The Curriculum, Teaching and Learning (CTL) Academic Group’s 3rd Curriculum, Assessment, Teaching, and Learning (CATL) Colloquium 2019 was held at NIE from 9 to 10 September 2019. The event featured 19 workshops and seminars on curriculum, assessment, teaching and learning for more than 100 teachers and MOE personnel. Making this year’s event extra special was the participation by seven Finnish teacher educators from Oulu University and Rauma Teacher Training Schools and a Special Advisor from the Trade Union of Education.

The participants, together with about 40 Singapore teachers, engaged in a comparative dialogue on student-centredness, student-voices, student-autonomy and formative assessment mediated by CTL’s Dr Mardiana Abu Bakar and Dr Heidi Layne from NIE’s Centre of Research in Child Development (CRCD). The Finnish participants were given the opportunity to spend half a day at a Singapore secondary school, exchange views with MOE officers from the Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) branch and Curriculum Planning Office (CPO), and get to know NIE at the NIE Visitors Learning Centre (NIEVLC).

The event was partly sponsored by the Finnish Embassy, and participants from both countries were also hosted to a reception by the Finnish ambassador. Everyone expressed keen interest for more comparative dialogues to be organised in future.