, every student from Grade 5 onwards was required to have their own electronic device, such as a laptop computer (Puteh & Vicziany, 2004). In Singapore, in 2008, only four elite privatised schools offered the Art Elective Program which “actively pursue[s] the digital media as a means of artistic expression” to adhere to the new national IT agenda (Cheng, 2008, p. 154). In addition, private schools may involve specialist private firms or vendors to facilitate their ICT programs by providing the appropriate infrastructures to equipment and/or delivering specialist ICT skills.
All Singaporean teachers are trained in one institution – the National Institute of Education (NIE), administered by the Ministry of Education (MOE). A centralised education system makes implementation of policies easier, and there is a high level of cooperation between NIE and Singaporean schools.
By contrast, implementation of the curriculum in Australian schools is the responsibility of professional classroom teachers. Even with the adoption of the Australian National Curriculum, individual schools and teachers still have considerable freedom to create their own curricula. Australian teachers can use the national digital learning resources network to create and share digital teaching resources. Both digital student resources and teacher support materials are available through the education intranet access, giving them
the option to explore and adapt these resources to create new and appropriate teaching materials to accommodate the individual needs of students.
According to Puteh and Vicziany (2004), the provision of online support for teachers to create appropriate and engaging ICT learning in Australia can be traced back to the Learning Federation’s (Cooper, et al. 2001) School Online Curriculum Content Initiative, which made online learning materials including graphics, texts, audio and animations that are relevant to the school context accessible to teachers across Australia. In Singapore, during the launch of the 1st Masterplan for ICT in Education, teaching staff engaged in creating and implementing pilot IT-based teaching projects, then conducted an IT ‘open house’ to showcase their projects to the general public, including parents and other teaching staff.