Teacher professional development: learning a new way of teaching social behaviour and values education with young children in Singapore

In 2013, 31 preschool teachers in three Catholic schools across Singapore embarked on a two year action research project involving the intentional teaching of social behaviour and values education with the children in their school programs. Throughout the duration of this project, staffs participated in ongoing professional development, including attachments to other schools, full day professional workshops, and reflective journaling. Project leaders worked with school staffs, guiding and supporting them as they translated and contextualized different phases of the social teaching values education program into their communities of practice. Parents and children were consulted throughout the project with input gathered from artefacts, observations, interviews, surveys and video stories. At the commencement of the project, staffs were surveyed to ascertain their perceptions of how young children learn social behaviour. Staff and parents in one of the pilot schools were involved in focus group conversations and information gathered in these sessions was used to inform the program framework. Six months into the project, kindergarten aged children in one of the pilot schools engaged in semi structured interviews with the project leaders. The authoritative paradigm of teaching and learning underpins the social teaching and values education program. This approach focuses on self-regulation and self-discipline, and is based on values including respect, care, harmony and resilience. Educators have an egalitarian relationship with children and work with them as they develop their knowledge, attitudes and competencies in social behaviour and values education. The action research journey resulting in cultural change within these school communities is described at both the theoretical and practical level in this workshop. The phases and stages of action research will be discussed, as will the outcomes, challenges and next moves