1st Edition
Internationalization of Teacher Education and the Nation State Rethinking Nationalization in Singapore
The relationship between teacher education and internationalization is often regarded as one that has just begun, sparked by globalization and its knowledge economy. This book questions such an assumption by arguing that although contemporary demands on teacher education have intensified the need for internationalization, teacher education and internationalization have a deep and complex relationship, which is context dependent and has developed differently over time.
This book urges its readers to question and rethink overly nationalistic approaches to teacher education. It shows how the internationalization of teacher education could be used as a strategic tool to support sustainable educational development and meet labor market demands for twenty-first century competencies. It puts the spotlight on the imperatives for internationalizing teacher education and its present forms, and considers this current phenomenon in the context of Singapore. This nation state has a history of internationalization, albeit with differing rationales, dimensions and strategies. Internationalization has been a key driver of the Singapore education system’s sustained growth, from its humble beginnings to its present state as one of the best performing education systems in the world. This book will be of great interest to policy makers, academics, researchers and graduate students in the fields of international and comparative education, teacher education, and South East Asian studies.
Introduction
Section One: Internationalization of Teacher Education and the Nation State
1 The national discourse in teacher education
2 Unsustainability of an overly national discourse in teacher education
3 Reforming teacher education in the twenty-first century
Section Two: Internationalization of Teacher Education in Singapore
4 Education and teacher education in Singapore as a high-performing school system
5 Imperatives driving the internationalization of teacher education in Singapore
6 Forms of localization-internationalization in Singapore’s teacher education
7 Barriers and risks in the internationalization of teacher education
Section Three: Rethinking Nationalization in Singapore and Beyond
8 Nurturing international-minded teachers for national interest
9 Creating a new narrative in the nationalization of teacher education
Biography
Rita Zamzamah Nazeer-Ikeda (Ph.D.) is an assistant professor at Mejiro University (Tokyo, Japan). She is also a visiting research fellow at Waseda University’s Center for the Study of International Cooperation in Education (Tokyo, Japan). She has dedicated many years to international human development work through education, research and consulting in Singapore, Japan and Indonesia.
