Lee, Ngan Hoe

This international comparative study examined the training of future primary and lower secondary Mathematics teachers in 17 countries and assessed their Mathematics Content Knowledge (MCK) and Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge (MPCK) and beliefs about mathematics teaching. Altogether 380 primary student teachers, 393 secondary student teachers, and 77 educators at the National Institute of Education (NIE) participated in this study on November 2007 and May/June 2008. Singapore and Chinese Taipei had the highest requirements for Mathematics before entry into teacher education. NIE student teachers ranked among the top countries in their MCK and MPCK, but were relatively weak in certain topics compared to some other countries. They considered NIE programmes to be effective in preparing them to teach Mathematics, but certain learning experiences could be strengthened. Most of them held commendable reasons for becoming teachers. About 20% of first-career student teachers indicated that they may not consider teaching as their lifetime career.

According to Mr. Thaman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education, in his address at the "Innovation and Enterprise in our Schools" Workshop on 16 Feb 2004, the core of I&E is about developing intellectual curiosity, a willingness to think originally, a spirit of initiative, a willingness to do something differently and developing strength of character. Hence one of the key elements that underpin innovation and enterprise is getting our young to question as they learn, thus nurturing the spirit of enquiry. But how could teachers develop this spirit of enquiry in young primary children? Over a period from 1969 to 1986, Matthew Lipman developed a programme for primary and secondary students to foster the development of questioning and reasoning skills. Through the use of specially developed thinking stories as triggers, teachers engage students to discuss philosophical issues, such as friendship and beauty embedded in the stories. In April 2006, Mr. Thaman Shanmugararnam spoke of the need for a 4th R in Education: Reasoning at the Conference on Philosophy for Schools (Straits Times, 8 April 2006, H7) The students discover the importance of supporting the views they express by means of convincing reasons. They learn to appreciate the difference in perspectives within the same group through discussion. As they share the tasks of discerning problems and discovering meanings, they begin to build a community of inquiry. Lipman called his inquiry programme "Philosophy for Children" or P4C. He strongly recommends the P4C to be offered to all primary students. To promote the spirit of enquiry in young primary children, an intervention study was undertaken in a neighbourhood school. P4C lessons were implemented in two Primary Three classes. The duration of treatment was three semesters. The project classes were tested on their reasoning skills before and after the implementation of P4C. Video tapes on the philosophical lessons show encouraging progress in the development of enquiry and reasoning skills in the young children.