Preparing teachers for the changing future (2014–2018)

• Published in: Educational research for policy and practice 2024-10, Vol.23 (3), p.381-394
• Main Author: Liu, Woon Chia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 21st century; 21st Century Skills; Education; Educational Change; Educational Policy and Politics; Instructional Innovation; International and Comparative Education; Learning; Original Article; Professional Education; Professionalism; Reflective Teaching; Teacher education; Teacher Qualifications; Teaching
• ISSN: 1570-2081; 1573-1723
• DOI: 10.1007/s10671-023-09328-5

The current generation of children must grow up with different competencies to thrive in this highly complex and interconnected world. Amongst others, we need to equip them with twenty-first century skills that include curiosity, self-direction, creativity, innovation, and an inquiring mindset. We are short-changing our children if we teach them the way we were taught. In this era, education must emphasise discovery and facilitate inquiry and problem-solving, and learning should be self-directed and collaborative, as well as meaningful and transferable. From this perspective, teacher education cannot be about teacher training. It must be about developing professional leaders in the field of education. Drawing from Singapore’s experience of preparing teachers for the twenty-first century, this paper will touch on the four pillars of teacher education in the recent development of the Nanyang Technological University-National Institute of Education Teaching Scholars Programme, the enhanced Bachelor of Arts/Science (Education), and the 16-month Postgraduate Diploma in Education Programmes. The four pillars are deepening professionalism , strengthening practice , broadening pedagogies , and developing perspectives . In essence, the paper will focus on developing thinking professionals through (1) ownership of learning and inquiry that deepen professionalism; (2) reflective practice and focused conversations that strengthen teaching competencies and crystallise teacher identity; (3) pedagogical innovations and technology-enabled learning that develop facilitators of learning and architects of learning environment; and (4) a three-pronged approach of the ‘community as coach’, the ‘industry as partner’, and the ‘world as our classroom’ that facilitates a worldview and fosters new ways of thinking.