Survey methods and interview procedure
A survey was distributed to selected students from all levels in the school during May 2017 to achieve the desired sample size. Taking into account their classes, co-curricular activities, and/or any other enrichment activities that may differentiate them from their counterparts in terms of their experiences in school, the selected students were chosen to allow the greatest diversity possible among the selected sample. While we do recognise that family background of the respondents may have a huge impact on the responses collected, we were unable to have the permission of the majority of the respondents to collect responses related to their family backgrounds. This factor is therefore omitted from this case study. Furthermore, in order to give the respondents sufficient time to think about their responses, the survey was sent to them through the school email system two weeks before the deadline instead of adopting an on-the-spot face-to-face interview approach. The survey sought basic responses on the students’ opinions of traditional Chinese culture and heritage values in the school, together with a short investigation into their awareness of the common school identities and traditional architectural spaces in school. Both multiple-choice (closed) questions and open- ended questions were included in the survey to allow coverage of both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the issue. While closed questions allow for a structured analysis of the data collected, open-ended questions offer new insights or opinions not covered in the multiple-choice questions. The inclusion of students from all levels with different backgrounds provides a platform to ensure that responses from representatives of various groups can be collated and analysed.
The interviews with the six respondents were conducted over the period between June 2017 and July 2017. While five of the interviewees were able to attend a face-to-face interview, one was only able to do a one-on-one telephone interview. In order to gather more perspective and points of view from different representatives, there is a list of only five basic guiding questions related to Chinese culture and heritage values, architectural spaces, and school identities, which served as an interview protocol to prevent the divergence of the interviewees from the topic. Apart from that, as long as the respondents remained on the right track without too much deviation, they were not stopped from expressing their thoughts. Follow-up questions were also available to clarify doubts if needed by the respondents. Each interview lasted for 30 minutes on average and little hesitancy was observed in most interviewees during the process. As the interviewees did not give consent for video and audio recording, handwritten notes were taken during the interview sessions and compiled afterward.
Results and discussion
Summary of sun'ey results and discussion
The sun'ey results were collected from current Dunman High smdents who had spent an average of 3.7 years in school at the time of the survey (Figure 12.1 gives the year distribution). Based on the survey results collated, there are a few key findings regarding their views on the significance and importance of school identities, along with their opinions on the architectural spaces of Dunman High School.
Firstly, while many (87%) of the students claimed to be at least roughly familiar with the school culture and heritage by rating their understanding of school heritage and culture as at least 2 out 5 (Figure 12.2) and all students were aware
Figure 12.1 Which year are you from?
Figure 12.2 On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate your understanding of the school culture and heritage?
Figure 12.3 Which of the following aspects of school identity are you aware of? (Can choose more than one)
of at least one basic aspect of school identity (Figure 12.3), the bulk of them (92.6%) are unaware of the significance and importance behind these identities and rated 2 and below (out of 6) as their answer when they were asked about the number of school identities of significance that they were aware of (Figure 12.4). This shows that the majority of the students simply know such representations of the school but do not explore any further meaning behind them. Furthermore, when the students were asked to describe the identity of the school using their own words or phrases, most of them were only able to state the phrases or words most repeated by the school leaders, such as "Dunmanian Family "Chinese” and “'ШИИЙ'” (Figure 12.5). This implies that a large group of the students do not have their own definition of the school identity, which stems from the lack of any coimnon understanding of and identification with the school heritage and culmre.
Figure 12.4 How many of the school identities of significance are you aware of?
Figure 12.5 How would you define the identity of our school using your own words?
Next, while Dunman High School, as one of the renowned Chinese Schools in Singapore, has many Chinese-culture-related architectural spaces and structures inside the school campus, only two of these were named as memorable and significant to past and present Dunman High School students. These two places are Zheng Xin Yuan 1Е'0@ (ranked number 1) and the Confucius statue (ranked number 4). These two locations are used for tuanbai or group celebration during Chinese New Year every year and are always deemed representative places on the school campus, as indicated by how they provide the locations for photo-taking during major events. Other commonly named spaces include the parade square, the place for flag raising every morning, the canteen - a must-go place
Figure 12.6 What are the challenges that you see, in terms of how you should carry forward the legacy of the school?
Figure 12.7 What are some places within campus, or outside campus, that have been significant to the collective memory of students past and present? (Can state more than one)
for everyone in school daily for food and a studying location for Senior High Students - and Kampong Arang, which is the nearest food centre for the Tanjong Rliu school campus, where many students will have their meals (Figure 12.6 and Figure 12.7). Inevitably, it can be seen that these locations are chosen as a result of their frequent usage and not because of the known significance behind these architectural spaces given by the school institution. The absence of those Chinese-culture-related places that provided an abundance of culniral and collective memories for students in the past from the list also shows the lack of awareness among current students in Dunman High School with regards to their studying environment.
