THEY are teachers, prize-winning ones, but they came here to learn.

Earlier this year, a group of British teachers visited Singapore on a trip organised by charity CfBT Education Trust for Teaching Awards winners.

What they saw of the Singapore education system drew many positive reactions.

One head teacher praised the 'clear articulation of ideas between government and schools' and how the system not only 'talked the talk, but also walked the walk'.

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High praise

With the group was education journalist Mike Baker, who wrote several blog entries about the visit on his website, as well as a piece in The Guardian titled Lessons From Singapore.

Mr Baker felt that the trip was especially relevant to the teachers because of similarities between Singapore and the UK.

Among these, he listed the use of English as the medium of instruction, as well as the national curriculum, and the use of the O- and A- level exams.

In his article, Mr Baker described how one assistant head teacher came here expecting to see a 'a very traditional curriculum, rows of pupils, teacher in front, students there to learn'.

But what she saw here was these traditional methods blended with 'more progressive thinking, and a focus on teaching the whole child, not just on exam results'.

Mr Baker felt that a major strength of the Singapore education system was how closely the Government works with the schools and supports bottom-up initiatives.

He also wrote favourably about how education is a top priority in Singapore.

On his blog, he wrote: 'Despite what many think, the high academic standards do not seem to be at the expense of broader aspects of education, although class sizes are relatively high compared to the UK.

'One of the keys to their success is the high national priority placed on education, which ranks only behind defence in importance. Entry to teacher training is highly competitive and teachers have a high social status.'

He said that the the emphasis on learning outside the classroom, through field trips, clubs and co-curricular activities showed a 'holistic, child-based approach'.

He felt that the ability to combine such an approach with traditional classroom learning was something that British educators could learn from the Singapore system.

This article was first published in The New Paper.