Hi everyone
I'm new to Mumsnet and I'm not sure whether this post breaks any rules, but I would like to draw your attention to an incredible Rethinking Education conference that's happening this weekend (and unfolding online in the weeks to come).
I recently wrote a blog explaining why this conference is happening and why people need to get involved. Here follows a quick introduction to this groundbreaking conference, which I think will be of interest to lots of people on this site.
An education conference with a difference
Everyone is affected by education in some way. But education conferences are often not hugely representative of the wider world. In particular, the voices of young people, parents and carers and classroom practitioners are often overlooked and unheard.
The Rethinking Education conference brings people together from across the full range of the educational ecosystem. In particular, the following face groups will be represented - not just as delegates, but on the platforms:
• Mainstream educators
• Alternative educators
• Parents and carers
• Young people
• Education reformers
As far as I am aware, this is the first time such an event has taken place. We have presentations led by traditionalists and progressives, mainstream and alternative educators, schoolers and unschoolers - to name just a few! We are especially proud of the fact that there will be at least 15 sessions led or co-facilitated by young people (age 10-21), as well as by parents and carers - voices that are often marginalised and unheard within the education debate.
You can also find details of both. the online and face-to-face conferences here.
The online conference is donation-based, so people can pay whatever they can afford (including free access, should you require it). The online conference will work as follows:
Six keynote talks will be live-streamed on Sat 17th Sept via Zoom. Delegates will receive a Zoom link a couple of days beforehand. The schedule is as follows (UK time):
10.00-10.40 - Naomi Fisher - The side-effects of school
10.50-11.30 - Naheeda Maharasingam - Transforming education into a space of social justice and human liberation
13.00-13.40 - Debra Kidd - A Curriculum of Hope
13.50-14.30 - Meena Kumari Wood - Empowering students as leaders of their own learning
14.50-15.30 - Kulvarn Atwal - The Thinking School: Developing a dynamic learning community
15.40-16.20 - Yumna Hussen - What if young people felt confident and empowered in our schools?
These sessions will also be recorded in high resolution and made available to watch afterwards, on-demand. The rest of the 80+ videos for the online conference will be released on Sunday 18th September, and will be available to watch at a time of your choosing. Again, delegates will receive an email on the 18th with details of how to access these videos.
How to register
If you would like to attend the online conference, please register via Eventbrite. As mentioned, tickets for the online conference are donation-based, so people can pay whatever they can afford.
The Eventbrite page is here.
Please drop me a line if you have any questions. I hope you find this of interest!
Dr James Mannion
Director, Rethinking Education
Associate, Oracy Cambridge
Associate, Centre for Educational Leadership, UCL Institute of Education
Bye-Fellow, Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge