Values and Ethics
Key Developments
Book Launch and Seminar - Enhancing Holistic Well-Being of Children and Youth (September 2024)
The Director-General of Education and NIE Director launched the book edited by Prof Low Ee Ling and Prof Tan Oon Seng. A seminar was held after the launch featuring speakers who contributed to the book chapters. The book examines the well-being of children and youth in Singapore through theoretical insights and practical approaches across developmental stages, encompassing research on psychosocial risk factors and the role of education in enhancing student well-being.
Prof Alex Yeung visit (September 2024)
Prof Alex Yeung, Emeritus Professor of Australian Catholic University and head of its Positive Psychology Centre, was invited as a consultant for methodology construction and positive psychology in the field of Values and Ethics. He also spoke on Education, Policy, and Well-Being: Building Equitable Futures in a seminar hosted by the Department of Policy, Curriculum and Leadership.
Redefining Global Citizenship Competencies from Asia-Pacific Perspectives (September 2024)
A/P Suzanne Choo was invited by the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) in Korea to contribute to the Confucian cosmopolitanism and its implications for postcolonial and multicultural societies in Asia paper. She also did a presentation at their closed-door conference.
Dialogue with Prof Marvin Berkowitz (August 2024)
As part of his visit, Ministry of Education, Singapore (MOE) invited Prof Marvin Berkowitz to conduct a dialogue session with staff and student teachers to discuss how a teacher’s identity affects students’ character education. Building upon Aristotolian principles, Prof Berkowitz and attendees also discussed how character is taught in the classroom and the challenges teachers face in helping students negotiate moral dilemmas.
Publication: Enhancing Holistic Well-Being of Children and Youth (July 2024)
The book, edited by Prof Low Ee Ling and Prof Tan Oon Seng, examines the well-being of children and youth in Singapore through theoretical insights and practical approaches across developmental stages, encompassing research on psychosocial risk factors and the role of education in enhancing student well-being. It emphasises the importance of resilience, caregiving, parental involvement and mindfulness in early to middle childhood; and explores factors such as language use, gratitude, Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and creative environments that influence well-being.
PCL Visiting Scholar Seminar (April – May 2024)
As part of the continuing PCL scholar lecture series, Dr Charleen Chiong, Dr Juan P. Dahdoub and Dr Zhao ZhenZhou spoke to NIE faculty about educational development in Singapore, framing thoughts to redesign character education and worldview construction in China’s education system respectively.
International Academy of Education (IAE) Invited Session at American Education Research Association (AERA) (April 2024)
Under the theme, ‘Global Citizenship and Values in an Era of Multiculturalism and Technological Advancements: what Education Can Do’, Prof Low Ee Ling and Prof Tan Oon Seng were invited to speak on the forums ‘Values and Ethics in Teacher Education’ and ‘Trends Calling for Character and Citizenship education: A Singapore Perspective’ respectively.
Presentation at 12th Annual Conference on Virtuous Leadership and Character, The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, Oxford, UK (2-4 Jan 2024)
A/P Jasmine Sim and A/P Ivy Maria Lim were presenters at an annual conference held by the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues. The conference brought together experts on business ethics and organisational wisdom as well as virtue
ethics and character education to uncover synergies and new ideas that can enhance global understanding of virtuous leadership.
They presented the following papers:
Sim, J., Anwar, N. D., and Lim, I.
M. (2024, January 2-4). Citizenship education in Singapore 1950s – 2020s: From ’ideal citizen’ to moulding ‘citizen leaders [Conference Presentation]. 12th Annual
Conference on Virtuous Leadership and Character, Oxford, United Kingdom.
https://www.jubileecentre.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Lim-Ivy.pdf
Sim, J. (2024, January 2-4). Locating ‘leadership’ in Singapore’s character and citizenship education [Conference Presentation]. 12th Annual Conference on Virtuous
Leadership and Character, Oxford, United Kingdom.https://www.jubileecentre.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Locating-Leadership-in-Singapores-Character-and-Citizenship-Education-Jasmine-B.-Y.-Sim.pdf
Annotated Bibliography on V&E (Jan 2024)
This comprehensive bibliography compiled by the V&E SGA contains the latest publications on Values and Ethics, spanning the last 10 years and including 1203 entries. This will serve as the basis for a meta-synthesis of literature that will be completed by the Singapore Centre for Character and Citizenship Education (SCCCE).
Curated Video on Social Studies and CCE Research at NIE
The LIFE@NIE SG ® SGA curated and produced a video on the research conducted at NIE since 2013 on Social Studies and Character and Citizenship Education. These studies found positive correlations between the teaching of these subjects and the building of students’ characters, enabled by four important conditions: (i) a Shared Language for Engagement, (ii) Consciousness of Being Citizens, (iii) Encouraging Diversity with a Common Focus, and (iv) Well-suited Pedagogies.
Click here to see the video.
Recent Publications by the Team
Sim, J., Anwar, N. D., and Lim, I. M. (2024, January 2-4). Citizenship education in Singapore 1950s – 2020s: From ’ideal citizen’ to moulding ‘citizen leaders [Conference Presentation]. 12th Annual Conference on Virtuous Leadership and Character, Oxford, United Kingdom. https://www.jubileecentre.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Lim-Ivy.pdf
Sim, J. (2024, January 2-4). Locating ‘leadership’ in Singapore’s character and citizenship education [Conference Presentation]. 12th Annual Conference on Virtuous Leadership and Character, Oxford, United Kingdom. https://www.jubileecentre.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Locating-Leadership-in-Singapores-Character-and-Citizenship-Education-Jasmine-B.-Y.-Sim.pdf
Low, E. L. (2023). Education in a democratic and meritocratic society: Moving beyond thriving to flourishing. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 31. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.31.8023
Choo, S. S., & Chua, D. (2023). From moral adaptation to ethical criticism: Analyzing developments in Singapore’s character education programme. Journal of Moral Education, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2023.2255754
Dominic, N., Lim, L. Y., Anwar, N. D., & Sim, J. B.-Y. (2023). Moulding student mental health in Singapore’s Character and Citizenship Education: projected pedagogic identities. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2023.2260390
Ng, D. F. S., & Chua, J. (2023). Future-Readiness in education. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 43(3), 633-647.https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2023.2236421
Sim, J. B.-Y., & Lim, I. M. (4-6 January 2024). The nature of citizenship education in Singapore, 1950 to 2020s. Paper to be presented at the 12th annual conference, ‘Virtuous Leadership and Character’, Magdalen and Oriel Colleges, Oxford
Sim, J. B.-Y., & Tham, P. H.-H. (2023). Demystifying character education for the Singapore context. Journal of Moral Education, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2023.2260957
Sim, J. B.-Y., & Tham, P. H.-H. (4-6 January 2024). Locating “leadership” in Singapore’s Character and Citizenship Education. Paper to be presented at the 12th annual conference, ‘Virtuous Leadership and Character’, Magdalen and Oriel Colleges, Oxford
Study Trip to Japan
In November 2023, two Values and Ethics (V&E) Core Team members, A/P Ivy Lim and A/P Jasmine Sim, visited Kyushu University, Hiroshima University, Gifu University, and Osaka University to gain deeper expertise in values and morals/character education, peace and ethics education, Buddhist philosophy/Zen philosophy/Confucian philosophy, and Buddhist philosophy. The aims of the visit were to understand the approaches and considerations of Japanese researchers in developing their frameworks and/or curriculum to enhance teaching and learning; strengthen strategic connections between NIE and our Japanese counterparts for possible collaborations in education and content research; further NIE’s international outreach and reputational building by establishing partnerships with key researchers internationally; deepen expertise in the area and to assess the capabilities of potential hires to enhance NIE's capacity for growth in LIFE@NIE SG ® SGA in V&E; and consolidate insights and conceptualise outcomes with the Singapore Centre of Citizen and Character Education (SCCCE).
Launch of the Singapore Centre of Character and Citizenship Education
The Singapore Centre for Character and Citizenship Education (SCCCE) was officially launched at the Teachers’ Conference and ExCEL Fest (TCEF) on 30 May 2023. The Centre seeks to advance professional learning and research in Character and Citizenship Education to support the development of children and youth in Singapore and beyond.
C J Koh Professorship in Education: Visit of Professor James Arthur
Professor James Arthur, Director of Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, School of Education, University of Birmingham, UK, visited the National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore and led a panel discussion on ‘How might perspectives from “Eastern” and “Western” philosophical traditions be integrated in character education?’ Colleagues from MOE, NIE and the Singapore Centre for Character and Citizenship Education (SCCCE) attended the event. Topics discussed included a) current trends in character education research, b) revisiting NIE’s 'V3 SK Model' for teacher education and c) areas exclusive to Values and Ethics (V&E). Prof Arthur also reviewed and provided feedback on three NIE courses related to V&E, namely Character and Citizenship Education (CCE), Ethics and Social Contexts in Education, and Ethics and Leadership.
The V&E LIFE@NIE SG ® SGA welcomed Professor Ron Toomey as a visiting consultant from 6 to 8 September 2022. Prof Ron was invited to discuss with the SGA’s Core Team and provide insights into NIE’s research direction in the area of V&E in education. He was also invited as a guest speaker for the Teachers as Thinkers (TaT) series and an online webinar.
Appointment of Prof Ho Li Ching as Visiting Faculty (Jul – Dec 2022)
In the second half of 2022, Prof Ho visited NIE and worked with the V&E LIFE@NIE SG ® SGA to organise webinars/seminars on social and civic education as well as issues pertaining to teacher education and professional development.
