Abstract:

Singapore schools are known for their students’ achievements as documented by the, Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), the Programme for International Student Achievement (PISA) and the McKinsey’s reports thereby attracting the attention of policy makers and educators internationally as they seek an understanding of its education success. Singapore is also one of the very few countries in the world which practices streaming of all secondary students, a policy long eschewed by most western countries. Streaming groups together academically weak students and labels them and these students are usually sidelined within the school. What do principals in Singapore do with these students and how do they exercise their leadership roles within this contextual challenge to bring about positive student outcomes?

This paper examines a group of Singaporean secondary school principals' leadership behaviours towards this group of academically weak students based on the grounded theory of "selective engagement" proposed by Ong (2008) and Ong and Dimmock (2011). The behaviours/actions toward this group of students can be classified as innovating, adapting, abiding and equalizing. The actions of these principals led to the classification of these 10 principals into three main types – realist/pragmatists, innovators/improvisers, and nurturers. Each of the ‘type’ exhibits behaviours that are predominant for each ‘type’ although these behaviours may also overlap. These behaviours demonstrate examples of how principals can influence their students through direct-effects, mediated- effects and reciprocal-effects.

Keywords:

Leadership, streaming, Singapore, principals, management, grounded theory, typology, behaviour.