Attitudes towards Innovations in Primary Schools: A Study of In-Service Teachers

Abstract

Introduction This is a study of how a group of primary school teachers in Singapore dealt with the possibility of introducing informal educational innovations in their school settings. “Informal innovations” here refers to the voluntary adoption of new teaching methods, techniques and ideas acquired during an in-service teacher education programme, namely, the Further Professional Certificate in Education (FPCE) programme conducted by the Institute of Education, Singapore. Did these teachers attempt, when back in their schools, to experiment with the new ideas and methods of teaching they had been exposed to during the one year of the FPCE programme? What factors worked for, and against, attempts at innovations in their primary schools? Were there structural constraints and socio-psychological obstacles that they had to negotiate in order to adopt innovations in classroom and educational practices? If innovative ideas had remained dormant, was this because the teachers were unconvinced about the practical...