Greetings from the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice (CRPP). Launched in 2002 as a key research centre of the National Institute of Education (NIE) by the then-Minister for Education Mr Teo Chee Hean, our roots of education research trace back to the 1970s, with Dr Ruth Wong and Dr Sim Wong Kooi who saw the importance of research for the Institute’s credibility and development. The Ministry of Education's (MOE) establishment of the Education Research Funding Programme (ERFP) in NIE in 1999 was a concerted effort to harness research for practice and policy, as the Singapore education system began major shifts in the nature of teaching and learning, the increasing professionalisation of teachers, and system efforts to improve schools. CRPP's genesis was embedded in this bedrock of research transformation and acceleration, fueled by national initiatives such as Thinking Schools, Leaming Nation and global recognition of the importance of rigorous and relevant evidence-based education policies and practices. 

From the founding document that established CRPP, our vision was to "define, develop and actualize teaching and learning environments of the future that can maximise the leaming potential among pupils”. CRPP’s research activities must “lead in generating findings that would help shape educational policies, improve curriculum development and improve teaching practices in the schools”. By 2004, our centre had become the largest education research centre in Asia, with more than 100 research staff and 80 school-based research projects. 20 years into existence, this vision of driving school-based education research continues to remain the true north in which we direct much of our energies. 

As the education research landscape continues to evolve, CRPP has begun to examine how educational and pedagogical issues are ecologically complex, requiring networks of education stakeholders to develop evidence-based solutions through increasingly multidisciplinary research-practice-policy partnerships. Amidst new geopolitical turmoil, societal fissures, and technological advances that challenge the nature of being human, schooling and education, I believe we need to remain rooted in what John Dewey would argue to be the ultimate aim of education – “nothing other than the creation of human beings in the fullness of their capacities”.  

To that end, CRPP’s researchers have a strong passionate drive to improve Singapore education, and more importantly, our researchers have a strong collective heart to work closely with school leaders, teachers and students to ensure their growth to the fullest. I welcome you to join us should you share our enthusiasm.