Reflections on the teacher education model for the twenty-first century (TE21) and V3SK: legacy and lessons

This article will reflect on the first author’s deanship journey from 2008 to 2014, which saw the mobilization of the NIE Teacher Education Model for the 21st Century (TE²¹) and conceptualization of the V³SK framework for teacher education curriculum. Taking a big picture approach, the model and framework were architecturally derived through our building block and improvement systems approach where strong foundations were critical. The period of the late 2000s through the next decade saw an increased interest in education reforms worldwide. Two major trends saw a confluence in interest in Singapore. Firstly, there was increased research pointing to the importance of the teacher factor. Secondly, enhanced interest in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and international comparisons placed Singapore under global spotlight owing to her remarkable performance. Singapore drew much attention from education ministries around the world, which were visiting Singapore to learn how we invest in education and more importantly what we do to bring ideas to fruition. It became clear that the teacher factor was a significant reason for Singapore’s success. This article will share on how TE²¹ was a scholarly and pragmatic endeavour resulting from research-informed and motivated teacher educators working with partners and stakeholders in practice whilst taking a globalized perspective. The pinnacle of the TE²¹ model was the V³SK framework which continues to permeate theory and practice. The framework has gone beyond a professional guidepost to capturing the importance of the teacher symbol. In essence, we were building on roots, culture, values, and wisdom as we tapped on science and evidence.