LLC News

Meeting: Education for Social Justice

Date: 28-Nov-2013 - 29-Nov-2013
Location: Uppsala, Sweden
Contact: Ann-Christin Lövstedt
Contact Email: info@reading4life.org
Meeting URL: http://www.reading4life.org/

Meeting Description:
What does it mean to create equity and democracy in education? Around the world we see growing challenges to economic, social and political equality. In the face of these challenges, teachers and teacher educators in Sweden, Europe and around the world are working to achieve social justice in schools and society, building theories, practices and coalitions.

Reading for Life’s 1st International Conference on Education for Social Justice will offer rare opportunities to discuss cutting-edge research, build innovative networks, and explore possibilities for new directions in educational policies and democratic pedagogies with a diverse group of teachers, teacher educators, academics, school leaders and administrators who share a deep engagement and commitment to equity and social justice in education.

Strand A: Teaching and Learning in Democratic Classrooms

This strand will highlight innovative pedagogies that teachers can implement to create democracy and equity in the classrooms. Sessions will describe, analyze, and model instruction which can challenge inequalities and promote every success for all students, so that equity can be achieved in every classroom. This strand will have a specific focus on the role of language and literacy in the learning process.

In order to create equity and democracy in student outcomes teachers need to have access to powerful and democratic pedagogies. In all powerful pedagogies language is important and teachers need to understand that language plays an important role in all learning processes. Teachers also need to have knowledge about how language works in all meaning making processes. Strand A of the conference Education for Social Justice will explore the role of language in learning and particularly how a functional view upon language, based on systemic functional linguistics, paired with Basil Bernstein’s theories on ‘pedagogic discourse’ can guide teachers in their work to support and teach students so that the student success is distributed in a democratic way.

Strand B: Educational Policies & Reforms for Equity in Education

Schools can be arenas for the reproduction of inequality or platforms for critiquing and taking action to address inequity. While educational policies inevitability promise equity and excellence for all, student learning outcomes rarely attest to the achievement of these aspirations. This strand will explore the disparity between policy aspirations and actual outcomes.

Invited speakers are:
Dr David Rose, University of Sydney
Professor Michael Apple, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Profesor Caroline Liberg, Uppsala University
Dr Phlippe Vitale, University of Provence
Dr Monica Axelsson, Stockholm University
Dr Guadalupe Francia, Uppsala University
Professor Ninetta Santoro, University of Strathclyde
Professor Sally Power, University of Cardiff

Posted by Sara Cole on April 5, 2013 11:01 AM | Permalink