The Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) and Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Physical Education) (PGDE PE) programmes aim to prepare university graduates to become primary, secondary school and junior college teachers.

16-month PGDE Programmes

Student teachers in the PGDE (Primary) and PGDE (Secondary) tracks will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to teach two school subjects (or one in the case of single-subject specialists). Those in the PGDE (Junior College) track will be equipped to teach one subject at the JC level and one at the Secondary level; except for Economics and General Paper, the junior college teaching subject and its paired secondary level teaching subject are related.

A new set of 16-month programmes for the various tracks was inaugurated in December 2016, replacing the earlier 12-month versions. 

2-year PGDE PE Programmes

The PGDE PE Programme is of two academic years’ duration. It leads to the award of the Postgraduate Diploma in Education with specialisation in Physical Education at the primary or secondary level. The revised two-year programmes (from July 2017 onwards) offer dual-level teacher preparation with teacher certification at either the primary or secondary level.

Both the 16-month and two-year programmes were enhanced in a number of ways:

• broader and deeper teacher preparation coverage to better equip student teachers in their multi-faceted teacher roles;
• stronger theory-practice links in both the programme structures and individual course designs; and
• additional practice opportunities through a Teaching Assistantship school-stint in addition to the original final Teaching Practicum.

Like the earlier programmes, the enhanced ones aim to develop university graduates into autonomous thinking teachers. The programme design is underpinned by NIE’s philosophy of teacher education—as embodied in the V3SK (Values3, Skills and Knowledge) Model—and NIE’s GTC (Graduand Teacher Competencies) Framework. 

Specifically, the programmes are designed to help student teachers understand and respect the teaching profession in Singapore’s educational context as they acquire

• the professional knowledge and understanding of learners, as well as of the teaching and learning processes;
  
• a broad range of pedagogical and other relevant skills to be effective educators; and
  
• the theoretical grounding and critical capacities to make pedagogical judgements and decisions in both the more immediate and the more distant future.
  

Graduands are expected to be

• passionate in their teaching;
• committed to the education of the whole child;
• guided by their professional ethos;
• creative in their pedagogies;
• reflective in their practice;
• civic-minded;
• global in outlook;
• resilient; and
• adaptable.