APERA Conference 2008

Educational Research for Innovation & Quality in Education:
Policy & Pedagogical Engagements Across Contexts

Welcome Message from
Professor Lee Sing Kong,
Director, National Institute of Education, Singapore

Leaders in all fields today recognise that for nations to succeed and global societies to thrive, they need to ensure that members of their societies have enabling environments that help people achieve their educational potentials. Whilst education is the key to development, education systems worldwide face many common challenges such as the dealing with global forces that reshape societies, institutions and lives. Educational research from more established traditions internationally as well as those done in the Asia and Pacific regions can contribute significantly to our understanding of global trends, reform possibilities and scalable innovations.

The National Institute of Education (NIE) has been collaborating with major institutions and organisations worldwide in our quest to enhance education for Singapore and internationally through our teacher-education programmes and strong emphasis on research to improve policy and practice. On 21st of August 2007, the birth of an international alliance that stands as a collective voice in articulating key issues of education based on evidences, took place at the NIE. This is indeed a significant event for education. Eight Deans and Directors of Education from Beijing Normal University, University of Wisconsin, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (University of Toronto), Institute of Education (University of London), University of Aarhus, National Seoul University, Melbourne University and National Institute of Education formalised the formation of the International Alliance of Leading Education Institutes through the signing of the Agreement. The Alliance will serve as a think-tank on issues of education. The first issue identified for articulation is teacher education and a communiqué on this issue will be released at the next meeting of the Alliance in August 2008 at Copenhagen.

We are delighted to host the 2nd Asia-Pacific Educational Research Conference jointly organised by NIE, the Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association (APERA) and the Educational Research Association of Singapore (ERAS). We are excited about the internationalisation of educational research across the continents and the theme Educational Research for Innovation and Quality in Education is most timely for addressing the issues of interest to educational researchers, policy makers, practitioners and educators across contexts, disciplines and schools.

We look forward to welcoming your contributions and hosting you at the NIE in Singapore!

Professor Lee Sing Kong

Welcome Message from Conference Co-Chairs

There is an ancient saying that the wise man learns from experience and the wiser man from the experience of others. Globalisation and the advent of ultra-modern communication technologies have brought about a new world order of interdependence and network of communities. The concomitants of rapid development can, however, be worrying: fragmentation of cultures, reinforcement of narrow worldviews, greater divide of socio-economic groups, corporatisation and marketisation movements that undermine quality for the long haul. Education continues to be an important vehicle for shaping and moulding the future of this globe. What educational research says continues to be an important voice to inform policies and practices worldwide.

Internet communication has created all the more a yearning by educational leaders, researchers and practitioners to meet in persons to share, collaborate and learn from one another across diverse disciplines, creeds and cultures. As such, educational research conferences are highly valued platforms for building such international camaraderie.

The Asia-Pacific region has been repeatedly hailed as one of the fastest growing regions in the world. Apart from the socio-economic and educational challenges, the region also reflects a rich diversity of cultural and unique scholarly traditions. The complexity of education calls for an understanding of multiple traditions of educational research and innovative ideas to bridge the real world challenges and established modes of thinking and practices.

On behalf of the Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association (APERA) and Educational Research Association of Singapore (ERAS) we welcome your contribution and participation in the APERA 2008 Conference to be held in Singapore. As we plan for this conference, we also hope to host representatives of renowned educational research associations worldwide to discuss important issues of standards of education research, impact of educational research on policies and capacity building for educational research particularly in developing nations. We believe this will be an excellent platform for a meeting of people across continents, as educators and researchers in the Asia and Pacific regions and internationally congregate to learn, engage and develop new ideas to bring about quality in educational research, policy and practice.

We look forward to welcoming you in Singapore!