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This paper explores how thinking and values in student teachers are cultivated in the Singapore context, via a case study of a teacher educator selected based on having won excellence in teaching c...

Singapore’s education system is set against a multilingual landscape where students learn English and their ethnically ascribed mother tongue in schools, leading to ‘English-knowing bilingualism’. Deliberate language policy and planning, selective teacher recruitment, and rigorous pre-service and continual professional development programmes have all contributed to Singapore’s educational success. Education in the 21st century cannot ignore the forces of globalisation set against the backdrop of the fourth industrial revolution, where digitalisation, interconnectivity, and the breakneck speed of knowledge transfer are taken as a given, and where the problems faced at both global and local levels are highly complex. This chapter argues the need to re-think traditional paradigms and approaches to teacher education, and showcases language teacher education in the 21st century from a Singaporean perspective where bold steps have been taken both to conceptualise and actualise a teacher education programme that aims to prepare future-ready graduates.

This chapter describes how two high-performing educational systems, Ontario, Canada and Singapore, create policy systems designed to ensure quality teaching across communities, and compares their systematic approaches to the much less coherent policy system in the United States. These cases are drawn from a recently completed study of international teaching policy, with colleagues, seven jurisdictions within five countries around the world that have worked to develop comprehensive teaching policy systems. The chapter explores a multi-method, multiple case study design to investigate the policies and practices that support teaching quality within education systems. It discusses the Ontario and Singapore cases here because in some ways, they are most like states in the US in their size and student demographics. Ontario is one of the highest-performing provinces in one of the highest-performing countries in the world; 28 percent of its students are immigrants, nearly twice the proportion in the United States.

This paper examined undergraduate pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their expectations, fulfilment of these expectations and the relevance of their coursework for classroom practices during three different practicum attachments. These aspects were assessed using questionnaires implemented at the end of each attachment. One-way ANOVA with repeated measures was used to compare 76 pre-service teachers’ responses. The results showed significant differences in their perceptions across the three attachments. Pairwise t-test comparisons also found some significant differences between attachments. The findings of the study are discussed in the light of implications for continued programme development and enhancements to the practicum component that can help to bridge the theory–practice nexus in pre-service teacher education, and contribute to the development of teachers’ professional competencies.

The twenty-first century is a time of rapid changes in an increasingly diverse and complex world. The advent of social media and mobile learning means that we are living in an increasingly interconnected and media-saturated society. It is difficult to predict how the world will look like in the next decade, yet teachers need to prepare their students to meet the challenges of the global workplace and society in the new millennium. Students will need to grapple with new technologies and changing global and societal structures. They will also be facing many emerging and complex, social and environmental issues that are currently unfathomable and therefore almost impossible to predict.

Educational reform movements around the world are setting ambitious goals for student learning, and major developments in classroom practices largely rely on teachers who need support and guidance (Ball and Cohen in Teaching as the learning profession: Handbook of policy and practice, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, pp. 3–32, 1999; Fullan and Miles in Phi Delta Kappan 73:745–752, 1992). If schools are to produce more powerful learning for students, more powerful learning opportunities must be offered to teachers (Feiman-Nemser in Teachers College Record 103(6), 1013–1055, 2001). Unless teachers have access to serious and sustained learning opportunities at every stage of their career, they will be unlikely to teach in ways that meet the demanding new standards for student learning or participate in the solution of educational problems.

Education is a dynamic social phenomenon and can change with social transitions such as globalisation. Consequently, facets of the education system, such as teaching and learning which are the school’s main core business and responsibility, must also be constantly updated to stay relevant. Specifically, it is important to ensure that school activities and resources are augmented to benefit both teachers and students. In the same way, various innovations in curriculum and pedagogy are regularly developed and experimented on to keep up with the fast-changing world.

Despite the small geographical size of the nation, the Singapore economy is one of the most prosperous in the world. Not only does it rank as the best country in the world to do business (Economy Watch in 2011 World Bank ease of doing business index, 2011), but Singapore has also been highlighted as a high-performing education system with features that other systems could learn from Barber and Mourshed (How the world’s best-performing school systems come out on top. McKinsey & Company, New York, 2007). The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD in Strong performers and successful reformers in education: Lessons from PISA for the United States. Author, Paris, France, pp. 159–176, 2010) also commented on the strong link between education and economic development in Singapore, as well as between policy formulation and policy implementation.

In line with the Ministry of Education's vision of the delivery of twenty-first century competencies amongst all students in Singapore, the National Institute of Education in Singapore employs service learning as a pedagogical tool to develop community outreach and engagement. This paper begins with a review of related literature on service learning as a means of enhancing the quality of pre-service teacher education programmes internationally. It then looks at how the teaching of the English language may be used as a principal means by which students can make an impact on a local community of their choice in the Singaporean context. It draws attention to the nexus of theory and practice via highlighting three service-learning projects where the vital relationship between the pedagogical methods area of study known as Curriculum Studies on English Language Teaching and the opportunity to practise English language teaching outside the traditional clinic field experience offered through practicum posting ar...

Today's teachers are expected to use modern digital technology (DT) to optimise pedagogical effects. Singaporean policy makers have introduced directives to explicitly require teachers to apply DT in teaching. Inherent in such directives is an assumption that by requiring teachers to apply DT, they will perceive its value and use it in their teaching. This paper tests this assumption. Students in initial teacher education programs in Singapore responded to a survey on four variables about their use of DT: (1) compliance with requirements, (2) sense of competence, (3) perceived value and (4) frequency of DT application. Compliance was found to be negatively correlated with competence and uncorrelated with frequency, indicating that teachers who were more competent in DT were less likely to be compliant and those who were compliant may not actually apply DT in teaching. In contrast, both competence and value were positively correlated with frequency of application. Compliance differs for students in different programs and is higher for females. The results indicate that mandating use of DT may not be useful. A more productive approach may be to enhance the competence of teachers in DT so that they value its effectiveness and are confident to apply it in classroom activities. Practitioner Notes What is already known about this topic There is a global trend that education authorities require teachers to apply educational technology in classroom practices., Requiring people to comply with directives from the authority may not always lead to conformity., Self-perception of competence has significant positive influence on human behaviour., What this paper adds Teachers who are more competent with DT are less likely to be compliant., Teachers who are compliant may not actually apply DT in teaching., It is essential for teachers to see the value of DT and build up their competence to use technology effectively., Implications for practice and/or policy Teacher educators need to reconsider their training approaches in order to cultivate positive attitudes towards DT and develop preservice teachers' competence in using DT for teaching and learning., School administration should strive to create a culture that values DT in teaching and learning., Teachers need to have successful experiences in DT application that in turn change their perceptions and classroom practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, education systems around the world have been keeping a keen eye on rankings of student achievement as measured by internationally benchmarked tests. This has led to considerable attention being paid to teasing out success factors that may account for countries that have emerged top of the ranks or those that have shown the most rapid improvement from one test period to the next. Singapore’s education system, which has consistently emerged as one of the higher ranking countries has garnered much international attention as a consequence. Even as other nations are learning more about Singapore, it is timely for Singapore to share our expertise and experience to benefit other systems. In this article, one such effort of internationalisation is focused on i.e., teacher education and professional development programmes. The underpinning philosophy of internationalisation is to serve the global educational community. Three models of internationalisation are expounded upon, namely; building the local capacity of our partner countries, training the trainers, and the offering of executive leadership training programmes to an international market. The past and future challenges of internationalisation are also discussed. The article ends with how it began, in terms of examining Singapore’s internationalisation of its teacher education and professional development programmes in the light of whether we are indeed, paving the Fourth Way as espoused by Hargreaves and Shirley (2009).

As the national teacher education institute in Singapore, the National Institute of Education (NIE) prepares all teachers seeking to be employed within the education service in Singapore. In the last decade, NIE's enrolment for initial teacher preparation programmes has grown significantly, with peaks in numbers during the recession years. There is also some evidence of attrition when beginning teachers complete their 3-year bond with the Ministry of Education, which sponsors their teacher education programme. It is thus important to determine empirically the reasons why pre-service teachers join the teaching profession, to see whether this can inform us about measures that can be taken to ensure they stay on in the profession. As part of a longitudinal study on beginning teachers' attitudes towards teaching and professional development, a research survey, the first of three data collections, was administered to whole cohorts of pre-service teachers entering NIE's three main teacher preparation programmes...

The Postgraduate Diploma in English Language Teaching (PGDELT) programme at the National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore provides an interesting case study of how economic and entrepreneurial concerns and aspirations in modern university settings have played a role alongside pedagogical motivations in shaping the development of the curriculum of English Language Teaching (ELT) teacher education programmes. In this article, we trace the development of the PGDELT which began as a programme to train the classroom practitioner to one that aspires to also develop the transformative intellectual. While this evolution has clearly been motivated by sociocultural and pedagogical concerns viz. changing teacher education paradigms and national educational initiatives, economic developments such as China's rapid economic progress and the expanding role of English as a global language in the region have also provided a significant impetus.

In today’s world, teaching and learning processes inevitably involve the application of information and communication technology ( ICT ). It seems reasonable to expect personal attributes such as cognitive playfulness to be associated with consistent application of ICT. Using survey responses from Singapore students in a teacher education programme ( n = 450 ), structural equation modelling ( SEM ) found that the effect of cognitive playfulness on the perceived importance of ICT was mediated by risk taking orientation, but the mediation effect was not observed with perceived competence in ICT use. Academic self-concept had negligible relation with the two ICT variables. As personal attributes may not be malleable whereas risk taking orientation can be nurtured, the mediating role of risk taking implies a useful direction for teacher education to enhance student teachers’ risk taking attitudes for promoting the application of modern technologies as pedagogical tools in schools.

Possessing strong communication skills is essential in contributing to effective teaching. This paper investigates graduating student teachers’ English language proficiency, as measured by IELTS tests scores, of graduating EL student teachers. The paper considers what teachers need to know about the English language given that English has been the medium of instruction (MoI) for Singapore schools since 1987. Given such a context, English language proficiency is an important consideration in the preparation of pre-service teachers in Singapore. Implications for additional training and preparation in language skills are also proposed.

Digital technology (DT) has a significant role to play in modern education. This study examined motivational goals of student teachers in initial teacher education in Singapore and the influences of goals on their use of DT personally and in the classroom. The participants (N=312) responded to a survey about their motivational goals (learning vs. performance) and DT application (personal vs. classroom application). Results showed that personal use of DT, especially for younger teachers, was clearly more than classroom application. Females were found to have higher performance goal. Structural equation modelling found that learning goals were positively related to both personal use and classroom application, but performance goals were not positively related to either outcome. As performance goals were found to be unrelated to classroom application of DT, teacher education should focus more on the development of learning goals so as to encourage teachers, especially females, to use DT for teaching.

As the global landscape evolves, there is a strong push for educators to examine and incorporate within the education system the competencies paramount for survival in the twenty-first century. There is a need to prepare students to face the ever-changing demands and challenges of the twenty-first century global workplace and society. In 2009, the National Institute of Education, Singapore undertook a systematic review of its teacher education programmes in partnership with the Ministry of Education and the schools, using the revised National Curriculum and 21st century competencies (21CC) as a key guide. This collective and systemic effort led to the articulation of a set of Graduand Teacher Competencies outlining the professional standards, benchmarks and goals for graduands of the initial teacher preparation programmes. This chapter focuses on the outcome of the review – Teacher Education Model for the 21st century (TE21) and the key changes which help to translate the theoretical recommendations of TE21 into actual implementation.

The performance of High Performing Education Systems featured in this book has captured international attention and developed a deep curiosity about the reasons behind their success among policy-makers. This introductory chapter brings to the fore five major themes that form the common denominators of the case studies in this book. These themes range from the focus on teachers, their preparation and professional development to paying attention to the tail-end performers, to developing an education system that is both equitable and of high quality, to the danger of over-emphasising international benchmarking exercises and, to ensure systemic coherence across key stakeholders across the education system. These broad themes provide a framework and lens to examine these systems from within.

Initial teacher education (ITE) in Singapore is shifting towards evidence-based practice. Despite a clear policy orientation, ITE in Singapore has not yet produced the evidence base that it is anticipating. This paper presents an analytical review of previous research into ITE in Singapore and makes comparisons to the larger international context. The review begins with a brief overview of some of the main characteristics of the research over the last decade (1999-2010). Our analysis suggests that the field of ITE research in Singapore is relatively new and still struggling to be a focus of educational research. Current published studies are typically small- scale with a large number of one-off studies. Quantitative and qualitative studies are largely carried out in parallel with little dialogue between them. This paper seeks to propose a research agenda for ITE in Singapore that overcomes the limitations from previous research as evident from the literature review. Additionally, this paper discusses the conditions needed to support the successful implementation of the research agenda. This review is the first essential step towards building an evidence-base for ITE in Singapore.

Welcome to the first issue of ERPP for the year 2012! As mentioned in the foreword by our editor-in-chief, this also marks a special issue of the journal as it brings together articles first presented at a roundtable held on 1 March 2011 held in conjunction with Professor Andy Hargreaves’ appointment as the CJ Koh Professor, late February to mid-March 2011. The theme of the symposium centred around the Fourth Way, which is the title of a book co-written by Andy Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley, and how Singapore’s education system across the different spectrum from K-12 all the way to teacher education and educational leadership development both locally and globally may be seen to be paving the fourth way. In the first article, Andy Hargreaves describes the predecessors of the Fourth Way and the Fourth Way itself to set the stage for the special issue. The Fourth Way is distinguished from its predecessors by the strength and wisdom of leaders who take a paradigm shift with regard to how they approach and view education to advance towards a more inspirational, comprehensive and sustainable future. It is not a destination but a journey to improve student learning and achievement. The success of Singapore’s education system is no secret. Has its development and change embodied the Fourth Way? What does Singapore need to do or change to remain successful in education and competitive in the global economy? The rest of the article in the issue examine the various facets of the Singapore Education System through the lens of the Fourth Way and address the issue of change in the system. The article by Poon discusses the relationship between policy, research and practice in the Singapore education landscape in response to the Fourth Way principles of educational change. She uses recent policy developments in Singapore as examples to illustrate the interaction between the use of research data, pragmatic knowledge of classroom practices and stakeholders’ interest in policy formulation in Singapore. Poon argues that a key ingredient of the success of Singapore’s education system is the unity of vision and mission of the people behind policy, research and practice.

Blended learning has been identified as one of the 10 emerging trends in education. This study evaluates students' perception of their experience in a blended learning environment. A 35-item survey based on seven factors related to Blended Learning was conducted. Descriptive statistics are used to describe the responses at the factor level. Correlation analysis is used to look at the relationship in each factor. Reliability analysis is used to check the reliabilities of the seven-factor scales. The t-test examined the influence of age and years of teaching experience on the participating teachers' view on Blended Learning.