A Broader Understanding Of Singapore

Singapore Kaleidoscope is a compulsory course under the enhanced Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) programme. Each year, two symposia are organised to equip PGDE student teachers with a deeper and more nuanced appreciation of Singapore’s achievements and challenges through engagement with prominent speakers and thinkers.

About 600 students from the PGDE December 2017 intake as well as NIE faculty members attended this year’s symposia, which explored the theme “Challenges and Opportunities Facing Singapore In The Region And The World”.

Dr Janil Puthucheary, then Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information and Education, was the speaker and guest of honour at the first symposium held on 31 January 2018 at NIE. Besides delivering aspeech, Dr Janil shared valuable insights about education in Singapore through a lively question-and-answer session moderated by Dr Yang Peidong. He also challenged student teachers to think deeper about how National Education can be improved in schools.

The second symposium was held on 14 March 2018 with Ambassador Bilahari Kausikan, Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Senior Fellow, School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, as the speaker. The ambassador presented a candid perspective on global and local issues and encouraged student teachers to think outside the box as educators. He also addressed various questions on the geopolitical situation and the impact on Singapore during the question-and-answer session moderated by Associate Professor Rahil Ismail.

The Singapore Kaleidoscope course was introduced in December 2016. It seeks to enlarge student teachers’ understanding of the issues confronting Singapore, while cultivating appreciative inquiry as well as self-directed and experiential learning skills.

As part of the course, student teachers explore the themes of “Nature and Biodiversity”,“Heritage, Society and Culture”, and “Singapore in the World” through three learning approaches. In Perspectives on Singapore, lessons are imparted through videos featuring prominent academics, activists and professionals. In Experiencing Singapore, student teachers are required to document their reflections on “Nature and Biodiversity” and “Heritage, Society and Culture” through a photo journal. In Understanding Singapore, two symposia are organised for student teachers to engage and gather first-hand insights from prominent Singapore leaders.