Arthur joined CARE in March 2022 as a Senior Research Fellow. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Southeast Asian Studies from National University of Singapore, and further trained at Singapore University of Technology and Design and Massachusetts Institute of Technology under a joint post-doctoral research fellowship programme. He is an ethnographer who has studied and published on professional work and learning including eldercare work in Singapore. He is curious about the nature, meanings, and dynamics of ageing and caregiving, and their shifting social and cultural ideas, strategies, and practices amidst demographic, social, and economic changes. Prior to CARE, Arthur was a senior researcher at the Institute for Adult Learning (IAL), Singapore University of Social Sciences. His research projects and interests include health pedagogy and professional development, workplace health and safety, and labour studies that draw on contemporary theory in the social sciences. He has also designed and facilitated training workshops and professional development courses at IAL that engender workers’ agency for learning and innovation activities. At CARE, Arthur seeks to examine social innovations, productive ageing, and caregiving practices to inform eldercare systems, professional practices, and policies as well as contribute to research and knowledge production leading to higher quality and more equitable outcomes.
Google Scholar Profile
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Arthur’s research interest in ageing includes transition and life course, caregiving, and frailty. His current and future research in these areas focus on applying socio-cultural anthropological perspectives and critical approaches to shed new light and understanding on the issues and challenges of an ageing society.
Specific research foci are
(1) Realist evaluation of healthcare programmes
(2) Ethnographies of caregiving
(3) New eldercare models/infrastructures/systems
(4) Qualitative research approaches and methodologies in healthcare
Journal Articles
- Chia, A. (2020). Theorizing eldercare work: An orders of worth analysis, Home Health Care Services Quarterly Journal, 39(2), p.107-125 https://doi.org/10.1080/01621424.2020.1740130
- Chen, Z., Chia, A., & Bi, X. (2020). Promoting innovative learning in training and adult education – a Singapore Story, Studies in Continuing Education: https://doi.org/10.1080/0158037X.2020.1772224
- Chia, A. and Cho, M. (2018). Learning by ‘Design’: How undergraduates in a technological university in Singapore learn to become engineers, Children’s Geographies, 16(1), p.27-38
- Chia, A. (2015). Inclusive spirituality: The Bodhisattva Kuan-yin as moral exemplar and self-cultivation in a Malaysian Dharma House, Southeast Asian Studies, 4(3), p.581-603
Book Chapters
- Chia, A. (2022). Future of work, transitions, and future-oriented learning. In Helen Bound et al (eds.). Pedagogies for Future-Oriented Adult Learners. Lifelong Learning Book Series, vol 27. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92867-4_6
- Billett S., Yang S., Chia A., Tai J.F., Lee M., Alhadad S. (2021). Remaking and Transforming Cultural Practices: Exploring the Co-occurrence of Work, Learning, Innovation. In Lemmetty S., Collin K., Glăveanu V.P., Forsman P. (eds.) Creativity and Learning. Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77066-2_10
- Chia, A. (2017). Myths of Innovation and Technology: From Intelligent Island to Smart Nation. In Loh K.S., Thum P.J., J. Chia (eds.) Living with Myths: Exploring Singapore’s Pasts and Futures. Singapore: Ethos Publishing, p.115-122.
- Bound, H., Chia, A. & Lee, W.C. (2017). “Spaces and spaces ‘in between’ – relations through pedagogical tools and learning”. In S. Choy, W. Gun-Britt, & V. Lindberg. (eds.) Integration of vocational education and training experiences: Purposes, practices and principles. Springer, p.243-258
- Bound, H. and Chia, A. (2016). How does assessment mediate learning spaces. In A. Ostendorf, C.K. Permpoonwiwat (eds.) Workplace as Learning Spaces – conceptual and empirical insights. Innsbruck: Innsbruck University Press, p.143-165 https://www.uibk.ac.at/iup/buch_pdfs/asem_2016/10.152033122-73-4.pdf
Book Review
- Chia, A. (2016). Andrew Alan Johnson’s Ghosts of the New City: Spirits, Urbanity, and the Ruins of Progress in Chiang Mai. TRaNS, 4(2), p.3-5.
Commentaries
Research Reports (selected)
- Chia, A, Yang, S., & Lee, M. (2019). Innovative learning cultures in Small Medium Enterprises: cross-case analysis. Singapore: IAL.
- Bound, H., Chia, A. & Karmel, A. (2016). Assessment for the changing nature of work: cross-case analysis. Singapore: IAL.
Case-studies/Practice Notes/Other Publications (selected)
- Chia, A. (2019). Seven Enablers of Innovative Learning Culture. Singapore: IAL.
- Bound, H., & Chia, A. (2019). Six Principles of Learning Design. Singapore: IAL.
Book in progress
- Bound, H., Edwards, A., Evans, K., & Chia, A. (eds.). Workplace Learning for Changing Circumstances. Routledge (2022).