Singapore / Rivera the Westernization of Education

Singapore / Rivera

The westernization of education has influenced teacher training programs, particularly for school counselors. Rivers, Nash, Wah and Ibrahim (2008) wanted to take a look at training of school counselors in Singapore, a tiny Asian city-state where school counseling is just emerging as an independent and recognized profession. The authors wanted to put counselor training in Singapore in its proper cultural context, since schools and their students are different from those in the United States. As the authors point out, U.S. schools are often used as the model for so-called globalization efforts, and ideas do not necessarily translate effectively to the other side of the globe.

Rivera et al. acknowledged that two recent articles about the school counseling profession in Singapore, while they provided some information on the historical and cultural context, nevertheless provide an incomplete picture. Still, the authors felt that the two articles they reviewed were the best of what was available; there is not much literature on the topic. The first article discussed the progression of career guidance in Singapore schools. The three historical stages of the profession were discussed, in addition to cultural resistance by Singaporeans to the concept of personal guidance or counseling. The second article discussed applications of school guidance, where a 10-session psychoeducational group process was designed and used to look at Singaporean students' self-efficacy and self-regulation. Rivera et al. considered it significant that no mention was made in either article about the training the school counselors received. School counselors, according to their findings, were often categorized with various types of psychologists. If this is the case, then school counselors are not adequately prepared for the work they need to do.

Rivera et al. point out that school counselors are a relatively new phenomenon in Singapore society. They cited statistics from 2001 indicating that only 15 part-time school counselors worked in the system. None had been trained specifically to become school counselors; in every case, they were retired teachers with a 6-month diploma in counseling from the Singapore National Institute of Education. Clearly, this demonstrates that counseling was considered an afterthought, and an easy pathway through which teachers could make the transition from the teaching profession to full retirement.

One of the challenges faced in preparing school counselors is the diversity of the Singaporean population. Diversity must be acknowledged, but not openly; to do so could be considered inflammatory. This is a striking contrast to the U.S., where diversity if openly acknowledged and celebrated. A particular sensitivity must be included in training school counselors to work in Singapore.

Rivera et al. did not conduct a study in preparation of the referenced paper. They reviewed two papers for historical and cultural context and looked at other studies for additional information. The only original contribution to research was a personal communication dated two years before the article was written. It provided some insight into rising rates of depression among Singaporean students, underscoring the need for trained school counselors.