1.
What ideologies and realities can be identified
from the Information & Communications
Technology (ICT) Masterplan for education in
Singapore?
IDSP FACULTY COMPETITION 2019
LONDON, 3 JULY 2019
Mingjun Lan
Supervisor: Dr Susan Askew
UCL IOE

2.
(Recap) Aim and research question
 Interest in ICT-in-education; interest in policy discourses
 Explore how language may be used in social context
 What else is the document trying to say?
 What are the assumptions? What are purported as truths?
 How does it reflect reality and construct reality?
What ideologies and realities can be identified through a discourse analysis of the
ICT Masterplan for education in Singapore?

3.
(Recap) Methodology and method
Social
practice
Functional
Linguistic
MICRO-ANALYSIS
Looking for linguistic
devices and examining
the intent:
What cohesive,
coherence devices are
used?
Why is the discourse
presented in this way?
How is language used for
strategic
communication?
MACRO-ANALYSIS
Looking for constructed social
identities, power relations,
ideologies and realities:
Are there statements
presented as unquestionable
truths?
Are there any discourses from
other fields recontextualised
as education discourse?
The way people use language to do things reflect
the ideologies and realities they are trying to
promote and portray
[Fairclough’s 3D Framework of DA]

4.
Finding
The discourse in the ICT Masterplan seems to portray a future that is fast-paced and
uncertain.
Yet, the use of ICT as guided by the authority will make students “future-ready”:
It seems to promote the ideology that ICT will improve teaching and learning and
that ICT-in-education will develop students well for the future

5.
Emerging theme:
The world may be complex, but you will be
safe under the ministry

6.
Future is fast-changing, but we can be “future-ready”
Recontextualisation of
21CC discourse.
Appropriation of
language
[ICT MP discourse]
[21CC discourse]

7.
MOE’s ICT policy has been successful so far…
[First lap…]

8.
MOE’s ICT policy has been successful so far…

9.
MOE’s ICT policy has been successful so far…

10.
“The fourth Masterplan for ICT in Education (mp4) continues to build on the
achievements of the first three Masterplans, and broadens the focus beyond
Self-Directed Learning and Collaborative Learning to the Total Curriculum.”
… and it will get even better!

11.
MOE knows what is best for teachers and students

12.
Next steps
The future belongs to the
digital-savvy
The world may be
complex, but you will be
safe under the ministry
ICT will improve T&L

13.
Recommendation for Policy or Practice
 NOT a criticism of the policy. NOT a criticism of the document or author
 Expected to contribute to the small but growing literature on DA of policy
documents
 Help non-policymaking stakeholders make better sense of public policies
 Look at what else the policy discourses may promote and portray besides the surface-
level information in the policy document.

14.
Reflexivity
 To apply what had been taught at IOE; to challenge myself
 To see if the adoption of a specific analytic lens might help generate interesting themes beyond
the actual content found in the policy document
 Through the experience, learnt more about my own preconceived notions and knowledge and
even challenged my own beliefs and assumptions about social issues
 This research journey has helped me to further develop my independent critical thinking

15.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943) The Little Prince
Thank you for your kind attention!

16.
References
1. Brown, T. (2005). Beyond constructivism: exploring future learning paradigms. Education
Today. Issue 2. Aries Publishing Company, Thames, New Zealand.
2. Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change. Cambridge, UK: Polity.
3. Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing discourse: textual analysis for social research. New York:
Routledge.
4. Foucault, M. (1972). The archaeology of knowledge and the discourse on language. New
York: Pantheon Books.
5. Gee, J. (2010). Introduction to discourse analysis: theory and method. London: Routledge.
6. Halliday, M.A.K. (1994). An introduction to functional grammar. London: Arnold.

17.
References (cont’d)
7. Jones, R.H. (2012). Discourse analysis: a resource book for students. London: Routledge.
8. Ministry of Education, Singapore. (2015). ICT Connection: Masterplan 4. Retrieved from
https://ictconnection.moe.edu.sg/masterplan-4. (last accessed 29 June 2019).
9. Ministry of Education, Singapore. (2018). 21st Century Competencies. Retrieved from
https://www.moe.gov.sg/education/education-system/21st-century-competencies. (last
accessed 29 June 2019).
10. Moore, A. (2015). Learning in and out of the classroom. Understanding the school
curriculum: theory, politics and principles. London: Routledge.
11. Paltridge, B. (2012). Discourse analysis. London: Bloomsbury.
12. Rogers, R. (2011). An introduction to critical discourse analysis in education. New York:
Routledge.