Developing student teachers’ critical thinking and professional values: A case study of a teacher educator in Singapore

Abstract

This paper explores how thinking and values in student teachers are cultivated in the Singapore context, via a case study of a teacher educator selected based on having won excellence in teaching commendation awards. The study adopts a qualitative case study methodology (i.e. interviews with the teacher educator and her student teachers) and uses the theoretical lens of modelling to argue for values pedagogy in teacher education. The findings of this research shed light on the importance of teacher educators modelling the pedagogical practices that they endeavour to impart in their pre-service classrooms. Additionally, this study emphasises the importance of teacher educators as role models who truly embody the values that they would like to cultivate in student teachers in the 21st century education landscape.