Taking the National Writing

Project to Singapore: A

Feasibility Study

Varalackshmi Hariharan

Singapore

Distinguished Fulbright Award for

Teachers 2012

Capst

one P

roje

ct

Guid

elin

es

Projects should encourage cross-cultural

dialogue demonstrate relevance and

applicability to education in

the grantee’s host and home

country directly reflect and incorporate

activities undertaken as part

of the Fulbright program

designed to benefit the

students and colleagues in the

grantee's home school and

community.

My

Capst

one

Proje

ct

A feasibility study to

explore setting up an

Associated International Site of the National Writing Project in Singapore by

2015

What

is t

he N

ati

onal

Wri

ting P

roje

ct?

www.nwp.org

What

is t

he

NW

P?

38 year old PD activity

began with 1 man – John Gray in Berkeley

> 200 sites in every

state of the US hosted at US universities Federally funded program & matched by university funds

The 5

-week

Invi

tati

onal S

um

mer

Inst

itute

The 5

-week

Invi

tati

onal S

um

mer

Inst

itute

By invitation & interview

Submit writing sample

Share a teaching strategy Negotiated curriculum

Write every day Peer critique & peer-led

learning Research question Work-plan to transfer

learning

What

is a

Fe

asi

bili

ty

Stu

dy?

A feasibility study looks

at the viability of an

idea with an emphasis

on identifying potential problems

and attempts to answer

one main question: Will

the idea work and

should you proceed

with it?

What

is M

y Pr

oposa

l?

The Singapore Writing

Project – an Associated

International Site of the NWP in 2015

Hosted at the English

Language Institute of

Singapore (ELIS) Area of focus – digital

writing

Is it viable?

Cri

teri

a t

o A

ssess

V

iabili

ty o

f a P

roje

ct

Stability of project Data-supported Sponsorship of project

Infrastructure Benefit to stakeholders VOC analysis Realistic Timeline Budget

✔ R

eputa

tion &

Succ

ess

es

of

NW

P

Success in transforming teacher

beliefs and impacting

student work Success in transfer of

learning Success in fostering teacher leadership

✔A

ssure

d

Support

of

NW

P

✔Po

litic

al W

ill

Connection with NWP

made in Nov 2011 Precedence of

Associated International NWP Site

in HK Commitment to effective communication as 21st

Century Competency

✔Suit

abili

ty o

f ELI

S

as

Host

Org

aniz

ati

on

Training arm of Ministry

of Education Connected to policy makers Connected to principals

and heads of department

Connected to teachers

Connected to National

Institute of Education Alignment of ELIS & NWP

goals

Comparison of Student Writing:Classes of NWP teachers (red)& non-NWP teachers (black)

✔Im

pro

ved

Perf

orm

ance

of

Stu

dents

My ‘aha’ moment was

when I realized how much

English teachers had in

common with math teachers! It is difficult to

literally use the same

activities, but it is more

the thinking of how I could

(use that activity) that I

have taken with me. It

changed how I think about

teaching!”- Ms Megan Purcell, Math

teacher at ERHS

✔ Infr

ast

ruct

ure

Timeline has been drawn up Proposed budget done

Infrastructure needed

for IT in place Contingency Funding The Coyote Fund

Biggest Stakeholder BenefitsTEACHERS

Sin

gapore

te

ach

ers

assign rather than teach writing align writing tasks to

exam needs emphasise conventions & correctness consider teaching

writing the job of the

EL teacher alone trust the external

expert

✔ B

enefits

to

Sin

gapore

Teach

ers

Encourage teacher-leadership “most teachers who attended the Invitational Summer

Institutes took on leadership roles in their

school, district or state”

(Fanscali & Nelsestuen,

2001)

✔ B

enefits

to

Sin

gapore

Teach

ers

Create professional collegiality “Every new teacher brings new skills and

ideas – every returning

teacher brings wisdom

(and also learns a lot!)”

- Megan Purcell,

ERHS

✔ B

enefits

to

Sin

gapore

Teach

ers

Impact teaching “I think educators often

forget what it is like to be

a student – afraid of not

having the right answer,

afraid of being called

stupid, or, in my case,

when I participated in the

summer institute, afraid

of not having “good enough” writing to share.”

(‘Mary’ quoted in Lieberman &Wood, p68, 2003)

✔ B

enefits

to

Sin

gapore

Teach

ers

give teachers an opportunity to get back to or get into reading educational research literature “NWP taught me to

really reflect and question more than any

class or experience”

- Megan Purcel, ERHS

BU

T…

.. no successful practice can be exported from one context to another in its entirety

Challenges & Constraints

Challe

nges

&

Const

rain

ts

Time Cultural differences Teacher Practices Scepticism Selection Process

Discomfort with Lack

of ‘Sameness’

Tim

e

Teachers likely to be

reluctant to be away

from their classes or

to give up holidays to

attend a Writing Institute Could modify the ISI?

Could explore blended

learning approach?

Cult

ura

l D

iffere

nce

s

Singapore teachers are, generally reticent

… strategies that call for

personal sharing could

meet with resistance have to be discerning in

the selection of teachers to participate

in the Institute, ensuring that they would have the ‘stamina’ for the intense work… (Alberts)

Teach

er

Pract

ices

‘humility’ and ‘shyness’ when it comes to sharing practices - tend to think that what they

do in their classes is

very ‘normal’ and not

‘worthy’ of sharing TCs will need to coach &

encourage the teachers

Teach

er

Sce

pti

cism

Will want clearly defined outcomes and

a road map The idea of learning from a peer rather than

an external ‘expert’ is

also likely to be met with scepticism.

No exam focus = “wishy-washy”, “idealistic”

Sele

ctio

n P

roce

ss

by invitation and recommendation + writing sample disquiet among

Singapore teachers as

it hints at exclusivity It will be a challenge to

get Singapore teachers

to see the ISI as an invitation to the able

Dis

com

fort

wit

h

Lack

of

‘Sam

eness

’

School leaders - used

to expecting each PD

course to deliver same

practice, same materials, same outcomes Need to explain to school leaders the reality of different needs of teachers

Quest

ions

Rem

ain

…

How will ELIS get buy-

in and publicise the SWP among teachers

in schools? How can ELIS build a

different culture and

approach to writing that is not exam-focused?

Will the idea work and should you proceed with

it?

Final A

ssess

ment

Yes…✔Political will✔Professional benefits to

teachers✔Potential for improved

performance for students

✔Suitability of host organisation ELIS

✔Assured support of NWP

✔Infrastructure & resources

To D

os

Present to ELIS Table for discussion at

Steering Committee? –

Feb 2013 Approval for Timeline &

Budget Participation in Summer

Institute – Jul 2013 Meet NWP Directors – Jul

2013 Study trip to Malta or HK?

To D

os

Decide focus of Associated International Site of

NWP in Singapore – The Singapore Writing

Project (SWP) Decide Site Leaders Decide which US Site

to partner

Meeti

ng C

apst

one

Proje

ct

Requir

em

ents

to provide Singapore teachers

with a

professional

development program that

would enable them to become

better teachers of writing.

create opportunities

for

Singapore to learn from an

excellent US professional

development program

create a platform for

conversations on writing

between US and Singapore

educators made possible through UMD

being an NWP Site & the

Fulbright experience

My T

hanks to

…

My T

hanks to

…

Dr Joseph McCaleb,University of Maryland

Mrs Wai Yin Pryke,Principal/ELIS

My T

hanks to

…

Dr Elyse Eidman-AadahNWP Director

Dr Joye Alberts,NWP Director

The teachers of Eleanor RooseveltHigh School

Mr James Miller

Mr Troy BradburyMs Michelle McGee

Ms Megan Purcell

The EndThanks be to God