Provocations

We are excited to present Provocations at CIES 2022. Inspired by the intimacy of the 2017 CIES Symposium at George Mason University, the highly interactive format of these sessions offers new ways of thinking and networking. Provocations are designed to encourage discussion, dislodge accepted thinking, and stimulate new ideas. We expect these sessions to be no exception to that!

We connect to our theme by setting our gaze on the future of the three essential components of CIES. The future of comparative, the future of international, and the future of education. More details about each session is shared below as are the names of our esteemed moderators and panelists. Light snacks and beverages will be served. We look forward to seeing you there!

Chair and Moderator

Frances Vavrus is Professor of Comparative and International Development Education at the University of Minnesota and a member of the Joint ILO/UNESCO Committee on the Application of the Recommendations Concerning Teaching Personnel.

The Future of Comparative: Tuesday, April, 19, 2022 (1:30-2:45 PM)

Comparison has long been a defining feature of research conducted by members of CIES, but what does comparative work look like today and how might it change in the future? The panelists in this session seek to provoke discussion about this question as they address the meanings of comparison; the disciplines and fields that have shaped their theoretical frameworks, methods, and analysis; and the ways they envision comparison in the research in which they are engaged or plan to be in the future.

Chair and Moderator

Dr Halla B. Holmarsdottir is a Professor and former Vice-Dean of Research at the Faculty of Education and International Studies, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway.

The Future of International: Wednesday, April 20, 2022 (1:30-2:45 PM)

This session is jointly organized between CIES and the EU Horizon 2020 project DigiGen. DigiGen aims to understand the effects of digital technology on the everyday lives of children and young people. This session helps to further this aim by contributing to our understanding of digital inequalities, focusing on the “I” (International) in CIES. By bring a group of international scholars together we hope to develop a dialogue between these scholars and the CIES audience in contributing to addressing the challenges of digital inequality.

Chair and Moderator

Noah W. Sobe is Senior Project Officer at UNESCO, on leave from his faculty position as Professor at Loyola University Chicago.

The Future of Education: Thursday, April 21, 2022 (1:30-2:45 PM)

The result of two years of work and building on the inputs of over a million people, an independent International Commission headed by the President of Ethiopia, Sahle-Work Zewde recently released a new report Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education. It makes the case for rethinking how, what and why we learn in order to build a new social contract for education that can both repair past injustices and transform the future. This Provocations session will begin with a discussion of the report from some key players involved in its creation as well as some outside respondents. Then, participants in the session will be asked to engage with key questions raised in the report: (1) What do we currently do in education should be continued, safeguarded, or strengthened? (2) What do we do now that needs to abandoned or unlearned? And (3) What needs to be creatively reimagined afresh? as a step forward in the shared dialogue and action needed to change course.