Abstract
As a consequence of globalization, many countries are embarking on educational reform to enhance the performance of schools. School leadership is a key factor of success of schools and educational system reforms. Furthermore, the quality of a school system rests on the quality of its school leaders and teachers, that is, high-performing school systems are good at focusing on three fundamental aspects of the education system: (1) Effective mechanism for teacher selection; (2) Effective processes for training and development of teachers; and (3) Effective systems and support structures. This chapter presents two case studies that describe the professional development initiatives at the school level. The insights espoused by the school principals provide the rationale for professional development to bring about greater enhancement of the teaching quality of the respective schools’ teachers. Their perspectives about professional development in their respective schools reinforce the need for promoting growth and development amongst school leaders and teachers, endorsing greater recognition for excellence in teaching and leadership, establishing high standards for professional teaching status, and reducing timelines for improvement, with the purpose of enhancing student learning, growth, and achievement, and school performance.
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- 1.
The TGM is built upon the philosophy that teachers are student-centric professionals who take ownership of their growth. It is a learning framework to guide teachers towards professional excellence in teaching experience leading to enhanced student learning. It does this through providing holistic growth in teachers, building a shared understanding of the ethos and values of the teaching profession, while reflecting the philosophy of Singapore’s education system and by fostering a culture of continual and collaborative learning, teacher ownership and leadership.
- 2.
A different name is given for the primary school to conceal its identity.
- 3.
All the schools in Singapore are arranged into four zones—North/South/East/West. The schools are grouped into clusters and each cluster is facilitated by a Cluster Superintendent. The Cluster Superintendents in each Zonal Branch develop, guide and supervise the school leadership teams to ensure that schools are effectively run. They ensure that there is networking, sharing and collaboration among the member schools within the cluster so as to raise the capacity of the leadership teams and the level of performance in each school. Cluster Superintendents also play a key role in personnel and financial management. They develop personnel in their clusters according to training needs and identify personnel with potential for career development. They ensure the effective and optimal use of cluster financial resources such as funding worthwhile school projects and activities that help schools to achieve the Desired Outcomes of Education (MOE 2015a).
- 4.
The School Staff Developer is senior personnel whose job is to ensure that the training and professional development programmes are customized to the teacher’s needs, while supporting the school’s goals. The SSD may be a more senior teacher or a Head of Department. The SSD will also work with other Senior Teachers and Heads of Departments to mentor and coach teachers in the areas of teaching and career development (MOE 2006).
- 5.
She is taking external courses on people management.
- 6.
She is pursuing a higher degree on curriculum leadership at the National Institute of Singapore (NIE).
- 7.
A different name is given for the secondary school to conceal its identity.
- 8.
This approach that Mr. Lim has adopted for his school is due to his previous professional work in the private sector. OJT is still widely in use today. In fact, it is probably the most popular method of training because it requires only a person who knows how to do the task, and the equipment the person uses to do the task. It is normally the easiest to arrange and manage at the workplace and because the training takes place on the job, it can be highly realistic.
- 9.
The School Excellence Model (SEM) is a framework used to guide schools in the assessment of their management and education processes and overall school performance. The SEM helps schools to provide a holistic and quality education and continuous good performance. Implemented in 2000, the SEM is now used by all schools for their annual self-assessment and by the Ministry of Education (MOE) for the external validation of schools. In order to guide schools in their self-assessment, suggested indicators and examples of best practices in other organizations are provided. Schools are given the autonomy to chart their own progress and choose their own strategies according to the resources they have in order to achieve their desired outcomes and targets (adopted from Seah and Ow 2003).
- 10.
MOE HQ has also taken the lead to simplify processes. The authors have revised the School Excellence Model (SEM), Enhanced Performance Management System (EPMS) and Risk Assessment & Management (RAM) procedures to help us focus on the key outcomes. The SEM now has 24 sub-criteria, instead of the previous 31, and 30 key performance measures, instead of the original 78. Also, the revised EPMS form is now five pages instead of 15 (MOE 2015b).
- 11.
The tool of reflection played a prominent role in the development of a culture of the professional development of teachers.
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Choy, W.K.W., Chua, P.M.H. (2019). Professional Development. In: Wong, B., Hairon, S., Ng, P. (eds) School Leadership and Educational Change in Singapore. Springer Texts in Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74746-0_5
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