1. Departing is my Arriving
Adrian Wong
Arts Education Officer (Drama)
Arts Education Branch
Student Development Curriculum Division
Ministry of Education, Singapore

2. A tribute to Kuo Pau Kun:
Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral
Home? I have no home
My home is across the ocean, on the seas.
Home? I have no home
My home is in alien countries, on faraway waters
Yesterday, from Liu Jia He to the Western Ocean
Today, from Longyamen to the Suzhou Park
Tomorrow, the Earth, the Moon, Mars and the Sun
Wandering is my residence
Departing is my arriving
I cannot tarry
I must hurry
The market is calling me!

3. Introduction
• Setting the context: Schooling in Singapore
• Why this project? - Introducing the researcher
and co-researcher
• Action research and Process Drama
• Hypotheses and Research questions
• Research design and data collection
• Outline of the drama- “Departing is my Arriving”
• Implications and emergent themes

4. Singapore’s population
• Republic of Singapore sits at the southern tip of
Malaysia, land mass of 42 km by 22 km
• Total population: 5.18 million (as of June 2011)
▫ Non-residents: 1.39 million
▫ Residents: 3.79 million
 Citizens: 3.26 million
 Permanent resident: 0.53 million
• Ethnic composition: Chinese (74%), Malays (13%),
Indian (9.2%) and others (3.3%)
• Essentially, Singapore is a nation formed by
migrants.

5. Schooling in Singapore
• National statutory board: Ministry of Education
• Compulsory 10 years of education
▫ Primary 1 – 6 [age 7 – 12]
▫ Secondary 1 – 5 [age 13 – 17 years]
▫ Post-secondary [age 16 and higher]
• National examinations at key stages that streams
students according to their abilities
 End of Primary 6
 End of Secondary 4 or Secondary 5
• English is the default language for all classroom
instructions except for “Mother Tongue” lessons.

6. Political, social and cultural context of
education in Singapore
• Political : Education is always tied to economic
needs of the nation
• Cultural : Education is heavily influenced by “Asian”
values of Confucianism, tended to be more teacher-
centered, usually whole class teaching and didactic
though in recent years large strides has been made
towards student-focused approaches.
• Social : Society reinforces the importance of
education, that better education provides greater
financial stability and greater social mobility in the
future.

7. The challenge of educational reform in
Singapore
• One of the challenges in educational reformis
“(c)hanges such a integrated curriculum, student
focused learning and formative assessment can
be easily framed within a progressivist
educational outlook with its roots deep in the
history and philosophy of Western education
other than the needs of Asian societies in the
twenty-first century.” (p. 49, Kennedy & Lee)
• Yet, the “more liberal the school curriculum, the
more necessary it was to retain local values.” (p.
53, Kennedy & Lee).

8. Drama and 21st Century Competencies
Desired Student
Outcomes
The desired outcomes for
every student are:
a concerned citizen who is
rooted to Singapore, has
a strong sense of civic
responsibility, is informed
about Singapore and the
world, and takes an active
part in bettering the lives of
others around him.

9. Specifics of the local context
Teacher/researcher Context of practice [Jul to Sept 2011]
• Adrian Wong, Senior Teacher • CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls‟ school
[Drama], M.Ed [Drama [Secondary]
Education] • 1,600 students, top 10% of their
 Ethnic Chinese cohort
• 98% Ethnic Chinese
 Studied „Higher‟ Chinese and
• 65.1% of them speak English
Chinese Literature at home
 Bilingual • 33.3% of them speak
• Sri Laxshemy, Literature in Mandarin at home
English and Drama teacher • Special Assistance Plan (SAP)
▫ Ethnic Indian status: bi-cultural programmes
▫ Studied Malay language in • Secondary 1: 380 students
school, understands spoken • 10 classes, each half taught by 1
Chinese (Mandarin) teacher, concurrent lessons

10. Why action research?
Gall, Gall and Borg (1999, p.3) regard educational
research as “the systematic collection and
analysis of information in order to develop valid,
generalizable descriptions, predictions,
interventions, and explanations relating to
various aspects of education”.
Johnson (2005, p.21) has defined action research
as the “process of studying a real school or
classroom situation to understand and improve
the quality of actions or instruction”.

11. Why this action research? (1)
• Principles of drama praxis are derived from the
progressive traditions of the Western world with
different beliefs about teaching and learning
(Wong, 2009).
• In translating principles of practice (of applied
drama) in local contexts (Nicholson, 2005, p.
39), we are not only crossing geographical but
ideological borders as well.
• What are the issues of having process drama in
Singapore‟s school system?

12. Why this action research? (2)
Narratives, identities and languages in applied drama:
“A narrative conception of selfhood recognizes that identity is
not constructed autonomously but in relation to
others, through both language and other symbolic codes
available in different cultural practices (and) (i)n describing
the self as discursively or culturally constructed, … (it is)
suggesting that identity is uniquely layered through a
historical sedimentation of events and experiences over
which, as individuals, we have some degree of choice.” (p.
65, Nicholson, 2005)
“…the use of both fictional and autobiographical narratives to
play with alternative constructions of selfhood, to frame
experiences in order to view life from different places and
perspectives.” (p. 66, Nicholson, 2005)

13. Why this action research? (3)
Process drama: Aesthetic engagement
Another way of learning, or rather, understanding about the world
around us (Jackson, 1999, p. 56) through the aesthetic experience. It
is the personal connections the percipients made in response to it. It
is deeply personal as it refers to the realization by the percipients (p.
57).
Nicholson (1999) further added that the aesthetics within drama
education “recognizes, and values, the cultural diversity which exists
in today‟s pluralist and postmodern world.” (p. 83). She posited that
an aesthetic engagement is highly idiosyncratic to the personal,
social and cultural values of the participants who are actively
involved in the drama as they interpret the dramatic events actively
through their identification with the event, or through questioning
the values and feelings of others (p. 86).
Bundy (2003) forwarded that when students are engaged and open to
the experience of the drama, and connecting with the experience on
a metaphorical level, they are encouraged to be more open to new
ideas and thoughts.

14. Why this action research? (4)
• Process drama: Second language acquisition
 Kao & O‟Neill (1998) explain, “Language acquisition
arises from the urge to do things with words, and
this need becomes paramount in process drama,
when participants are required to manipulate the
dramatic circumstances to achieve their own goals ”
(p. 4).
 In the context of EFL and ESL, where the
pedagogical aim is to develop students‟ confidence
and competence in the use of English language, with
instructions/facilitation in English.

15. Hypothesis 1:
Drama’s impact on students
• Tapping into students‟ personal stories of their
own ancestry, using them in the process drama
of their ancestors‟ journey to Singapore and
creating a play at the end of the process will have
a positive impact on their sense of cultural and
national identity.
• This will in turn nurture an increased use of and
greater appreciation for the Chinese
language, the diversity in the Chinese „cultures‟
and social-cultural diversities in the classroom.

16. Hypothesis 2:
Teachers’ impact on the Drama
• The two teachers will make different choices in
the facilitation, introduce different knowledge
and respond differently during the unit of work,
due to their ethnic identities and subjective
cultural knowledge.
• This will in turn impact students‟ experience of
the drama, which may impact the outcome of the
action research.

17. Research Questions
• RQ1 : What is the drama‟s impact on students‟
cultural, ethnic and national identities?
• RQ2 : What is the drama‟s impact on students‟
appreciation of Chinese culture and use of the
Chinese language?
• RQ3: How does the teachers‟ ethnicity impact
their choices during the unit of drama?
• RQ4 : What is the impact of the teachers‟
ethnicity and their subjective choices on
students‟ engagement with the drama?

18. Data collection
• Pre-intervention survey
• Post-intervention survey
• Teachers‟ weekly reflection of their own lessons
• Teachers‟ observations of students over 10 weeks

19. Survey questions (sample)
1) I identify myself as a Singaporean.
2) I identify myself as Chinese / has Chinese origins.
3) I identify myself more as a Singaporean than
Chinese / of Chinese descent.
4) I identify myself more as Chinese / of Chinese
descent than with my dialect group.
5) It is important for me to know how my ancestors
came to be in Singapore (or country of birth) and
how they lived.
6) I am interested to find out more about how my
ancestors came to be in Singapore (or country of
birth) and how they lived.

20. The process drama
“Departing is my Arriving”
• Adapted from “First Fleet” (O‟Toole & Dunn,
2002)
• The lesson exemplars have been tried and tested
by experienced practitioners grounded in praxis.
• The themes of migration are similar.

21. Outline of unit of work [1]
Phase 1 : Initiation Phase 2: Experiential
• Data collection • Creating the drama
• Research task ▫ Preparing to leave China
• Context building ▫ Trapped on the Chinese
▫ Teacher to share personal Junk
histories
▫ Students to share personal • Extending the drama
history / histories ▫ Research into the journey
▫ Creating characters from from China to Singapore
the personal/family ▫ Snapshots of journey
histories ▫ Disembarking from the ship

24. Outline of unit of work [2]
Phase 3: Reflection Phase 4: Crafting the drama
• Rolling freeze frames set in the • Using the letters, diary entries
context of paintings in the and poems written in- and out
Asian Civilization Museum of role, the students will use
[Narration with excerpts from them as source material
the play] (together with their research
and personal stories) for the
scenes of their play.
• Play-building [Theme-based
play]

25. Findings
From hypothesis 1 From hypothesis 2
• RQ1: • RQ3:
▫ Survey results: No significant
difference in quantitative ▫ The teachers‟ ethnicities
data impact on the
 personal stories
• RQ2:  specificity of historical and
▫ Students used their subjective cultural details that they can
family history and knowledge
in their role-play, writing-in- provide the students out-of-
role and performance role
▫ Students were using Chinese • RQ4:
(and dialects) in their ▫ Survey results: Not
performances though the
lessons were conducted in significant between the 2
English halves of the same class

26. Survey questions (highlights)
1) I identify myself as a Singaporean. [4.9 – 5.5]
2) I identify myself as Chinese / has Chinese origins. [4.5 – 5]
3) I identify myself more as a Singaporean than Chinese / of Chinese
descent. [4.3 – 5]
4) I identify myself more as Chinese / of Chinese descent than with my
dialect group. [3.8 – 4.2]
5) It is important for me to know how my ancestors came to be in
Singapore (or country of birth) and how they lived. [4.2 – 4.5]
6) I am interested to find out more about how my ancestors came to be
in Singapore (or country of birth) and how they lived. [4.5 – 4.8]

27. Findings (1):
• The survey result did not indicate a significant
change on their sense of national and ethnic
identity. The students still reported a stronger
identification with their national identity than their
ethnic identity.
• BUT the students were observed to be highly
engaged in excavating their subjective social,
cultural and personal histories, sharing them with
their peers and using these personal knowledge in
the unit of work.
• They made a choice to use Chinese language and
some of their dialects in their work, as they want to
strive for authenticity in their drama work.

28. Adrian’s reflection [Term 3 Week 1]
“It was the first lesson of the term, where they
were supposed to share their research task.
There was a sense of anticipation for almost all
the classes. I observed students sharing their
research tasks with their peers even before the
lesson, all intently reading.
… After I have shared a story from my family
history about my mother leaving China for
„Nanyang‟, the students took turns to share their
family history. All of them were focused,
respectful and genuinely curious.”

29. Sri’s reflection [Term 4 Week 1]
“I was surprised this week when I was giving the
classes their performance task. There were at least
one group from my half of the classes who asked if
they could use Chinese and/or dialect in their
performances. Even those students whom I know
speak more English than Chinese. They were
concerned that I might „mark them down‟ because I
couldn‟t understand. I told them I could understand
some basic Chinese but not enough to correct them
if they were wrong. Satisfied with my response, they
continue with their discussion and rehearsal, using
Chinese at times.”

30. Findings (2):
• The teachers did make different choices, but
most of them are out-of-role and often in
providing contextual and historical knowledge to
the students.
▫ E.g. Sri : Indians were called “Kiling-kia”
▫ E.g. Adrian : Communism in China
• These are no significant differences in the survey
between the 2 halves of the classes, across the 10
classes, in their response to the unit of work.

31. Adrian’s reflection [Term 3 Week 3]
“A student shared that her ancestor had to escape from
Communism in China. She clarified that her family was
well to do. Her grandmother had to bind her feet when
she was young but when they heard the communists
were near, she had to „unbind‟ her feet. Most students do
not understand nor have the contextual knowledge about
Communism. I felt I had to explain, in a nutshell, about
Communism and why some felt that they have to leave
the country. I also related how the Chinese diaspora is
felt all over the world.
I found that I have the contextual knowledge and
background to inform them of such information. They
were acquiring such knowledge not as disinterested
facts, but there are affective interest to want to know
such facts to inform their understanding of the stories.”

32. Adrian’s reflection [Term 3 Week 3]
“Some students shared how their grandmothers had to bind
their feet when she was young, and I asked the class why.
They could not explain so I introduced that fact that only girls
from rich families need to bind their feet them as it was a sign
of their wealth and status. The students leaned forward with
interest as such cultural knowledge situate and clarify the
stories in context.
These moments, teaching moments, which were spontaneous
and arose out of the structure of the unit of work, are
moments where the students’ cultural identities are
strengthened by relevant knowledge of history. They
are deepening their roots in the context of their personal
histories – histories that are deeply embedded in and
interwoven with the history of Singapore, the history of the
Chinese diaspora and certainly the narratives of departing
and arriving.”

33. What do these findings mean? (1)
• The unit of drama has the capacity to raise
students‟ awareness and knowledge of their own
personal histories (nestled within the history of
the country) and those of their peers, which can
contribute to their development as concerned
citizens of the world who are culturally rooted to
Singapore.
• Though instructed/facilitated in English, the
unit of drama has a positive impact on students‟
use of Chinese language.

34. What do these findings mean? (2)
• The teachers‟ ethnic identities do not have an
impact on students‟ experiences of the drama.
• The teachers drew on their subjectivist cultural
knowledge to provide historical context to the
students, where needed.
• The consistency in facilitation, even between
teachers for different classes, creates the
experience for the students that engage them
with the themes of the drama.

35. Implications for Singapore
• The unit of process drama, when properly
facilitated, can have an impact on students
regardless of the ethnicities of both the
teacher/facilitators and the students.
• This unit of work can be adapted to suit the
multi-cultural classrooms in Singapore.

36. Other outcomes
• Students‟ responses
▫ “History has come alive for me!”
▫ “Now, I know why people travel so far to a foreign
place to find work.”
▫ “Better than Chinese History lessons.”
▫ Significant moment reported: Trapped within the
Chinese Junk
• Teachers‟ observations
▫ Almost all groups chose to re-create the scene in
the Chinese Junk where they were packed together

37. Limitations to the study
• Structural constraints that makes it challenging
to sustain students‟ engagement in the unit of
work over 10 weeks.
▫ Timetable
▫ School holidays and other events
▫ Unpredicted „interruptions‟
 Student teachers
 Lesson observations

38. Other emergent themes (1)
• Consistency in facilitation produces greater
sophistication in students‟ making and
presenting of their performances.
• Consistency in facilitation produces greater
engagement with the themes, and students
shows a lot more reverence and care towards the
process of making and presenting, aiming for
authenticity in historical facts, mood, use of
language and even space.

39. Adrian’s reflection (Term 4 Week 3)
“I had student teachers who were assigned to the Sec 1
classes and as part of their learning experience, they
have to take over some of my classes for 3 weeks
during which the key episodes where the teacher
and students are collectively improvising. As the
student teachers had little experience facilitating
process dramas, some of their practice became
„activity-based‟ where the student teachers were
following the lesson plans as written but had little
notion of how to lead the students through the
experience by modelling story-telling, using key
questions and using TIR effectively to engage the
students to collectively imagine the situations with
them.”

40. Other emergent themes (2)
• The triangulation of data between teachers‟
reflections, teachers‟ observations and students‟
responses shows that a critical moment of the
process drama (in the Chinese junk) has a
significant impact on the students such that they
want to re-create the moment in their
presentations.
• This suggests that the students experienced
aesthetic engagement with the drama at that
critical moment.

41. Sri’s reflection (Term 4 Week 1)
“Most of the groups want to present a scene of the
immigrants on board the Chinese junk. This
coincides with the lesson where the students
were improvising the scene where they were
huddling on board. I entered in-role as someone
from the Gongxi, suggesting hidden danger
through my “gangster” gestures and
demeanour… Out of role, I asked them questions
like … “What about the women on board?”,
“What if someone offended the guard?” …”

42. More questions than answers
Home? I have no home
My home is across the ocean, on the seas.
Home? I have no home
My home is in alien countries, on faraway waters
Yesterday, from Liu Jia He to the Western Ocean
Today, from Longyamen to the Suzhou Park
Tomorrow, the Earth, the Moon, Mars and the Sun
Wandering is my residence
Departing is my arriving
I cannot tarry
I must hurry
The market is calling me!

43. References
Bundy, P. (2003). Aesthetic engagement in the drama process. Research in
Drama Education, 8(2), 171 - 181.
Ferrance, E. (2000) Action research. Providence: Brown University.
Gall, J.P., Gall, M.D., and Borg, W.R. (1999). Applying Educational Research:
A practical guide (4th Ed.). New York: Longman.
Jackson, A. (1999). The centrality of the aesthetic in educational theatre. NJ,
23(2), 51 - 63.
Johnson, A.P. (2005). A short guide to action research (2nd ed.). Boston:
Allyn and Bacon.
Kao, S. & O' Neill, C. (1998). Words into worlds: Learning a second language
through process drama. Stanford: Ablex Publishing Corporation.
Kennedy, K. J., Lee, J. (2010) The changing role of schools in asian societies:
Schools for the knowledge society. Oxon: Routledge.
Nicholson, H. (1999). Aesthetic values, drama education and the politics of
difference. NJ, 23(2), 81 - 90.
Nicholson, H. (2005) Applied drama: The gift of theatre. London: Palgrave
Macmillan.
O'Toole, J., Stinson, M., & Moore, T. (2009). Drama and curriculum: A giant
at the door. United Kingdom: Springer.
Wong, A. (2009). Believing In(to) the profession. Unpublished Research,
National Institute of Education, Singapore.

44. Contact details
• Adrian Wong:
▫ adrianwong77@gmail.com
▫ Adrian_WONG@moe.gov.sg