Recreating Democracy: Education as Democratic Hope, October 21-22, 2026
As John Dewey emphasized, all education requires an open, democratic society and for democracy to be maintained and developed, educated and reflective citizens are required. In this way, education and democracy are mutually connected. Democracy can be described as a practice that must constantly be nurtured and developed through critical reflection, creativity and the creation of new habits. At the same time, democracy today is challenged by authoritarian and populist movements, which means that schools, universities, news journalism and opinion formation are faced with new challenges.
An international research conference on education and democracy at Linnaeus University, Sweden
The purpose of the conference is to address the challenges that arise from the increasing politicization of education and knowledge content and the increasing questioning of the legitimacy and social value of educational as well as other societal institutions. The challenges of democracy need to be met with new knowledge and critical scrutiny. Research on education and democracy therefore plays a central role in strengthening fundamental democratic values for the future.
Perspectives on education may include educational policy, teaching and didactics, epistemic authority, digital media, anti-oppressive education, academic freedom, conceptual papers, and more.
Do you want to attend the conference Demokratins frontlinje: Lärares och journalisters arbete med kontroversiella frågor?
Visit the conference webpage for more information and to register.
Keynote speakers
Gert Biesta
Professor of Public Education, Maynooth University
Teaching Uncommon Values: Reconnecting Democracy and Education in the Impulse Society
Ever since John Dewey published his book Democracy and Education (1916) it has been understood that education has a crucial role to play in the maintenance and renewal of democracy. Democrats, after all, are not born but ‘made,’ and education is uniquely placed for fostering the conversation between the generations about the importance of the democratic life, of democratic values and institutions, and of human rights and the rule of law. This task has become even more urgent in a time in which democracy is under pressure from populist, authoritarian and even explicitly anti-democratic tendencies and developments. The question I will raise in my presentation is what the work of education for democratic citizenship can and should entail and how it can provide an effective and meaningful response to the emerging erosion of democratic life and democratic institutions. I will focus my discussion on the suggestion that education for democratic citizenship should be understood as a form of values education in which we teach the common values of democracy to the new generation. In my presentation I will raise a number of more fundamental questions about this set-up. I will highlight the vulnerability of a value-based defence of democracy and will suggest an alternative approach. I will argue that democracy and education share a common ‘concern’ and a common ‘principle’, which brings different educational possibilities into view. And I will characterise contemporary society as an ‘impulse society’ in order to show the new dynamics within which education for democratic citizenship is positioned.
Andrea English
Professor of Philosophy of Education, The University of Edinburgh
Difference and Education
Difference has been a significant theme in a range of recent discourses that have aimed to counter dominant, exclusionary narratives around what education means and who it is for. In this talk, I discuss a line of thought from philosophy of education that I argue offers a strong theorization of the educational meaning of difference in a way that draws these discourses together. In articulating this integrative theory, I aim to make difference visible as a unique and irreplaceable value that we must not just accept as a fact, but also intentionally foster. Ultimately, I argue that a renewed understanding of difference as a foundational educational value can help meet the urgent need to reconnect education and democracy.
Do you want to learn more about democracy and current issues? Visit Demokratins frontlinje: Lärares och journalisters arbete med kontroversiella frågor: https://lnu.se/demokratinsfrontlinje
Keynote speakers
Gert Biesta
Professor of Public Education, Maynooth University
Teaching Uncommon Values: Reconnecting Democracy and Education in the Impulse Society
Ever since John Dewey published his book Democracy and Education (1916) it has been understood that education has a crucial role to play in the maintenance and renewal of democracy. Democrats, after all, are not born but ‘made,’ and education is uniquely placed for fostering the conversation between the generations about the importance of the democratic life, of democratic values and institutions, and of human rights and the rule of law. This task has become even more urgent in a time in which democracy is under pressure from populist, authoritarian and even explicitly anti-democratic tendencies and developments. The question I will raise in my presentation is what the work of education for democratic citizenship can and should entail and how it can provide an effective and meaningful response to the emerging erosion of democratic life and democratic institutions. I will focus my discussion on the suggestion that education for democratic citizenship should be understood as a form of values education in which we teach the common values of democracy to the new generation. In my presentation I will raise a number of more fundamental questions about this set-up. I will highlight the vulnerability of a value-based defence of democracy and will suggest an alternative approach. I will argue that democracy and education share a common ‘concern’ and a common ‘principle’, which brings different educational possibilities into view. And I will characterise contemporary society as an ‘impulse society’ in order to show the new dynamics within which education for democratic citizenship is positioned.
Gert Biesta is emeritus Professor of Public Education in the Centre for Public Education and Pedagogy at Maynooth University, Ireland. He is currently serving a four-year term as member of the Education Council of the Netherlands, the advisory body of the Dutch government and parliament. Since 2025 he has been involved as an expert in the Council of Europe’s ambition to develop a European Space for Citizenship Education.
Andrea English
Professor of Philosophy of Education, The University of Edinburgh
Difference and Education
Difference has been a significant theme in a range of recent discourses that have aimed to counter dominant, exclusionary narratives around what education means and who it is for. In this talk, I discuss a line of thought from philosophy of education that I argue offers a strong theorization of the educational meaning of difference in a way that draws these discourses together. In articulating this integrative theory, I aim to make difference visible as a unique and irreplaceable value that we must not just accept as a fact, but also intentionally foster. Ultimately, I argue that a renewed understanding of difference as a foundational educational value can help meet the urgent need to reconnect education and democracy.
Andrea R. English is Professor of Philosophy of Education at the University of Edinburgh, and President of the John Dewey Society. For more than two decades, her research has developed the ideas of ‘uncertainty’ and ‘productive struggle’ in transformative learning. Her scholarly work is concerned with how these concepts are relevant to the theory and practice of teaching that supports equitable, democratic classrooms today. She is the author of Discontinuity in Learning: Dewey, Herbart and Education as Transformation (Cambridge University Press, 2013). Her recent work includes a chapter on ‘Dewey, Existential Uncertainty, and Non-Affirmative Democratic Education’ for the international volume on Non-Affirmative Education and Bildung (Springer, 2023) and an interdisciplinary study on ‘Pedagogical Listening’ during mathematical discussions (Teachers and Teaching, 2023). She is editor of The History of Western Philosophy of Education in The Modern Era (Bloomsbury's Major Reference Works, Vol 4, 2021), and co-editor of two centennial Handbooks on Dewey’s work, John Dewey’s Democracy and Education (Cambridge University Press, 2017), which was awarded the Outstanding Book Award 2018 from the Society of Professors of Education, and John Dewey’s Human Nature and Conduct, published this year (Cambridge University Press). She also co-edited the Policy Special Issue on Decolonizing the Curriculum: Philosophical Perspectives (Journal of Philosophy of Education, 2024). She serves on the Executive Board of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain, and as Associate Editor of Dewey Studies and Editor of Impact: philosophical perspectives on education policy.
A sustainable event
This conference is a sustainability-assured meeting in accordance with Linnaeus University’s guidelines for sustainable events. These guidelines are linked to the 17 global goals in Agenda 2030 and comprise the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, the social, and the environmental.
Learn more about Linnaeus University's sustainable events here.