The Impact of Educational Change Processes in Brunei Preschools: An Interpretive Study By: Nordiana Zakir A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Social Science School of Education The University of Sheffield October 2017 The Impact of Educational Change Processes in Brunei Preschools: An Interpretive Study Nordiana Zakir A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Social Science School of Education The University of Sheffield October 2017 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. I am thankful to Allah, The Almighty, for his blessings and providing me with the strength, patience and courage to pursue and finish this study. Alhamdulillah. I would like to thank His Majesty Sultan and Yang Di Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam for providing the scholarship and giving me the opportunity to pursue my studies. I would like to express my special thanks and sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Elizabeth Wood, for her time, endless support, patience, understanding, constructive feedback and encouragement throughout the course of this study. Thank you for believing in me and your constant push to challenge my limit. I would like to thank the Ministry of Education, Brunei for allowing me to collect data in the selected schools. I would also like to thank my participants as this study would not have been possible without the teachers, the children, their parents, and the senior officers who participated in this study. Special thanks go to my husband; Mohd Hardiyamin Barudin and my daughter; Daniya, for their endless personal encouragement, love, sacrifice, prayers, understanding and support. Special appreciation and thanks go to my father Haji Zakir Mangarshah, my mother Hajah Fatimah Haji Abdul Hamid, my father in-law Haji Barudin, my mother in-law Dr. Dulima Jali, my siblings and families, best friends and colleagues for your continuous prayers, understanding, encouragement and support. May Allah SWT reward all of you in return for your kindness. ABSTRACT The overall aim of this research is to understand the change processes in teaching and learning that are going on in the Brunei government’s preschools. The study also aims to find out the Bruneian preschool teachers’ and children’s teaching and learning experiences in the preschool classes at this exciting and challenging time of curriculum reform. The study also observed how teachers are developing their lessons and implementing reform processes informed by the expected pedagogical practice, and how children are learning in class, taking into account their experiences. A further aim of this study is to find out, at the ministerial level (the Early Childhood Care and Education Unit and the Curriculum Department Unit), the expectations in terms of the change processes as these occur, and how the preschool teachers are supported. To achieve the aims, 123 teachers completed the questionnaire, four teachers and eight children were involved in observations and interviews, and two senior education officers were interviewed. The Brunei education policy has good intentions of trying to bring in different ideas but the journey from policy to practice is not a linear process. This study showed there are dislocations between how policy is conceptualised and how policy is enacted in ECCE settings; in particular there are specific actions that need to happen at the macro, meso and micro levels. There are certain change processes that need to happen for the policy-practice interface to be more coherent. This study aims to understand the layers of complexity involved in the change processes prescribed for the Brunei preschool education system. No curriculum reform can succeed without teachers’ input and their active constructive participation. The issue is not simply about changing the curriculum or transforming the education landscape at preschools in Brunei; it also involves teachers’ modes of thinking, their communicative approaches and their professional identities. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF APPENDICES CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY 1 1.1. Introduction 1 1.2. Rationale of the study 1 1.3. Purposes of the research 3 1.4. Research aims and questions 3 1.5. Significance of the study 4 1.6. Implication of the study 4 1.7. Terminology 5 1.8. Thesis structure 5 CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY: BRUNEI 6 2.1. Introduction 6 2.2. Brief information about Brunei 6 2.3. Development of the Brunei preschool education system before SPN21 13 2.4. Brunei national vision 2035 (Wawasan Brunei 2035) 14 2.5. National education system for the 21st Century, SPN21 16 2.6. Preschool education in Brunei 17 2.7. The Brunei preschool education curriculum 18 2.8. Objectives of Brunei preschool curriculum 19 2.9. Preschool curriculum concept 19 2.10. Curriculum organisation 20 2.11. The preschool education syllabus 21 2.12. Teaching themes 21 2.13. Teaching strategy and approaches 22 2.14. Classroom management 23 2.15. Allocated time 24 2.16. Preschool assessment 24 2.17. Brunei culture and its relation to learning and teaching practices 24 2.18. Transformation towards improving services for Brunei preschool 25 education under SPN21 2.19. Preschool teacher training 25 2.20. Analysis of policy change in the Brunei preschool education system 28 2.21. Summary 30 CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW 31 3.1. Introduction 31 3.2. International practice of curriculum reforms 31 3.3. Cultural tensions 37 3.4. Theories of early childhood pedagogy 45 3.5. Teachers’ knowledge, theories and beliefs 46 3.6. Teachers as agents of change 49 3.7. Children’s perceptions and learning experiences 51 3.8. Definitions of educational change 53 3.9. The process and models of implementing change 54 3.10. Responses to change 62 3.11. Factors that contribute as roadblocks or that support 63 the implementation of change 3.12. Leadership 65 3.13. Ways to sustain initiated changes in education 66 3.14. Teacher training and professional development 67 3.15. Summary 71 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 72 4.1. Introduction 72 4.2. Research aims and questions 72 4.3. Orientation of research 74 4.4. Theoretical framework of the study 80 4.5. Positionality and perspective 82 4.6. Sampling 83 4.7. Methods of data collection 86 4.8. Questionnaire 88 4.9. Classroom observations 94 4.10. Interviews 98 4.11. Document analysis 105 4.12. Pilot study 105 4.13. Stages of data collection: Main study 106 4.14. Approach to analytical strategy 109 4.15. Ethical considerations 116 4.16. Issues of research ethics 118 4.17. Summary 120 CHAPTER 5: FINDINGS 121 5.1. Introduction 121 5.2. Findings from teachers 121 5.3. Questionnaire findings 121 5.4. Key themes from the questionnaire findings 137 5.5. Summary of questionnaire findings 142 5.6. Teachers’ interview findings 143 5.7. Main four teachers’ backgrounds 143 5.8. Main themes from teachers’ interviews 144 5.9. Positive responses 145 5.10. Difficulties in implementing the curriculum 150 5.11. Cautious responses 153 5.12. Coping with the changes 154 5.13. Characteristics of an ideal teacher 156 5.14. Summary of teachers’ interview findings 157 5.15. Findings from observing teachers in action 158 5.16. Anita (Untrained teacher) 158 5.17. Hana (Untrained teacher) 160 5.18. Laila (Trained teacher) 163 5.19. Tina (Trained teacher) 166 5.20. Classroom practice 169 5.21. Pedagogy 170 5.22. Support 174 5.23. Challenges 175 5.24. Summary of the findings from observing the four teachers 176 5.25. Findings from the children 177 5.26. Children’s information and data collection 177 5.27. Emerging themes from children’s findings 177 5.28. Attitude 178 5.29. Attitudes towards learning 179 5.30. Attitudes towards teachers 185 5.31. Classroom space 187 5.32. Access to resources 191 5.33. Summary of the children’s findings 195 5.34. Senior officers’ interview findings 196 5.35. Emerging themes from senior officers’ interview findings 196 5.36. Reasons for change 196 5.37. Awareness of teachers’ challenges 197 5.38. Challenges in implementing change 198 5.39. Teachers’ attitudes 198 5.40. Support 199 5.41. Characteristics of an ideal teacher 200 5.42. Summary of the senior officers’ interview findings 201 CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION 202 6.1. Introduction 202 6.2. Demographic data 202 6.3. The change drivers and processes in the Brunei government preschool 203 education system 6.4. Delivery model of change 206 6.5. Brunei government preschool teachers’ ways of responding to the 209 changes 6.6. The ways teachers use their capacity and knowledge in planning the 212 teaching and learning experiences of the preschool children, organising the environment, and implementing the curriculum 6.7. Classroom practice 212 6.8. Support 222 6.9. Challenges 223 6.10. Preschool children’s perceptions of their learning experience in the 228 Brunei government preschools 6.11. Senior officers’ perspectives on teachers and children in terms of 229 provision and policing the progress of change in teaching and learning in Brunei government preschools 6.12. Reflexivity 232 6.13. Summary of senior officers’ perspectives on teachers and children in 234 terms of provision and policing the progress of change in teaching and learning in Brunei government preschools CHAPTER 7: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 237 7.1. Introduction 237 7.2. Brief outcomes of the study 237 7.3. Contribution of the thesis 238 7.4. Implications of the study 239 7.5. Implications for further research 242 7.6. Conclusion 243 REFERENCES 245 APPENDICES 256 LIST OF FIGURES Page CHAPTER 2 Figure 2.1.