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Teacher Education for the 21ˢᵗ Century
Underpinning Philosophy
NIE's initial teacher preparation is based on a central pillar of a three-pronged set of values (V3) around which the skills (S) and knowledge (K) needed of a 21st Century teaching professional are woven. It guides the design and delivery of NIE's teacher education programmes and prepares future-ready education professionals to develop 21st Century competencies in their students. The current Enhanced V3SK Model builds on the original V3SK in the Teacher Education Model for the 21st Century (TE21) initiative first introduced in 2012.
The desire is for student teachers to be able to create new value in education that achieves sustainable development for society and for them to be cognisant of the ecosystem where their competencies impact the lives of the next generation. Importantly, student teachers are empowered to become self-directed and lifelong learners.
NIE's Journey
In 2009-2012, NIE embarked on the TE21 initiative to refine our curriculum, improve our pedagogies, reinforce our values-based teacher education and strengthen the theory-practice link in our programmes. We successfully piloted key initiatives such as the new enhanced practicum and student e-Portfolios. Teacher Education Model for the 21st Century (TE21) was NIE’s blueprint for transforming and strengthening the NIE teacher education model along the continuum of Initial Teacher Preparation to Teacher Professional Development.
In 2021, the Archetype of the Future-ready Teacher Taskforce was formed to review the TE21 model. The Enhanced TE21 model was rolled out in 2023, which included enhancements to the three-pronged set of values (V3) with skills (S) and knowledge (K), the V3SK. The five enhancements that define our vision for future-ready teacher education are the Clarifying and Remapping Values3, Rejuvenating Skills and Knowledge, Integrating the V3SK Model and GTC Framework, Articulating the Five Roles of Graduands as Future-ready Teachers, and Implementing Teacher Education Enablers.
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The five enhancements that define our vision for future-ready teacher education are the Clarifying and Remapping Values3, Rejuvenating Skills and Knowledge, Integrating the V3SK Model and GTC Framework, Articulating the Five Roles of Graduands as Future-ready Teachers, and Implementing Teacher Education Enablers.
1. Clarifying and Remapping Values3:
The three Professional Values, Commitment to the Learner, Commitment to the Profession, and Commitment to the Community, continue to be vital as they guide future-ready teachers in their use of pedagogy and in how they nurture students’ holistic development and overall well-being. They have been clarified and remapped for the current teaching and learning context.
2. Rejuvenating Skills and Knowledge:
The dynamic interaction of Skills and Knowledge will help future-ready teachers build competencies and the ability to make connections across domains. The updated list of skills and knowledge include critical and metacognitive skills, creative and innovative skills, adaptive thinking skills, digital and data literacy, health and mental well-being. These are necessary to meet the complex demands of the future.
3. Integrating the V3SK Model and GTC Framework:
Situating the Graduand Teacher Competencies (GTC) Framework within the Enhanced V3SK Model tightens the connections between them. It allows teacher educators and student teachers to better ensure what they have learnt are demonstrated during their programme and in schools. The GTCs have been reconceptualised as the three Competency Dimensions of Professional Practice, Personal Growth and Development, and Leadership and Agency. This includes the explicit articulation of developing professional ethos and ethics, nurturing 21st Century competencies, embracing lifelong learning, and taking initiatives to be agents of educational change.
4. Articulating the Five Roles of Graduands as Future-ready Teachers:
To support future-ready teacher education, clear roles have been expounded to help student teachers see the relevance of their learning to the broader national ecosystem.
5. Implementing Teacher Education Enablers:
These enhancements must be facilitated by future-oriented enablers that cultivate the growth of student teachers, in terms of values, dispositions, skills and knowledge, and competencies, into the five roles of future-ready teachers. Teacher education enablers include the strong partnerships between NTU, MOE, schools, and industries.
Empowering Teachers for the Future
Enhancing Our Teacher Education Model
The 21st Century has been characterised by knowledge driven economies, rapid information exchanges and fast-moving communication technologies which have created new demands on education systems worldwide.
In the 21st Century landscape, education must focus on nurturing the whole child – morally, intellectually, physically, socially, and aesthetically. Students need to acquire new knowledge, skills and dispositions to ensure their survival and success as individuals, as members of the community, and as citizens of our nation.
And in preparing students to be ready for the future, when that future and the world is seemingly so volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, there is a pivotal need to prepare future-ready teachers for future-ready students.
Teacher education has the social responsibility to meet current needs while anticipating the emerging trends and challenges that the future holds. NIE must continue to ensure that teachers are well-equipped with the right values, attitudes, dispositions, skills, literacies and knowledge to contribute to a strong teaching force. The new TE21: Empowering Teachers for the Future aims to ensure that Singapore student teachers and in-service teachers would continue to be future-ready teachers for future-ready learners.
TE21 : Empowering Teachers for the Future
A student teacher's learning journey at NIE is holistically guided by the Enhanced TE21 Model. TE21 is anchored in the Enhanced V3SK Model, to develop student teachers' Three Competency Dimensions, so as to prepare them to fulfil the Five Roles of Graduands as Future-ready Teachers.
The Enhanced V3SK Model
The Enhanced V3SK model represents the underpinning philosophy of teacher education at NIE. It guides the design, delivery, and enhancement of NIE's programmes and courses, to develop teachers who possess the three professional values (Commitment to the Learner, Commitment to the Profession, and Commitment to the Community), necessary skills, and depth and breadth of knowledge. In particular, the Enhanced V3SK Model builds on the original V3SK Model by aiming to nurture and develop future-ready teachers.
Three Competency Dimensions
The three Competency Dimensions are professional practice, personal growth and development, and leadership and agency. They focus on:
i) positioning the teacher as a professional with the ethos and ethics expected of an educator,
ii) the need for teachers to take responsibility for their own lifelong learning and development, and
iii) an understanding that the
teacher is an agent of educational change.
Five Roles of Graduands as Future-Ready Teachers
NIE's initial teacher preparation prepares student teachers to assume the responsibility to fulfil five key roles within the education ecosystem, as a Shaper of Character, a Creator of Knowledge, a Facilitator of Learning, an Architect of Learning Environments, and as an Agent of Educational Change. NIE graduands thus enter the educational ecosystem future-ready, equipped with the skillset and mindset for the impactful development of society and its people.
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