ACCESS, PARTICIPATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Georg Arnhold International Summer Conference (GAISC)
June 26 to 29, 2023 in Braunschweig, Germany

While the right to education has been guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights since 1948 (Article 26), it has often been acknowledged that an effective implementation of this right in the form of educational equity and justice has been achieved to an unequal and generally unsatisfactory extent. Such inequalities have not only been between Global North and Global South; within national education systems and even the microcosm of the school, access to education has too often been dependent on a student’s personal background, be it financial, social, ethnic, or familial. More recently, in the aftermath of the global COVID-19 pandemic, countries around the world are facing an unprecedented disruption not only to their economies and societies but especially to their education systems. Already existing inequalities – on all levels – have been exacerbated, with the prognosis that the impact of this global crisis will undo several decades of progress with respect to anti-discrimination, gender equality, and educational justice. At the same time, now more than ever, education is ascribed a key role in equipping young people with the knowledge and skills they need to work together to help promote sustainable peace and social justice, appreciation of diversity, social participation and democratic action, solidarity, and resilient responses to societal challenges. But what is meant by “sustainable” peace when a new war in Europe has effectively put the long-trusted strategy of “peace at all costs” up for negotiation, while ubiquitous concepts of “sustainability” are informed primarily by hegemonic governance discourses of the Global North?  

While the digitization of education and educational media seeks to render education more accessible and relevant for modern-day society, debates around conditions for active participation and access to technology and resources have highlighted more recent challenges in this regard, focusing, for instance, on exclusion, inequality and injustice.

In this context, the term educational equity moves beyond access to education per se to include the pursuit of an education system that address all students, regardless of their social background or origin, language, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, or ability to learn. Educational equity signifies conditions that ensure all students have the opportunities, support, and resources they need to achieve their individual educational goals.

This year's conference will therefore address the question of how educational justice can be achieved and promoted under various conditions and inquires as to the philosophical, motivational, and practical challenges and approaches to solutions from educational theory, policy and practice. Special attention will be given to the specific and common challenges to education in both the Global North and South as well as in a variety of conflict- and post-conflict-contexts.

The Georg Arnhold Program on Education for Sustainable Peace invites submission of original contributions that draw upon current theories and innovative methods, in a range of contexts, to illuminate the different aspects and challenges educational justice is facing today. Abstracts can speak to – without being limited by – the following considerations:

• What do we understand educational justice/educational equity/educational equality to be, and how has research described the conditions for achieving it?
• What disparities and inequalities can be identified in access to education from a regional (Global North/Global South), socio-economic (inequalities within a particular society), intersectional or infrastructural perspective?
• How does conflict relate to educational justice? How and to what extent does educational inequality contribute as a driver of conflict to the emergence or intensification of conflicts? What educational impacts can be achieved by peace education, transitional justice and reconciliation processes/or methods/approaches?
• What theoretical approaches might be significant for understanding correlations between educational justice (or lack of it) and peace learning/peace and justice in society?
• Who shapes participation, and who decides who shapes it? What does this mean for power dynamics in education?
• In what ways has the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated already existing inequities, and what might this mean for peace learning/peace and justice in society?
• What classroom practices around digital media might help to soften digital inequities?
• What does this mean for teacher education moving forward?
• What are the consequences of educational exclusion, and what part is played by gender, ethnic/religious, socio-economic inequality, digital inequality as well as further inequalities and their intersections for education and future prospects?
• What is the role of education in mitigating group divisions and providing a foundation for peace and justice (especially after violence or disruptions such as COVID)?

Applicants are requested to explain how their proposal addresses the theme of the Summer Conference as outlined above.

The four-day long Summer Conference will bring together early-career scholars, senior researchers, and practitioners from around the world. It will provide an interdisciplinary and international forum that will allow participants to debate and critically reflect upon key research questions, methods, findings, and their implications. The academic program will offer participants the opportunity to widen their research perspectives and improve their methodological competencies.