From 1995 – 2021, I worked in the Singapore education system in a number of roles, including Senior Education Advisor at Singapore Polytechnic, Chief Research Investigator for the Ministry of Education, and invited External Assessor for Singapore’s School Excellence Model. Previously, I had taught in all sectors of the British education system.
I am the sole author of the books Creative Teachers: Self-directed Learners (Springer, 2020); Creative Teaching: An Evidence-Based Approach (Springer, 2015); and The Challenge of Reframing Engineering Education (Springer, 2014). Also, I have presented 97 papers at international conferences.
These document major pedagogic innovations that I invented, implemented, and validated over two decades of applied research and professional development work with over 15,000 teaching/training professionals. These encompassed most educational and vocational sectors, many countries, and a wide range of cultural contexts. Significant achievements included:
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Invented, implemented, and evaluated a whole curriculum approach to teaching thinking (e.g., critical thinking, creative thinking, and metacognition).
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Invented, implemented, and evaluated an Evidence-based Creative Teaching approach which underpins professional development for all mainstream teacher education programmes.
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Produced a comprehensive professional development framework for teachers, based on the above approach, which won the inaugural Blackboard Catalyst Award for Professional Development in 2017 – a prestigious global award that recognizes and honours innovation and excellence in the Blackboard community of practice.
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Chief Investigator in a 2-year funded research project for the Ministry of Education in Singapore, in which I applied the Evidence-based Creative Teaching approach to develop and validate practical instructional strategies to enhance students’ intrinsic motivation in everyday teaching..
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Invented, implemented, and evaluated an evidence-based pedagogic approach for developing Metacognitive Capability and Self-directed learning.
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Provided over 100 external consultancies in most countries in the Asian region.
My present work is to enhance teacher expertise globally from an evidence-based approach. Quite simply, a globally expert teaching force would be a significant force in developing better thinking and capability in students across national boundaries and cultures – which I see as a viable, practical, achievable, and necessary endeavour in dealing intelligently with the major existential challenges of these times.
