TLP1 (June to Sep 2018)

Secondary School Students’ Perceptions of 

‘Joy of Learning’ in Singapore

Miss Goh Kim Lian, Margaret¹, Mr Tan Hoe Teck², Mdm Tay Phuay Leng Elaine³, Mdm Frances Ong Hock Lin⁴, Mdm Quek Eng Chiew⁵

¹Zhangde Primary School

²School of Science and Technology, Singapore

³Anglo-Chinese Junior College

⁴Mayflower Secondary School

⁵Bukit View Secondary School

The purpose of this paper is to find out secondary school students’ perceptions towards  ‘Joy of Learning’ in Singapore and the ways to promote it in lesson design. It aims to explore through the lens of students the way they experience the joy of learning in the classroom, in school and outside school. The data was collected by tape-recording interviews with students aged 14 to 15 years in 2018. Based on the students’ opinions and experiences, a detailed description of their experiences of the joy of learning in secondary education was documented. This method of data collection is applied until it reaches a level of saturation, where no new themes can be surfaced from the latest interview. Based on the themes in the coding process, characteristics of the joy of learning will be identified. This will guide educators to design effective lessons that promote the joy of learning in secondary schools and beyond.

Keywords: the joy of learning; perception; experiences; secondary education