Training centre for pre-school teachers

It provides structured training and guidance from mentor supervisors
By Janice Tai, The Straits Times, 13 Aug 2014

TRAINEE pre-school teachers now have a dedicated centre where they can get hands-on experience.

Philanthropic organisation Lien Foundation is putting $660,000 into the centre - Singapore's first - over the next three years. There, "mentor supervisors" focus on guiding the teachers when they come up with lesson plans or manage the children, for instance. Such training is a critical part of attracting and retaining teachers in the manpower-starved pre-school sector, particularly as the Government aims to add 20,000 more childcare places to the current 85,000 by 2017.

There are now around 12,000 pre-school professionals, and 2,000 more will be needed by then. Yet, about one in five teachers leave each year, and only about half of the early childhood polytechnic graduates even join the workforce.

To improve the situation, many pre-schools are adjusting salaries and opening up new career tracks for teachers to become principals, centre supervisors, specialist educators and mentors.

Lien Foundation, which has long advocated for greater emphasis on early childhood education here, chose St James' Church Kindergarten at Harding Road for the new training centre because it has Singapore's largest pre-school enrolment at 1,200.

The centre can take in up to 300 trainee teachers each year.

Currently, trainees have to do at least 200 hours of practical experience, but often do not get the attention they need at busy childcare centres. With the new centre, they go through a structured programme similar to the system for training primary and secondary school teachers, and have the full attention of mentor supervisors who are either with them in class or meet them afterwards for discussions.

Since the centre opened in April, 15 trainees from NTUC's early childhood training arm SEED Institute, Ngee Ann and Singapore polytechnics have gone through the programme.

One of them, Ms Siti Suhailah, 22, said: "I had lots of eye-opening experiences... I really appreciate the undivided attention I received. The host teachers and mentors would always find time to answer any queries I had and the experience has definitely rekindled my passion for the industry."

Centre offers better mentorship for pre-school trainee teachers
Its training programme addresses issue of limited mentoring during attachments

By Siau Ming En, TODAY, 13 Aug 2014

From developing classroom management skills to delivering lesson plans, a new pre-school practicum centre, jointly set up by the Lien Foundation and St James’ Church Kindergarten (SJCK), plans to help pre-school trainee teachers develop skills to better prepare them for the workforce.

Housed at SJCK’s Harding Road campus, it offers a training programme for trainee teachers who have to fulfil the attachment component of their diploma, degree or master’s courses, providing close guidance by full-time mentors. It is currently open to trainees from the SEED Institute, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Singapore Polytechnic.

While trainee teachers spend up to 31 per cent of their total course time on attachments at pre-schools, the Lien Foundation said many of them receive limited mentoring during their attachments.

Speaking at a media briefing yesterday, SJCK senior principal Jacqueline Chung noted that some complete their attachment with a poor impression of teaching in the pre-school sector.

“(This) led some of them to say, well forget about it, this is not the field I want to go into … So we felt very strongly that having a positive practicum experience at the time you’re being trained is very important,” she said.

Institutions typically require trainee teachers to complete reports that include reflections and classroom observations for the attachment, although this may vary among pre-schools.

The training programme hopes to add to this by providing, among other things, coaching, feedback on lesson plans and guided discussions, led by mentor supervisors who do not perform teaching duties and concentrate solely on guiding trainees.

Ms Siti Suhailah Salaeh, one of the 15 trainees who underwent the programme when it began in April, said that with attachments in other pre-schools, it can be difficult for trainees to speak to the teacher they are attached to as they are busy with teaching and other duties. Under the programme at SJCK, however, she was free to approach her mentors whenever she needed help.

The programme comes amid efforts to improve training in the early childhood sector with the aim of raising the quality of pre-school education. Last November, a Continuing Professional Development Masterplan was launched to provide professional development opportunities for pre-school educators.

Asked about the programme, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said it provides guidelines to training providers on the practicum content of early childhood courses, of which about 80 per cent consists of hands-on experience.

“ECDA and (the Ministry of Education) are looking into how practicum programmes for early childhood courses can be further enhanced as part of the ongoing Applied Study in Polytechnics and ITE Review (ASPIRE),” a spokesperson said.

The new centre will have the capacity to train up to 300 pre-school trainee teachers each year. The Lien Foundation is supporting the programme with S$660,000 over the next three years, most of which will go towards covering manpower costs.