Tag Archives: preschool

Practice makes Professionals

Singapore’s Lien Foundation, which has a strong interest in education and the early childhood sector recently teamed up with one of the largest childcare providers, St. James’ Church Kindergarten to establish a Practicum Centre. That will allow trainee teachers a better experience as they learn to be teachers than they often currently receive.  With better mentoring and a sense of the profession they are entering, the hope is they will both be better teachers and make a career in a sector with a stubbornly high attrition rate.  Here is a piece on the importance of this I published in Today using data from a recent survey I conducted.

Practice Makes Professionals

by Trisha Craig

(op-ed published by Today, August 18, 2014)

Last week’s announcement by the Lien Foundation and St James’ Church Kindergarten that they would be launching a new Practicum Centre for pre-service pre-school teachers heralds a welcome addition to the early childhood education sector.

Designed to provide high-quality mentoring to student teachers during their mandatory classroom teaching, the new centre hopes to enhance the practical skill set of young teachers and help set the stage for a satisfying career as pre-school professionals.  Continue reading →

Start teaching maths and science early

(Op-ed published by Today, June 24, 2014)

By Trisha Craig

Recently, Mr Heng Swee Keat, the Education Minister, highlighted the importance of transforming Singapore’s education system to keep up with changes in the economy. In particular, Mr Heng stressed the need to help students build skills in problem-solving and applying knowledge.

Among other ideas, he said schools must provide our children a strong foundation in literacy and numeracy, and give them a good grounding in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). How do we do that? One of the ways to promote an affinity for STEM is to start early by incorporating maths and science into the early childhood curriculum.

The National Science Board (NSB) in the United States said exposing young children to scientific concepts makes them more comfortable with those ideas when they are older.

Additionally, early knowledge of maths is a good predictor not only of aptitude in the subject later in life, but also of reading ability. The NSB has encouraged the introduction of STEM into pre-school education, an idea that has been supported by many business groups that also worry about the workforce of tomorrow.

Such a suggestion is likely to make some parents recoil in horror, fearing that this will further chip away at the carefree aspect of childhood, pressuring children with more academic work at ever younger ages. Actually, though, that idea of rote learning, which many of us associate with our own experience of learning maths and science, could not be further from the notion of how children best learn science and maths. Continue reading …

 

 

Mind the word gap

(Op-ed published by Today, May 2, 2014)

By Trisha Craig

Singaporean parents famously spare no expense when it comes to ensuring their children’s educational success, with estimates that up to 90 per cent of youngsters take tuition classes from early ages. But one of the most important investments parents can make to improve children’s learning outcomes is free. It turns out to be much more critical than enrichment programmes: It is talking to them.

This may sound like common sense and part of every family’s daily routine but a growing body of evidence shows that a massive word gap exists between children from disadvantaged families compared with their middle-class counterparts. Researchers in the United States note that by the time a poor child is three years old, she will have heard 30 million fewer words than a wealthier peer.

This is because of the patterns of interactions between parents and children in different kind of households. It turns out that, on average, less well-off parents speak less to their children, especially before children have developed language abilities, and the kind of speech tends to be more directive: “Stop that” or “Pick up your toys”.

Children are less likely to develop expansive vocabularies with directed speech because it requires little in the way of response and does not elicit conversation.

Interactive speech, more common among the middle class, forces children to search for words and use them: “What should we do at the playground today?” or “Let’s tell your little brother a story — what kind would he like?” Continue reading …

Pre-school teachers: Leaving before they’ve even started

(Op-ed published by Today, Nov. 8, 2013)

By Trisha Craig

Over the past year, the Government has announced new measures and sources of funding to improve pre-school education in Singapore.

In addition to incentivising operators to hire more qualified teachers at better salaries, proposing schemes to keep pre-school affordable for low- and middle-income families and offering more scholarship money for prospective teachers, the creation of 16,000 more pre-school places is envisioned by 2017.

More places mean more choice for parents, which should be especially welcome news to working mums and dads if centres are nearer their homes or jobs. Yet, it also means, at least in the short run, that the shortage of teachers is likely to be an issue with which the sector will continue to grapple.

High teacher turnover at the pre-school level is a feature of Singapore and among the factors that account for its relatively low ranking globally in pre-school quality. Continue reading …

High cost of low trust in pre-school education

(Op-ed published by The Straits Times on Sept. 6, 2013)

By Trisha Craig

IF PRE-SCHOOL were an Olympic event, Finland would have a lock on the gold.

Its early childhood education system consistently ranks at the top of international charts. And when you walk into typical Finnish classrooms, as I did last week, it is easy to see why.

On the metrics that matter with these global comparisons, Finland excels. The student-teacher ratios are low, meaning each teacher has fewer pupils to attend to. Teachers are well trained. This fosters warm, nurturing and intellectually engaging interactions.

Pre-school teachers in Finland are also well compensated and well respected, which means that centres face less of the disruptive high turnover that often plagues early education systems where teaching is less socially valued. Continue reading …

Embracing technology for the early years

Op-ed published in Today, April 22, 2013
By Trisha Craig and Zachary Walker

The Government’s revised kindergarten curriculum is a model for educating the young, with its emphasis on children’s holistic development, learning through play and ensuring that they begin to develop the 21st-century competencies that they will need as Singaporeans and global citizens.

As we prepare today’s learners for tomorrow’s world, it is important to acknowledge that some of the necessary skills include using technology. The curriculum framework notes a role for technology in the kindergarten classroom and that technology should be used in a developmentally appropriate manner and complement — not substitute — concrete activities like art and crafts or outdoor play.

However, the use of technology by young children is a fraught topic. Many view it as a particularly pernicious form of electronic babysitting, turning children into passive consumers of images and say that thus it has no place in educational settings. According to this view, the early childhood classroom is a peaceful haven from a hectic world that is connected 24/7.

However, precisely because technology is such an all-encompassing feature of modernity, to ignore it in educational settings misses the reality of the lives of most children, who are surrounded by it outside of school. Continue reading …

Incentivizing high quality in preschool

Op-ed in Straits Times News

Singapore is on a mission to improve the quality of its preschools. In June, the country so used to being at the top of international rankings for its education system, found itself uncomfortably in the 29th spot in terms of early childhood education according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The government has been quick to act and prioritize raising standards.  In addition to regulations, though, education systems need incentives and we need to think of ways the private sector (including employers and parents) can create those incentives.

Op-ed published in the Straits Times, December 4, 2012

Boost Pre-school Quality by Focusing on Teacher Training

By Trisha Craig for the Straits Times

AROUND the world, there is widespread recognition that investing in high quality early childhood education (ECE) yields high returns for individuals and societies. In the long run, ECE can help create a well-trained and competitive labour force.

In Singapore, the commitment to improving ECE runs deep. Indeed it starts at the top. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong noted in his National Day speech that we “need to improve the quality of our pre-school education. We now know how important the early years are… It will provide many long-term benefits later on in life”.

There are numerous markers of quality pre-school education including small classrooms, challenging curricula and an encouraging environment for problem-solving. A particularly important one is the training of the teachers.

Continue reading →