Parents, not enrichment centres, are key to result
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ksi:
Yes dear. Yes. The whole picture put together is rich in colour. The same painting has black and white together... and these 2 colours seem in opposition. That is the irony of integrating ideas. Seemingly contrasting notions seem to be part of the same frame and have legitimate space in it.
I mean who does not know all those impediments? Re-iterated to death all over the forum. Only the line...quality of teachers is read, how about, THE TERMS TO PERFORM WELL? And you know what? Quality of teachers I mean, good and necessary training to upgrade teachers even softskills or for subject related like the heuristics you mentioned, understand their talent and develop them....why would I doubt what MOE has chosen? I don't think we have once spoken about how teachers were chosen except that they should have an inner calling themselves, have we? :? :? In other words, are we even questioning their HIRING process now? Gosh...then we will soon reach the foetus level of the making of a teacher... :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:Chenonceau:
Hey... :snuggles: I never once understood that you were bashing Teachers at all. I still think the issue of Teacher quality very relevant. I am convinced that the whole integrated picture should include issues of Teacher quality. It's just that there are other impediments to Teacher Quality than well... Teachers themselves, which Schweppes and others have contributed ... large classes, admin work etc...
I understood that you meant that and didn't attribute to you non-appreciation of Teachers at all.
In fact the post is to teachers' advantage, nothing to criticise teachers and if any criticism, it is alluding to the non conducive environment to perform.
Now 2ppaamm has a higher expectation of teachers in that she wants the cream of the crop to teach, better qualified than doctors but that does not mean she thinks poorly of the current teachers either. It does not mean saying one way means the other way is definitely true, not so absolute in most things. I think it is ok for her to have that dream. If our nation's mission is really to produce 80% cream of the crop brain resources to feed the region's demand for brains, she is definitely not on the wrong track too....I would say hers is more visionary at this point... as the tactical issues are not even resolved yet.
My personal take is that we need to take some of the pressures off by addressing some of the tactical first and then we can look at the vision. In essence, both you and 2ppaamm have higher expectations than I, at least in the immediate.
In the short term, I just want some pressure taken off everybody with better flowthrough of resources, even if it is only print AND a biblio list. You guys want the works. I'm behind you there too 'cos eventually, it should get where you guys want. -
Nebbermind:
You see, that is precisely what I am saying MOE wants to train every teacher to be an all-rounder with a possibility of a promotion eventually to become an educator in current system. In a way it is a noble thought on their part to give everyone the opportunity. However, they forgot a thing called 'choice'. Just like in the commercial world, not everyone wants to be a manager, some are happy being a professional for life. So in the same way if MOE can relook at their career management for teachers and give them a choice to stay in the professional path and become really solidly competent in their subject matter, then perhaps there would be 2 groups of happy people, the educators and the professional teachers.
Can't speak for everyone but I'll just relate what a friend told me.Chenonceau:
So Teachers join the service to get out of Teaching eventually? :? If this is true then the nation needs to mourn for our children, because don't we need people who WANT/LOVE to teach?
He was very passionate about teaching. But there are also alot of non-teaching activities running parallel which was what he didn't like. IIRC what he told me, life was like going to school early, b4 7am....shuffling around the classes. Afternoon will be spent marking and preparing teaching material which will last up to 4~5pm on a good day. Add in the non-teaching activities, school or non-school events....the day can be very long...or no weekends.
By moving up, u become an project lead...use more mouth than hands-on....some feel that they will be commiting less time to school that way....but alot of teachers r not people manager....they just wanna teach...so they donch wanna move up and eventually quit coz of the non-teaching workload. -
oh, just like to add that a couple of those who quit MOE actually are still teaching…either a relief teacher, part time teacher (employed by school and not MOE), intl schs or tuition/enrichment…or a combi of the above.
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Nebbermind:
Yeah, I heard similar stories too. Good teachers are promoted to HODs, VPs and Ps. As they go up the ladder, they start to do more admin stuff and spend less/no time on teaching. So some teachers do not want to take on such roles and I am not sure how does that affect their salary increases..... And those who are promoted to HODs etc... may not function very well as one because that is not their forte.... so sad.
Can't speak for everyone but I'll just relate what a friend told me.Chenonceau:
So Teachers join the service to get out of Teaching eventually? :? If this is true then the nation needs to mourn for our children, because don't we need people who WANT/LOVE to teach?
He was very passionate about teaching. But there are also alot of non-teaching activities running parallel which was what he didn't like. IIRC what he told me, life was like going to school early, b4 7am....shuffling around the classes. Afternoon will be spent marking and preparing teaching material which will last up to 4~5pm on a good day. Add in the non-teaching activities, school or non-school events....the day can be very long...or no weekends.
By moving up, u become an project lead...use more mouth than hands-on....some feel that they will be commiting less time to school that way....but alot of teachers r not people manager....they just wanna teach...so they donch wanna move up and eventually quit coz of the non-teaching workload. -
An update from MOE's site:
The PERI committee noted that professional development must be an ongoing process for all teachers so that they maintain currency in content, teaching methods and assessment practices. MOE will set up the Singapore Teachers Centre. It will be the professional home for teachers, to focus on professional standards and also serve as a one-stop centre for research and resources. To strengthen the quality of PE, Art and Music Education, MOE has also announced the setting up of the Physical Education and Sports Teacher Academy (PESTA) and the Singapore Teachers’ Academy for the aRts (STAR) to support the professional development of our teachers in these subjects. To enhance teacher capacity to teach English language and English-medium subjects, MOE will set up the English Language Institute of Singapore by 2011 to provide in-service training and function as a “test-bed” for innovative teaching methods. For Mother Tongue Language teachers, the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language (SCCL), Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre (UPTLC) and the new Malay Language Centre of Singapore to cater to their professional development needs.
So the constant upgrading is taken care of....now is the split of workload and career progression to be clearer so that teachers do not feel overloaded. -
PE, ART and Music specialisation is happening:
To enhance the delivery of the Arts and Music curriculum, all new Art and Music teachers will be trained for single-subject specialisation. These teachers will specialise in teaching either Art or Music, and related CCAs and programmes. In view of single subject specialisation, more PE, Art and Music teachers will need to be recruited. Existing teachers will also move towards specialising in either Art or Music. PE teachers are currently trained to teach a second subject, but are deployed to teach mainly PE. This provides them with the ability to be cross-deployed in subjects beyond PE, which also provides them with the flexbility to switch to other subjects later in their teaching careers. Teachers who prefer to teach only PE and sports-related work can already do so, if this suits the needs of their schools. MOE will step up the recruitment of PE teachers in tandem with the building of infrastructure in our schools, to allow for more PE curriculum time. -
hee, thanks ksi for update. but what stuck on me is the number of acronymns they use. Peri, Pesta, star, sccl, uptlc. Gosh…who can remember what they stand for?
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Another update that is happening already as we discuss:
To maintain the calibre of the teaching service, MOE will also put in place all-graduate teacher recruitment by 2015. -
Nothing about easier access to a very basic tool of teaching - adequate educational resources to teach with (without having to personally write them)?
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hquek:
hee, thanks ksi for update. but what stuck on me is the number of acronymns they use. Peri, Pesta, star, sccl, uptlc. Gosh....who can remember what they stand for?
haha you are right!! I just found out PERI stands for PRImary Education and they insert the E for education in between...instead of PRIE. :rotflmao:
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