Why Teach? Motives for Teaching Revisited

The 1960s saw a rapid expansion of teacher education in Singapore. This was followed by an attempt to ensure quality teacher education, beginning with the establishment of the Institute of Education in 1973. The Institute was established to take over the responsibilities of teacher preparation and educational research, functions which were performed by the Teachers' Training College, the School of Education of the University of Singapore and the Research Unit of the Ministry of Education. Since its establishment, the Institute has provided pre-service training for some 6000 teachers, both non-graduates and graduates. In addition to these, some fifteen thousand teachers have gone through in-service courses of one kind or another at the Institute over the past decade (Lun and Chan, 1983). The above facts show the concern with and effort dedicated to the improvement of teacher quality in Singapore.