Abstract
In Singapore, nationwide educational policies and movements have taken place frequently and within a short space of time from each other. In turn, such educational initiatives get translated into changes in curricula of every school subject – mathematics inclusive. In this chapter, we make an explicit connection between Singapore students’ PISA performance and the aforementioned curricular shifts by highlighting the major changes that have taken place in K-12 Singapore school mathematics curriculum, analysing them in terms of the shifts in curriculum ideologies. Then we map each of the dimensions of the PISA assessment framework with the components of the Singapore Mathematics Curriculum Framework to further substantiate the claim that “the [Singapore] education system and school mathematics curriculum contribute in part towards the success of Singapore’s students in … PISA” (Kaur et al., Mathematics education in Singapore. Springer, Singapore, 2019, p. 134). Additionally, we give some answers to the “Ten Questions for Mathematics Teachers … and how PISA can help answer them” (OECD, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris, 2016) that are relevant to the Singapore context. Based on the twenty-first-century competencies identified, respectively, by the OECD and Ministry of Education (Singapore), we explore possible new directions the national mathematics curriculum may head towards and hope to peek into the future education landscape for Singapore mathematics.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barbieri, W. (2017). The PISA fallacy in Singapore and insights from NIE. Australian Teacher Magazine. (Withdrawn on demand from the Ministry of Education, Singapore). Article now posed under title “Singapore Questions Values of its PISA results” at https://www.caspa.edu.au/blog/singapore-questions-value-of-its-own-pisa-results
Chan, C. M. E., Ng, K. E. D., Lee, N. H., & Dindyal, J. (2019). Problems in real-world context and mathematical modelling. In T. L. Toh, B. Kaur & E. G. Tay (Eds.), Mathematics Education in Singapore (pp. 195–216). Singapore: Springer.
Coughlan, S. (2016, December). Pisa tests: Singapore top in global education rankings. BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/education-38212070
Davie, S. (2013). Scaling greater education heights in Pisa. Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/scaling-education-heights-in-pisa
Foong, P. Y. (2009). Review of research on mathematical problem solving in Singapore. In K. Y. Wong, P. Y. Lee, B. Kaur, P. Y. Foong, & S. F. Ng (Eds.), Mathematics education: The Singapore journey (pp. 263–300). Singapore: World Scientific
Goh, C. T. (1997). Shaping our future: “Thinking Schools” and a “Learning Nation”. Speeches, 21(3), 12–20. Singapore: Ministry of Information and the Arts.
Goh, K. S., & The Education Study Team. (1979). Report on the Ministry of Education 1978. Singapore: Singapore National Printers.
Heng, S. K. (2012). Keynote speech by Minister of Education Heng Swee Kiat, at the CSIS (Centre for Strategic and International Studies) Singapore Conference. Washington, D. C., February 8, 2012.
Ho, W. K., & Ang, K. C. (2015). Developing computational thinking through coding. In W. C. Yang, D. Meade, & C. Liu (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th Asian Technology Conference in Mathematics (pp. 73–87). Mathematics and Technology, LCC.
Ho, W. K., & Ratnam-Lim, C. (2018). A vicennial walk through ‘A’ level mathematics in Singapore: Reflecting on the curriculum leadership of a JC Mathematics teacher. Association of Mathematics Educators Yearbook 2018 (pp. 229–251). Singapore: World Scientific. July, 2018.
Ho, W. K., Huang, W., & Looi, C. K. (2018a). Can secondary school mathematics students be taught computational thinking? In W.-C. Yang & D. Meade (Eds.), Proceedings of the 23rd Asian technology conference in mathematics (pp. 63–77). Mathematics and Technology, LCC.
Ho, W. K., Toh, P. C., Teo, K. M., Zhao, D., & Hang, K. M. (2018b). Beyond school mathematics. In T. L. Toh, B. Kaur, & E. G. Tay (Eds.), Mathematics education in Singapore. Mathematics education – An Asian perspective. Singapore: Springer.
Ho, W. K., Lim, S. H., Tay, E. G., Leong, Y. H., & Teo, K. M. (2019). Passing a proof message: Student-teacher communication through a commognitive lens. In G. Hine, S. Blackley, & A. Cooke (Eds.), Mathematics education research: Impacting practice proceedings of the 42nd annual conference of the mathematics education research group of Australasia (pp. 700–706). Adelaide: The Mathematics Education Research group of Australasia Inc.
Ho, W. K., Looi, C. K., Huang, W., Seow, P., & Wu, L. (Submitted). Computational thinking in mathematics: To be or not to be, that’s the question. Association of Mathematics Educators Yearbook 2019. Singapore: World Scientific.
Kaur, B. (2013). What can we learn from international assessments such as TIMSS and PISA? Keynote paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Science and Mathematics Education (November 11–14, 2013), Penang, Malaysia.
Kaur, B. (2014). Evolution of Singapore’s School Mathematics Curriculum. In Proceedings of the 37th Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia Incorporated (MERGA 2014) on Curriculum in Focus: Research Guided Practice. Sydney, Australia, 29 June to 3 July 2014.
Kaur, B., Zhu, Y., & Cheang, W. K. (2019). Singapore’s participation in international benchmark studies – TIMSS, PISA and TEDS-M. In T. L. Toh, B. Kaur, & E. G. Tay (Eds.), Mathematics education in Singapore (pp. 101–137). Singapore: Springer.
Kho, T. H. (1987). Mathematical models for solving arithmetic problems. In the Proceedings of the Fourth Southeast Asian Conference in Mathematics Education (ICMI-SEAMS). Mathematics Education in 1990’s (Vol. 4, pp. 345–351). Singapore: Institute of Education.
Lee, P. Y. (2008). Sixty years of mathematics syllabus and textbooks in Singapore (1949–2005). In Z. Usiskin & E. Willmore (Eds.), Mathematics curriculum in pacific rim countries – China, Japan, Korea and Singapore (pp. 85–94). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Leinwand, S., & Ginsburg, A. (2007). Learning from Singapore math. Educational Leadership, 65(3), 32–36.
Leong, Y. H., Ho, W. K., & Cheng, L. P. (2015). Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract: Surveying its origins and charting its future. The Mathematics Educator, 16(1), 1–18.
Ministry of Education. (1990). Mathematics syllabus (lower secondary). Singapore.
Ministry of Education. (2006). Secondary mathematics syllabus. Singapore.
Ministry of Education. (2009). Recent developments in Singapore’s education system: Gearing up for the future. Singapore.
Ministry of Education. (2012). Mathematical modelling resource kit. Singapore.
Ministry of Education. (2017). Secondary mathematics syllabus. Singapore.
Ministry of Education. (2018). Singapore-Cambridge general certificate of education ordinary level. Syllabus, 4048.
Ministry of Education. (2019). 2021 Primary mathematics teaching and learning syllabus. Singapore, Singapore: Author.
Ministry of Education. (2021). 21st century competencies. Retrieved from: https://www.moe.gov.sg/education-in-sg/21st-century-competencies
OECD. (2009). PISA 2009 dataset. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/pisaproducts/pisa2009.database-downloadabledata.htm
OECD. (2012). PISA 2012 dataset. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/pisaproducts/pisa2012.database-downloadabledata.htm
OECD. (2013). PISA 2012 Assessment and analytical framework: Mathematics, reading, science, problem solving and financial literacy, OECD Publishing.
OECD. (2015). PISA 2015 dataset. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/pisaproducts/pisa2015.database-downloadabledata.htm
OECD. (2016). Ten Questions for Mathematics Teachers…and how PISA can help answer them. Paris: PISA, OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/97892642655387-en.
OECD. (2018). PISA 2021 Mathematics framework (draft). November, 2018. Retrieved from https://pisa.e-wd.org/files/PISA%202021%20Mathematics%20Framework%20Draft.pdf
Ong, Y. C. (2018). Learning languages for life. Opening Address at the 9th Teachers Conference. Singapore: Ministry of Education.
Schiro, M. S. (2013). Curriculum theory: Conflicting visions and enduring concerns. Sage Publications Inc., Boston College.
Sfard, A. (2008). Thinking as communicating: Human development, the growth of discourse, and mathematizing. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Weintrop, D., Beheshti, E., Horn, M., Orton, K., Jona, K., Trouille, L., & Wilensky, U. (2015). Defining computational thinking for mathematics and science classrooms. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 25, 127–147.
Wing, J. (2006). Computational thinking. Communications of the ACM, 49(3), 33–35.
Wise, A. (2016). Behind Singapore’s PISA rankings success – And why other countries may not want to join the race. The Conversation. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/behind-singapores-pisa-rankings-success-and-why-other-countries-may-not-want-to-join-the-race-70057
Wong, K. Y., & Lee, N. H. (2009). Singapore education and mathematics curriculum. In K. Y. Wong, P . Y. Lee, B. Kaur, P. Y. Foong, & S. F. Ng (Eds.). Mathematics Education: The Singapore Journey (Vol. 2). Series on Mathematics Education. Singapore: World Scientific.
Yeo, J. B. W., Choy, B. H., Ng, K. E. D., & Ho, W. K. (2018). Problem in real-world contexts: Principles of design, implementation and assessment. Singapore: Shinglee Publishers Pte Ltd..
Yip, S. K. J., Eng, S. P., & Yap, Y. C. J. (1990). 25 years of educational reform. In J. S. K. Yip & W. K. Sim (Eds.), Evolution of educational excellence – 25 years of education in the Republic of Singapore (pp. 1–30). Singapore: Longman Singapore Publishers (Pte) Ltd.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Weng, K.H., Eng, G.T. (2021). K-12 School Mathematics Curriculum: Insights on Development, Renewal and Future Orientation. In: Tan, O.S., Low, E.L., Tay, E.G., Yan, Y.K. (eds) Singapore Math and Science Education Innovation. Empowering Teaching and Learning through Policies and Practice: Singapore and International Perspectives, vol 1. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1357-9_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1357-9_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-16-1356-2
Online ISBN: 978-981-16-1357-9
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)