Oon-Seng Tan

Teacher Education Futures: Innovating Policy, Curriculum and Practices

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.

Teacher Education Policy: Recruitment, Preparation and Progression

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.

Educating in a Turbulent World

The chapter addresses the challenges that are facing Singapore’s education system in a post-LKY era, as highlighted by the contributing authors. It highlights two key educational imperatives to prepare students for the future—innovation and social cohesion—and the potential tensions between them before asking if Mr. Lee’s ideas continue to be relevant as we forge forward to educate in an increasingly complex and turbulent world. Recommendations are made on how to navigate the future and ensure that educational principles remain faithful to Mr. Lee’s educational legacy.

Riding Towards the Future

Singapore saw a signification milestone in 2015 as it celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence. When it gained its sovereignty in 1965, Singapore was a poor, small island with few natural resources and a lot of problems. Today, the once backwater underdeveloped economy is now a world economy and an education leader. The transformation was not a one-shot deal. With tenacity, foresight and political will, Singapore has been able to raise its education level that matches the best systems in the world, accomplishing significant improvements at each stage of its journey. Singapore’s education is premised on an “impact perspective”, which is reflected in the following four aspects (Tan in Educational Research for Policy and Practice 11:35–41, 2012). First, besides a high cognisance on reform and innovation, there is also an elevated awareness of the outcomes that are strategic to change, at the macro-level and micro-level that involve key stakeholders and partners.

Universities, Research, Innovation and Enterprise

Lee Kuan Yew had the foresight in the strategic value of research, especially research with relevance to the economy or society. He also encouraged lifelong professional learning and for faculty members to interact with the government and statutory boards. These ideas have had a significant impact on Singapore universities’ emphasis on national research priority areas, grants for research, collaborative work, education, and development of programmes. Lee also believed that the worth of a university is dependent on its contribution to human knowledge. NIE’s development as an autonomous institute within NTU illustrates and highlights the wisdom of Lee in spearheading human capital and knowledge enhancement.

Championing the Teacher Factor

In recent years, Singapore students have done well consistently in internationally benchmarked tests such as the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Progress International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and Progress for International Student Assessment (PISA). This has led to much interest in our education system and speculations on the success factors. The achievement of the Singapore students, just like many other Asian students, has often been attributed to cultural antecedents of parental involvement and overemphasis on competition and grades.

Education and the Child

Education is the means to freedom: freedom from poverty, freedom from injustice, freedom from illiteracy. In the 1950s, youths and children roamed the streets with little prospect of their future in a society of poverty and racial unrest. Today, Singapore’s youth are disproportionally represented on the world’s stage, from winning Science Olympiads to internationally benchmarked assessments. Even the weakest of the Singapore cohort made vast improvements and out-performed the average of many developed nations. Mr. Lee Kuan Yew saw education as the key to develop this nation state. His vision for education had a clear mandate on developing every child to his fullest potential. He believed that education must prepare a child for work and also develops him holistically, in terms of his intellectual discipline, attitudes, values and behaviours. This chapter will take a closer look at Singapore’s journey from idealisation to reality, paying particular attention to his beliefs of the child and his approach to growing a cultivated mind, developing the good man who could contribute as an active citizen, and building the society.

Underpinning Philosophy of Teacher Education in Singapore: A Values-Driven Paradigm

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.