ICSEI 2018: Deepening Education Research For Greater Impact
The 31st annual International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI) was held in Singapore from 8 to 12 January 2018. NIE was the proud host of this event, which saw policy makers, researchers and practitioners from the global education community exchanging knowledge and practices that will enable schools and education systems to provide better education to students.
“Deepening School Change for Scaling: Principles, Pathways and Partnerships” was the theme for the conference. Supporting this were activities ranging from keynotes and symposiums, to roundtable discussions and master-classes organised around six sub-themes addressing the challenges of education in an ever-evolving economic and global landscape.
The event drew over 700 conference delegates from more than 40 countries to the NIE campus, including the Singapore Education Minister for Schools Mr Ng Chee Meng, who officiated the opening ceremony. Keynote speakers included Dr Alicia Grunow, Senior Fellow at Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Professor Kiyomi Akita, Research Professor from the Graduate School of Education in the University of Tokyo; Ms Lucy Crehan, a qualified teacher and international education consultant; and Dr Carol Campbell, an associate professor on leadership, higher and adult education from the University of Toronto.
In his welcome message, Professor Tan Oon Seng, NIE Director emphasised the need for educators and researchers to collaborate continually in the aim to improve schools, transform curriculum, assessment and pedagogy, and enhance the professional capital of teachers. “We need to move beyond individual school improvement to improvement as a system; beyond educators leading within a school to leading nationally across schools; beyond individual teachers working on their own to learning communities with teachers as co-designers of engaging learning environments,” he said.
In his presidential speech, ICSEI President Professor Andy Hargreaves praised Singapore for its impressive achievements in education within the 50 years since independence. He also urged participants to visit some of Singapore’s schools and to meet with local educators who have successfully incorporated what they learned during their visits and studies to international schools.
Of course, it wasn’t all work and no play for the delegates, who were treated to glimpses of Singaporean culture through ethnic performances, cultural activities like Chinese knot tying and Indian hand painting, and smorgasbords of local hawker delights during the social event of the conference themed Cultural Night.
For those who missed the ICSEI 2018, the keynote papers and conference presentations are now available for download from https://www.icsei.net/2018. Alternatively, visit the Facebook page of NIE’s Office of Education Research at https://www.facebook.com/NIEOER/videos/1670252776346604/ to view the video highlights.
