Disability Awareness in Teacher Education in Singapore

Background: Contextualizing Disability In Singapore

Since 1965 when Singapore gained its independence, students with and without disabilities have been pervasively viewed as belonging to the special and mainstream education systems respectively. This dual system of education, where the mainstream education system is separate from the special education system – comprising of special schools run by voluntary welfare organizations instead of the Ministry of Education (Lim & Nam, 2000) has continued to the present. It is therefore not surprising that many Singaporeans without disabilities have grown up apart from their peers and other persons with disabilities. The lack of personal practical knowledge and experience with persons with disabilities on the part of many Singaporeans have, in turn, contributed to the generally negative societal attitudes and their reproduction over decades towards persons with disabilities (Lim & Thaver, 2008). Such attitudes are also representative of many teachers the authors have encountered at the NIE (Lim & Thaver, 2014).