Comments on: Teaching qualification is not the same as teaching quality

By: whistler real estate for sale

whistler real estate for sale — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:52:54 +0000

I am unable to thank you enough for the discussions on your web site. I know you place a lot of time and effort into all of them and truly hope you know how deeply I appreciate it. I hope I could do the identical thing for another man or woman sooner or later.

By: Luxury & lifestyle

Luxury & lifestyle — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:48:23 +0000

Just about all I can say is, I’m not sure what to really say! Except naturally, for the fantastic tips which are shared with this blog. I’m able to think of a thousand fun approaches to read the reports on this site. I do think I will ultimately make a move making use of your tips on those issues I could not have been able to manage alone. You were so careful to allow me to be one of those to benefit from your handy information. Please know how great I appreciate it.

By: Jacksonville FL Plumber

Jacksonville FL Plumber — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:36:54 +0000

The suggestions you discussed here are rather priceless. It had been such a fun surprise to have that awaiting me once i woke up now. They are usually to the point and simple to learn. Thank you very much for the innovative ideas you have shared in this article.

By: Jewell Gindhart

Jewell Gindhart — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:11:47 +0000

Great blog you have here but I was wanting to know if you knew of any forums that cover the same topics talked about in this article? I’d really like to be a part of community where I can get feed-back from other experienced individuals that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Kudos!

By: tods shoes

tods shoes — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 02:50:28 +0000

I beays by dre,beays by dre believe that we are not real social workers.

By: Aaron Ng

Aaron Ng — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 03:01:02 +0000

Look like inflation is not just restricted to my daily cup of coffee.

By: kilroy

kilroy — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 02:50:34 +0000

This reminds me of the days when the National Library insisted on a Higher School Certificate the GCE A level equivalent when they recruited library officers whose job was just to process borrowing and returning of books, sorting, shelviing, binding and cataloging, and prepring acquisition lists of book titles. An O level entrant could have done all that save for the more complex cataloging.

So we now need university graduates to teach the three ‘R”s. What next? Diploma in marketing for counter sales staff? BA in geograhy for taxi drivers?

Singapore and Singaporeans believe in the paper trail. What we get is inflation of educational qualifications, nothing more nothing less…

By: grumpyqueen

grumpyqueen — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:40:35 +0000

Quite true…I had an ex-engineer for a teacher who was really super in maths but couldn’t teach to save his life. He could produce the best answer sheets and took less than an average teacher to solve complex questions but just couldn’t make us understand his methods.

On the other hand, my tutor, an undergrad who was only 20/21 at that time, was quite weak in certain chapters and not ashamed to admit it before she thought me those chapters really motivated me to do well in maths. The things she taught me then(about 4 years ago) I still remember today.

By: Ian Timothy

Ian Timothy — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 04:53:21 +0000

Hey FO,

What happened to your blog? Can’t seem to access it.

Housewarming? Hmmm.. Can I self invite so that I can arrange a massacre? Or maybe a priority hit.

To me, the problems with teachers is that it is not about qualifications or training or what not. It is about whether teachers see what they are doing as fulfilling a calling or getting a job.

A significant number of my acquaintances became teachers because they couldn’t find a better job elsewhere after considering perks and salary.

I remember there was a time some years ago when MOE went on this blitz in hiring and the package was quite good. Not sure about the terms though but I heard it was attractive among those who took it.

The strategy was to take it, ride out the hard economic times and move on to something better when economy improves.

Of course not all teachers are like that. But when you tweak the incentives, you build into the system a certain probability regarding the sort of candidates you will attract.

When I was in Primary School, the teachers I had were good because they truly saw it as a calling. There is a teacher I still remember fondly. The school did not institute any mandatory programs but she still stayed back to coach some of us to take part in external competitions because she felt it would be beneficial for us. She arranged everything and managed us outside the school’s auspices because she wanted to make a difference in our lives. And she did. I think I would have been a different type of student if not for teachers like her.

By: Fearfully Opinionated

Fearfully Opinionated — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 01:19:40 +0000

Here’s an interesting argument I forgot to bring up:

In NIE, graduates take the 1-year PGDE (post graduate diploma in education) course, while non-graduates either take the 3-year diploma or the 4-year Bachelors in Education. Some have argued that 1-year is way too little time to prepare anyone to be an effective teacher. On the other hand, non-graduates spent 3/4 years in NIE preparing to teach, and have a longer time span to develop their PCK compared to the 1-year program. (I’ve heard sources tell me that some educators in NIE try to extend the PGDE program to 2 years, but they face resistance from MOE who wants teachers to come out to the ground to teach as soon as possible)

How all this translates into how successful teachers become when they actually teach on the ground is a big question mark. I agree with TS, studies can be easily conducted locally, and probably should have been.