Conference on didactics and classroom research brings together researchers from all over the world
When the conference Teachers matter – but how? takes place at Linnaeus University, half of the participants are on site, while half participate remotely. The conference addresses how teaching in schools creates conditions for pupils’ knowledge, personal and social development, as well as for their ability to meet future challenges.
The corona pandemic has also affected international research conferences. An example is Teachers matter – but how? at Linnaeus University, which will be held 13-15 October as a hybrid conference. Just over half of the more than 100 participants from all over the world will be on site in Växjö, while the others participate online.
“Our intention with the conference is to create opportunities for exchanges of knowledge on internationally important and relevant issues in the fields that can be related to teaching and learning. The conference will be a meeting place where we can discuss these issues and acquaint ourselves with each other’s ideas, identify challenges and possible ways forward”, says Bettina Vogt, who is responsible for the conference together with Ulrika Bossér and Ninni Wahlström.
The conference’s five international keynote speakers represent the research front line in teaching and learning in preschool and school.
- Anna Sfard, a well-known researcher in mathematics education from Israel, talks about the importance of communication for teaching and learning.
- Barbara Comber, an internationally established reading researcher from Australia, emphasizes the importance of incorporating children’s and pupils’ perspectives into teaching.
- American classroom researcher Katherine Schultz examines children’s and pupils’ different ways of actively participating in teaching – also through their silence.
- Classroom researcher Kirsti Klette from Norway shows how the digitalisation of research can lead to a common language for teachers in different countries.
- Last in the line of keynote speakers, curriculum researcher Stefan Hopmann from Austria discusses how the concepts of didactics and democracy are connected.
“The aim of the conference is to examine basic conditions for today’s teaching from different didactic and pedagogical perspectives, as it takes shape both in educational politics policy documents and in preschool and school teaching practices”, Ulrika Bossér emphasizes.
The conference is organized by the research group Studies in Curriculum, Teaching and Evaluation (SITE) in collaboration with Linnaeus Knowledge Environment Education in Change. It sheds light on the question of how teaching creates conditions for pupils’ knowledge, personal and social development, as well as for their ability to meet future challenges.
“It is important to highlight the role of preschool and school to educate children and pupils to live in a democratic society, to meet a changing working life and to encourage children’s and pupils’ desire to develop their personal potential”, says Ninni Wahlström.