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Singapore has been a hot topic in didactics circles ever since information technology began to appear well-nigh the height of the pack of international assessments in math and science in the mid-90s. The country has been held up as an instance of a place where pedagogy is being washed right: Singapore's standards were higher and better than ours. Its commitment to education stronger. Its teacher training more rigorous.

This calendar month, I visited the tiny nation to come across firsthand just what it's doing and whether lessons from Singapore are really something the U.South. can replicate. During a calendar week touring schools and talking to students and educators, I had a run a risk to spend several hours at the National Institute of Education (NIE), the schoolhouse responsible for training all the land'due south teachers. Information technology's a selective schoolhouse regarded highly by many in the international educational activity community. Only I learned a few things that surprised me:

– The school averages 16,000 applicants for 2,000 slots annually, without bothering to do any outreach to high school students.

Teaching is a sought-after profession in Singapore, so the NIE doesn't need to send brochures to top students or advertise in schools. Information technology is guaranteed an abundance of practiced candidates because becoming a teacher is highly prestigious. Admissions staff only await seriously at those in the superlative third of their class, though, and a competitive interview procedure weeds out those who might just be interested in the salary the Ministry of Education pays students during their training to get a instructor.

– In 2010, the NIE started a pilot due east-portfolio plan, which quickly expanded to the entire schoolhouse. All instructor trainees must collect a sampling of projects and chief assignments from each of their classes and write about their philosophy of educational activity – and document how that changes as their training goes on. Originally intended as an assessment, the portfolio now has no grades or consequences fastened to it. Students must present it to faculty prior to graduating, simply NIE assistants decided that it was better used every bit a resource and opportunity for reflection, rather than a high-stakes cess.

– In one case students graduate, they must serve in the classroom for at least three years. In that time, though, they take a lighter workload – about iii quarters of what a regular teacher has – and a mentor to help them. They're likewise not done with the NIE.

The school offers ongoing training for all teachers and has some courses specifically geared towards beginner teachers. A few are even required by the Ministry building of Education for recent grads.

Singapore, of grade, is a pocket-size, centralized country and not everything that they practise tin can utilize to the Usa. Only there were some marked contrasts—such as the popularity of the teaching profession and the continued relationship between teacher and grooming program even subsequently they're in the classroom—that the U.S. could learn from. I'll exist checking in again later this week with more of my observations.

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Sarah Butrymowicz oversees and contributes to The Hechinger Written report's investigative and data work covering all levels of education, from early childhood to K-12 to college education. She has worked at...