Rome 2017 - Abstracts
Abstract of Presentations
IA Mind, Thinking, Creativity.
1B Roundtable on Education for the 4th Industrial Revolution.
- Higher education in a small country by Momir Djurovic.
- Education for the Future: SOME BITS AND BOBS by Martin Ramirez & Tina Lindhard.
- Transforming Education For The Transition To The Human Economy And Postnormal Times by Elif Çepni
- Online and Hybrid Learning by Kathryn Skelton.
- The Vital Need for Online and Hybrid Learning by Janani Ramanathan.
1D Education, Economy and Society.
- Influential urbanistic factors of the education system and quality of its outcome by Davor Bernardic
- Issues in economics education by Jamie Morgan.
- Global History and Global Education by Barry Gills
- Agile management education for the future: the role of trust and social capital by Grazyna Lebkowska
- From Theory to Practice: the importance of Rethinking Economics by Daniele Bigi
1E Education, Democracy & Peace.
- The University in front of a Human-centered Society; a Vision of the European High Education by Juan Cayón-Pena
- In this Era of Transition and Globalization people don’t believe in WHAT THEY SEE, but only SEE WHAT THEY BELIEVE by Siro Polo Padolecchia.
- Provide Training in Ethical-Critical Analysis at All Institutions of Higher Education by Lennart Levi
- Recognizing and Cultivating Universal Human Values by Kadie Ward.
2A Education for Entrepreneurship.
- Sustainable Business as the Base for Sustainable Entrepreneurs: Some Theoretical and Practical Reflections by Zbigniew Bochniarz.
- Kaos Pilots Switzerland – and how to involve ancient wisdom into modern leadership training by Matthias Straub-Fischer
2B Active, Collaborative learning — teaching methods.
- Pedagogical innovation in HE to support students’ academic emotions by Annie Aarup Jensen.
- Education must stimulate all students’ imagination in order to develop creativity, progress and democracy by Birthe Lund.
- Tuition and Intuition, a Dilemma of Difference by Marianne Holbert
- As Easy as ABC: A Pilot Study on the Impact of the ABC Curriculum Design Workshop by Kristy Evers
- Teaching assistants as secondary facilitators in an academic support unit in a South African university by Nontsikelelo Makhanya.
- Moving towards a more sophisticated understanding of disability and inclusivity at university by Danijela Serbic
- How principles learned through sports & performance need to become a part of a daily education system by Sara Isakovic.
- Education for a peaceful, inclusive and resilient society by Donato Kiniger-Passigli
- Early Childhood Learning by George Halvorson.
- Rash or Rational Speech? By Liora Weinbach.
- Early Years Coding Prepares Future Problem Solvers by Julie O’Donohue.
- Children, digital technology and the school of tomorrow by Marion Voillot
2E – Human Rights, Social Power & Education.
2F Learning to Think Creatively.
- Achieving Effective Predicative Competence for Person-centered Learning and Creativity by Rodolfo A. Fiorini
- The Teacher as Catalyst: Skills Development and Self Discovery in Group Contexts by Ullica Segerstrale
3A Multiculturalism & Education.
- An investigation into non-local university students’ intercultural experiential learning by Min Yang
3B Innovation, Creativity and Technology.
- Not just another brick in the wall. A delphi study on the future of learning and technology in the Netherlands by Dhoya Snijders
- Homo faber or Homo Ludens? By Joao Caraça.
- The Dynamic Definition of Creativity: A New Framework for Education in Creativity by Giovanni Emanuele Corazza.
3C Education, Health & Sustainability – Sustainable Development Goals.
- Proposal for Long Life Learning System by Raoul Weiler
- Consciousness and Sustainable Cities by Kadie Ward.
- Education: An Essential Tool for Reaching the UN SDGs by 2030 by Yehuda Kahane.
3E Complexity, Unity & Uncertainty.
- Beyond the “False Dichotomies”. The urgency of Rethinking Education to heal the fracture between the human and the technological by Piero Dominici
- Capacity to aspire and uses of the future in the classroom by Roberto Poli
- The knowledge on complexity should be a part of contemporary education by Juri Engelbrecht
3F Individuality & Transformational Leadership.
- Change Leadership: Leading by Empowering and Innovation by Tatjana Mitrovic.
- Leadership for Civilizational Paradigm Change by Ruben Nelson.
- The Big Five – The Science Gap in Educational Reform by Stefan Brunnhuber.
- Education for Leadership: Metaeducation, Initiatory Learning and the Future of Excellence by Mila Popovich
- Transforming Teachers as Agents of Change: A Qualitative Case Study by Mir Afzal Tajik.
4A Education for Full Employment
4B Education, Science & Innovation.
- Co-creating science and innovation for desirable futures by Carlos Alvarez-Pereira.
- Revisiting Our Evolutionary Path: Holistic Education in a Fragmented World by Gerald Gutenschwager
- UNIVERSITIES: Enhancing the Education, Research and Innovation by Multi-/ Inter-/ Transdisciplinary Education by Marcel Van de Voorde.
- Strategic Planning: Designing an Online Global Curriculum to Accelerate Progress and Wisdom by Lloyd Etheredge.
4D Transdisciplinary Education, Anticipation and Complexity.
4E Transition to a New Paradigm in Education.
- Systemic Innovation in Education – the Collaborology Prototype by Dino Karabeg.
- Educational ecosystems for societal transformation by Pavel Luksha.
- Universities and Knowledge for Sustainable Urban Futures: as if inter and trans-disciplinarity mattered by Giulio Verdini & Olivia Bina.
Abstracts of Presentations
IA Mind, Thinking, Creativity
Email address: sigmund.gronmo@uib.no
Abstract:
Higher education leads to two types of qualifications. One is a specific qualification for a particular profession, as an engineer or a dentist, or a particular discipline, as a biologist or an anthropologist. The other is a general academic qualification, which is common to all higher education, focusing on analytical abilities, independence, creativity and critical thinking. The presentation will focus on the increasing importance of the general academic qualification in future higher education, with a special emphasis on the need for, and the role of, critical thinking. The role of critical thinking in the search for truth becomes more and more important when the concept of truth is contested, when truth is relativized, and when the concept of alternative facts has been introduced in politics and public debates. The need for critical thinking is discussed in the light of fundamental changes in society, including the increasing amount and complexity of available information, the increasing speed of communication processes, and the increasing number of different types of media.
1B Roundtable on Education for the 4th Industrial Revolution
Email address: momirdj@ac.me
Abstract:
The basic purpose of higher education is at least twofold. One should be to provide students with certain knowledge needed for the job, and the more important is to prepare them for future learning.
To provide students with enough experience for the job should be easier. It needs the good relation of academic staff and institution with surroundings (industry, administration…) so as to accommodate teaching curriculum to real life. This means balancing theoretical and practical work. Is it provided adequately by, as practiced in Bologna process, B.Sc. education?
The other request: to prepare students for the “life learning” is more complicated. At present, this problem is solved mainly with additional curriculum, such as Master, Ph.D. or Specialist courses. A more fundamental solution would be to address basic curriculum so that students are able to educate themselves during their carrier so as to compete not only in the field in which they obtained undergraduate education, but in new, other professional fields, some of them not even known today. Both of these processes are more complex in small countries because of not having developed infrastructure, as well as not having human and economic potential to follow the trends of development.
Email address: mramirez@ucm.es
Abstract:
Far from pretending to offer a tentative structured theory or solution on the education so urgently needed in the 21st century, we would limit ourselves to some punctual considerations, perhaps with little connection between them on how education may facilitate our way towards a future human-oriented society.
A new model for of educating based on humanity needs an attitudinal change in our schools, from prioritizing the memorizing of the facts by repetition, to having a basic conceptual knowledge by equipping people with the ability to retrieve the information from wherever it is stored and the skills to start a business, lead a team, approach problems creatively and thinking strategically.
The main goal should not be so much to achieve information as its understanding. We cannot close our eyes to the consequences of Fourth Industrial Revolution, characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres. A third interesting point to consider what has been suggested by Albert Einstein: “The world that we have made as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far creates problems that we cannot solve at the same level as the level we created them”. Obviously, it leads us to a different perspective: from the previous one, which focused on information obtained on-line, through the man-made internet, the next one is involved with information obtained from the ‘cosmic internet’, available intuitively through the feeling heart. This requires a new way forward.
Email address: elif.cepni@bau.edu.tr
Abstract:
Managing the transition from the knowledge economy to human economy requires visionary leadership and a wide range of partnerships, developing new, more compherensive, flexible, innovative models of learning. Education of today would prepare current generations for the continuously changing world of the future.
There is no form of education which would meet different needs worldwide. Education is a basic human right and it cannot be purely demand–driven. Diversity of educational models, even within a given country should be encouraged.
The main aim of this paper is to discuss the alternative education systems which could eliminate the basic deficiencies of the current systems and showing the main reasons behind the necessity of formulating new ways of thinking in the formulation of new education policies.
1C Online & Hybrid Learning
Email address: kathy.skelton@futurelearn.com
Abstract
The international education sector is currently going through significant change, driven by market and political conditions. Student attitudes and expectations are also changing as digital technology advances and the HE world commercialises. The education institutions that will thrive will be the ones who have worked out how to properly bridge the gap between the educator and the student so that international access to course material can still be of the highest quality, at distance, within a diverse community of learners, achieving great and real results.
The presentation will discuss how FutureLearn works with partners to reach thousands of learners with flexible, enjoyable, credible courses and qualifications, and in doing so, supports universities through their digital transformation. Kathryn Skelton will also discuss what FutureLearn does differently through our approach to social learning.
Email address: harish.janani@gmail.com
Abstract
Education in developing countries is fraught with qualitative and quantitative challenges. There is shortage of institutions, teachers, and infrastructure. It is physically impossible to meet the excessive demand for education, given the constraints. Therefore, online education (and wherever possible its hybrid version) is the sole solution for meeting the educational needs in many countries. Communication tools, MOOCs, multimedia content and social media do play a role in education today. But using it to enhance the learning experience is highly dependent on the individual teachers and institutions. What we need is a well-planned, organized way of incorporating online learning into our education systems, and innovative means to overcome its shortcomings.
1D Education, Economy and Society
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Influential urbanistic factors of the education system and quality of its outcome by Davor Bernardic
Email address : Davor.bernardic@gmail.com
Abstract
In the last decade, observation of negative influence of various factors on education system and their mutual interaction, attained the special attention of scientists all over the world. Subjects of interest are dropout rates, correlation between school absenteeism and overall education outcomes.
It is necessary to identify exogenous factors and understand the role they have in problem expansion process because the loss is multiplied: felt by parents, school, pupil and society. Poorly educated people limit economies’ capacity to produce, grow and innovate. School failure damages social cohesion and mobility, and imposes additional costs on public budgets to deal with the consequences higher spending on public health and social support and greater criminality, among others.
Exogenous factors influencing school attainment are not under direct jurisdiction of policy makers, and since capital investment creating educational system context take significant part of its disposable budget, they should be able to deliver visible improvement to the system and make lasting, countable positive effect on its users, in order to be effective.
This paper will use cross country data on curricula, education outcomes and early childcare attainment of last decade in order to underline significant differences between systems, which can be used as framework to think about needed endogenous elements redesign.
Email address: Jamiea.morgan@hotmail.co.uk
Abstract
Critique of economics is longstanding. However, the global financial crisis provided renewed impetus for a different kind of approach to economics, more oriented on meeting human needs and on solving fundamental problems. The main issue is not that economics has no interest in these subjects but rather that the way they are approached is distorted, subverted, undermined or rendered unrealistic by the way in which economists have approached what it is to be “an economist”. There have been many responses in recent years: the “empirical turn” and “credibility revolution” in economics; new curricula such as CORE; student movements such as Rethinking Economics. The key questions remain: how different is the new different and what scope is there for transformation in the subject and teaching of the economy (and will this be pursued by economists or by others filling a gap)? What can the New Economics Working Group under the auspices of WAAS offer?
Email address: barry.gills@helsinki.fi
Abstract:
There is an urgent need to develop a new curriculum of Global History, constructed from a post Eurocentric perspective, for purposes of global education. Such a curriculum would be designed to transcend the limitations of national history, and used to educate a new generation of university students around the world. The focus should be upon the identification and documentation of major processes of social transformation, understood as world-historical processes of change.
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Agile management education for the future: the role of trust and social capital by Grazyna Lebkowska
Email address: grazyna.lebkowska@gmail.com
Abstract:
Forecasting the future trends in any area becomes more and more frustrating in view of the accelerating pace of change in all components of reality, resulting in unprecedented complexity of possible impacts. Hard times call for unstandardized solution of how to stay accountable for numerous stakeholders, when the value of traditional management theories and concepts in turbulent environment is undermined and performance endangered. The common rationality brings two practical solutions: building resistance to shocks and agility to take advantage of perceived opportunities and available resources. When interviewing managers on their strategic imagination and trust factors, one can find limited perspectives, reduced creativity and real capability to respond to problems on time. This paper is aimed at showing the role of soft factors such as trust and social capital as the base for meaningful moves allowing for integrated actions. To properly address the future challenges and use the proper tools in setting goals, strategies and execution, a whole new set of management competences are needed as well as new forms of managerial education with more team-based business-driven action learning and design thinking.
Email address: daniele.bigi2@studio.unibo.it
Abstract:
Rethinking Economics is an international movement of students, professors and practitioners advocating pluralism in economic teaching and the democratization of economics.
In the first part of the presentation, I will explain why Rethinking Economics was born: the contents of current economic curricula will be described based on the analyses carried out by various student associations; these contents will then be further analyzed to highlight the dominance of the neoclassical school of thought.
In the second part of the presentation I will explore the three dimensions of economic pluralism: the theoretical, methodological and interdisciplinary pluralism will be analyzed in sequence, each with its implications on economic education. The importance of theoretical pluralism in particular will be argued with regards to the characteristics of neoclassical models, and the assumptions they rely on, in comparison with the models produced in other economic traditions. I will afterwards emphasize the potential benefits of a theoretically diverse community of academics and policy makers.
In the third part, a brief review of the initiatives put forward by Rethinking Economics and other allied organizations will be offered, in order to explain how we are planning to bring about the outlined changes in economic education and practice: in particular, I will present the Critical Economics Summit, an international conference organized by Rethinking Economics Italia.
In the last part, I will explain how our movement can be joined, describe the resources we offer to foster pluralism in economic teaching, and some of the projects we are currently launching.
1E Education, Democracy & Peace
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The University in front of a Human-centered Society; a Vision of the European High Education by Juan Cayón-Pena
Email address: jcayon@nebrija.es
Abstract:
Education and University are essential topics in a human-centered society. This paper tries to approach, from a critical point of view, which are the problems in the European Higher Education Area and particularly in Spanish university system, in order to achieve a human-centered society.
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In this Era of Transition and Globalization people don’t believe in WHAT THEY SEE, but only SEE WHAT THEY BELIEVE by Siro Polo Padolecchia
Email address: s_polopadolecchia@monaco.mc
Abstract:
We live in an Era of globalization, fueled by rapid innovation and habits’ liberalization. Our system of global governance is, however, rather primitive as much as education, while nationalism is rising leading to civil strife and conflicts. Our ethical standards are also far from perfect while we are creating inequities between individuals as much as nations, and we are destroying our environment, often ignoring human rights and societal obligations. But the greatest challenge facing Mankind is the contradiction between globalization and insufficient education.
The health and survival of this planet and its inhabitants is not only based on technological innovation or economic decisions, but on human abilities to learn, understand and master correct information in homes, schools and mass-media, which all have great responsibility in guiding the young and to transform methods of learning and educational systems.
This World of Appearance, Superficiality and Vanity is built on a vacuum and requests more conviction, more humility and more sense of responsibility, as the general vision is disastrous, as our society and our youth seem to receive its education by ignorant impostors, and students learn to speak a distorted language and imitate those born and grown in the absence of culture.
The future can best be predicted from knowledge about the past as the more we learn from the past, the better off we are bound to be, since our species has faced these and other risks before and has prevailed.
1F Value-based Education
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Provide Training in Ethical-Critical Analysis at All Institutions of Higher Education by Lennart Levi
Email address: lennart.levi@eurostress.se
Abstract:
Institutions of higher education must train future decision-makers to think both critically and ethically. Professors Levi and Rothstein are proposing an international, interdisciplinary analysis of potential strategies for adopting such a system
Global Risks Report 2017 by the World Economic Forum and Global Catastrophic Risks 2017 by the Global Challenge Foundation catalogue an impressive series of major threats to human survival. The reading is enough to make you sleepless for several nights.
UN Agenda 2030 and its 17 global development goals offer, however, some consolation by prescribing strategies for managing and averting such threats.
The objectives set for the world community are both ambitious and crucial. Eradicating poverty. Making hunger a thing of the past. Ensuring universal access to health and wellbeing. Providing education for everyone. Fighting climate change. Guaranteeing clean water and proper hygiene, Building peaceful and inclusive societies. And that’s just for starters. 17 goals and 169 targets.
It strikes us that many current decision-makers around the world are trapped in economic determinism, egotism, contempt for knowledge, short-term perspectives and silo thinking. For that reason, we are proposing that all institutions of higher education, regardless of faculty or subject matter, adapt training in order to instil.
- the desire and ability to promote sustainable goal fulfilment (ethical thinking);
- the desire and ability to see through the faulty and unrealistic assumptions of yourself and others (critical thinking);
- thorough understanding and mastering of systemic structures (to deal with ethical dilemmas).
Our proposal for the first step in that direction is an international, interdisciplinary summit conference with the task of analysing both what needs to be taught and how to teach it. Why? Because worn-out phrases and longing gazes won’t get us where we want to go.
Email address: kadie@buildstrongcities.com
Abstract
In the wake of Ukraine’s “Revolution of Dignity” (2013/2014) a new generation of youth across Ukraine woke and started self-identifying with a set of values penned by the Late Bohdan Hawrylyshyn. This treatise was ratified by the WAAS Board of Trustees in 2013.
Originally titled “15 Human Obligation”, the principles therein represent a set of shared human values that are stripped of both identity politics and geopolitics. Launching a campaign to capture how youth are applying these principles in a values-based life, our team is arguing that in order reach the UN Sustainability Goals and change the current economic and social paradigms we must challenge citizens to become active responsible contributors in shaping their present and future reality.
Our campaign seeks to demonstrate how youth are already transforming their communities around them by committing to values-based living. We will take our message to Davos, Canada, Switzerland and the UN General Assembly in 2018 in order to facilitates a global conversation about the role of human responsibilities in developing healthy economies and societies, and how living a life based on values will not only improve an individual’s life, but also change the world around.
2A Education for Entrepreneurship
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Sustainable Business as the Base for Sustainable Entrepreneurs: Some Theoretical and Practical Reflections by Zbigniew Bochniarz
Email address: zbigniew.bochniarz@gmail.com
Abstract:
With the growing threats to sustainability of the Earth the urgent issue is to prepare the cadre of entrepreneurs, who understanding the complexity of sustainability, will lead their organizations toward a sustainable future. The issue of sustainable entrepreneurs is critical not only for the business sector but equally important for the public and non-profit sectors. This paper is focusing on business entrepreneurs utilizing booth theoretical models and practical cases coming from research conducted by international teams of graduate students on selected international corporations.
It starts with a brief overview of evolution of sustainability, sustainable business and entrepreneur concepts. The authors move to analysis of common and specific features of several cases of entrepreneurs who tried to make their companies sustainable.
Finally the paper analyses the effectiveness of delivery method based on student-centered concept implemented by creating a learning community with action research.
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Kaos Pilots Switzerland – and how to involve ancient wisdom into modern leadership training by Matthias Straub-Fischer
Email address: matti.straub@kaospilots.ch
Abstract:
At the Kaos Pilots Switzerland we are offering a 3-year full time study program and training for people who want to unfold who they truly are. For this we have integrated an ancient Earth Wisdom, the Delicate Lodge Teachings from Northern America. How are students learning from this ancient wisdom, the medicine Wheels and the protocols? How can we integrate ancient wisdom traditions into modern educations – be that into management or any other training? How can we move from pyramids of power to circular structures where every voice matters?
2B Active, Collaborative learning — teaching methods
Email address: aaj@learning.aau.dk
Abstract:
Students in Higher Education have some kind of self-images and understandings of their abilities, skills and competences, when they start. This means that coming to university implies risks, it challenges their learning identity and questions the transferability of competences. HE students are (young) adults and the process of meaning-making is essential to adult learning processes. When meaning-making becomes difficult, if for instance you struggle to understand an unfamiliar setting or the subject-related issues, it may lead to emotional responses such as feelings of confusion, uncertainty, self-doubt or even anger, or, in a different vein, feelings of curiosity and interest.
When creating relevant learning scenarios for the 21st century learners innovative pedagogical approaches are necessary. The question is therefore whether emotional responses might influence students’ willingness to participate in innovative and/or experimental teaching and learning processes in a negative way, or whether such pedagogical approaches may provide the framework for reducing negative emotions by offering new forms of meaning-making scenarios.
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Education must stimulate all students’ imagination in order to develop creativity, progress and democracy by Birthe Lund
Email address: bl@learning.aau.dk
Abstract:
This paper is inspired by pragmatism and John Dewey´s concepts of learning. Dewey portraits ideas as images-of-things-that-might-be which require action to determine whether the “might-be” can be transformed into “is”. Character and mind are integrated and related to what we desire and imagine, to what we wish to accomplish. The paper argues that critical examination of concepts of creativity as dominating understandings of creativity as a personal talent or a special gift (which gains extra resources to the gifted or special programs) may exclude the majority of students from developing their creative potential and harm wishful thinking and imagination. The quality of interaction between person and environment affects learning and creativity development as we experience from the perception of coming actions by expectations of what will happen, of how the situation “talks back”. Consequently we need to be sensitive to what students actually experience in education as students’ curiosity are needed in generating a wider horizon of meaning. Curiosity may lead to questioning and experimentation, generating possible explanations and testing theories, and expanding their horizon of meaning. Experience based learning process calls for imagination when interacting by the surroundings – as the concrete image influences the chosen course of action, and in turn may be transformed by that very action. In order to create the foundation for a democratic society, all students should be part of inclusive and experience based learning communities to develop progressive creative ideas and imaginations.
Email address: marianne.holbert@colorado.edu
Abstract:
With the swipe of a finger, years of data and information appear. There is no limit to the type of data one can access online from home prices and abandonment rates to crime statistics and detailed demographic analyses. New communication technologies have become inescapable and play a critical role as a cultural catalyst, informing our perceptions of the world. However, the perceived digital symbiosis has been demonstrated to sever one’s ability to retain information, further analyze it and transform it into understanding. The rift between information and knowledge continues to deepen. While the disjunction between information and knowledge operates with intensity at both the practical and theoretical levels, it has deep roots. Ancient and contemporary thinkers continue to debate the facets of knowledge. Plato defined knowledge as the ‘justification of belief’ and argues that there are two ways of knowing, either we have direct access to reality ourselves or we rely on what others say. Similarly, Ralph Waldo Emerson argued that knowledge has two primary facets: tuition and intuition. The first, implies evidence gathered from external sources and is based on instruction while the second, proceeds from direct experience. Based on a case study conducted at the University of Colorado Boulder, this paper will share findings on strategies to utilize both tuition and intuition to inform (1) learning environments (2) innovative educational pedagogy and (3) the future knowledge needs.
Email address: kristyevers@hotmail.com
Abstract:
Coming from the need to provide help to teachers to design or redesign their blended or online programmes, the ABC Curriculum Design Workshop was developed in 2014 by Nataša Perović and Clive Young at UCL. At this stage, the interactive and hands-on workshop has been trialled with great success over a variety of programmes across universities and countries. While it was developed with specific UCL strategic initiatives in mind, the workshop has proven to be very adaptive to other settings.
The theory behind the workshop is the Conversational Framework, which is a learning theory developed by Diana Laurillard at the UCL Knowledge Lab. The theory posits six different types of learning and the kind of activities that are associated with each. In practice, the workshop is an engaging 90-minute card-based approach to curriculum design. The main aim of the workshop is for participants to design engaging learning activities for their programmes. Usually, participants work together in teams, based on the programmes they are looking to design. Together, they have to create a ‘storyboard’ that shows the type and sequence of learning activities and the type of assessments they want to employ in order to reach their module’s learning outcomes. Thus, the workshop provides a good basis for reflection and discussion on different topics, ranging from what digital versus conventional activities are good to use in your curriculum and what summative and formative assessment points should be included in the curriculum design.
Aiming to study the impact of the workshop, this paper will share the findings of the two initial qualitative case studies, which mark the beginning of a larger project looking into the effectiveness of the workshop and which particularly look at the participants’ attitudes towards learning technologies and curriculum design and how they might have changed.
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Teaching assistants as secondary facilitators in an academic support unit in a South African university by Nontsikelelo Makhanya
Email address: buyi@mut.ac.za
Abstract:
Teaching assistants fall under the category of peer facilitators, like, student mentors, writing consultants, SI leaders, student assistants, etc. A variety of duties is performed by these individuals, among others, they lead laboratory and teaching sessions, help with marking and entering of marks, carry out administrative duties, and so on. The university seeks to provide a high quality, technologically advanced service to students in order to improve throughput rates. Many teaching assistants receive little training before taking on their duties whilst at the same time have enormous responsibilities. They are literally thrown into teaching environments in a sink or swim manner with no experience or training. This paper seeks to investigate from present and past teaching assistants about the nature of their experiences as secondary facilitators in the academic support unit under the guidance of academic literacy lecturers.
2C Person-Centered Education
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Moving towards a more sophisticated understanding of disability and inclusivity at university by Danijela Serbic
Email address: danijela.serbic@rhul.ac.uk
Abstract:
University life has changed for new generations of undergraduates, who are more than ever exposed to competitive education, uncertainty about the future, high expectations and social pressures. Universities are required to have a more sophisticated understanding of students’ individual needs and circumstances in order to support their success. Circumstantial inclusivity includes disability and most universities have procedures and specialized services in place to support students with disabilities. However, many of us at the forefront of teaching recognize that there is an army of students who suffer from invisible, often undiagnosed disabilities and issues (both mental and physical). For example, our recent research, conducted with British and Chinese students who suffer from invisible chronic pain conditions showed that these students face unique psychological, social and academic pressures. These students might be reluctant to seek help and register their concerns with university support services, often due to perceived stigma.
Supportive interpersonal university environment and person-centered education require nurturing and empathic understanding of students, and most importantly of ‘all’ students. Hence, focusing on specific target groups may no longer be a viable approach, because many “students do not want to stand out as different yet want to be recognized as individuals” . This will require restructuring of both our understanding of and support for students who face invisible disabilities.
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How principles learned through sports & performance need to become a part of a daily education system by Sara Isakovic
Email address: sara.isakovic@gmail.com
Abstract:
As a lifelong athlete I understand the benefits and impact sports has had on my personal growth and development. It is the life lessons I’ve learned through swimming, and not so much the schooling system, that shaped me into a resilient person that I am today. In an increasingly fast-paced, stress-provoking and expectation-driven society, today’s young generation deserves to have the best quality education. This not only means accumulating facts, but also developing coping mechanisms to handle day-to-day challenges, stress and pressure, while having opportunities to tap into their talents and fulfill their maximum potential.
The education system today needs to consider the following performance principles as a way to enhance student’s potential:
Foundational skills- Awareness training, goal setting and visualization.
Resilience skills- Mental agility, emotional intelligence, focus and concentration
Cooperational skills- Communication, teamwork, leadership skills
Self-care skills- Self-love/self-acceptance + the need for physical & mental well-being
Overall healthy attitude- positive psychology, genuine curiosity and fun
Unless students are involved in extracurricular activities (dance, music, sport, art, etc.) they rarely acquire skills in school that help them thrive in their demanding environment. It is up to us to make this change and adequately equip the young with tools inside the classrooms, that will positively affect their lives.
Email address: kiniger@ilo.org
Abstract:
Around 1.5 billion people live in conflict and fragile states / environments, globally. Although the root causes of fragility vary, inequality and social exclusion tend to exacerbate fragile situations. To manage the risk and anticipate change confronting global challenges is of paramount importance in order to prevent major crisis worldwide, starting at local level.
There is an urgent and growing need to improve emergency preparedness, anticipating change and adapting to it. As funding for humanitarian assistance in fragile countries continues to decrease, it will be particularly important to invest in building capacities and strengthening governance to manage crisis risk at all levels of society (household, community, national and regional). Action is needed to tackle natural and human-made risks, reduce the scale and costs of humanitarian interventions and increase their effectiveness.
In parallel, a people-centered approach should be nurtured helping local governance with bottom-up initiatives and supporting local people needs and aspirations. Working at community level helps reducing vulnerability to disasters and climate change as demonstrated by many successful community level infrastructure rehabilitation programmes and labour intensive investment projects. A culture of prevention and resilience needs to be fostered at all levels through better education and inter-communal dialogue, embedding a culture of sharing, learning and testing.
2D Early Childhood Learning
Email address: George.halvorson@gmail.com
Email address: bobberg500@cs.com
Abstract:
“Start Early, End Strong”
Neuroscience provides the underpinnings that education must start while the brain is still growing. We can predict a huge amount of the person’s future by knowing their educational exposure at age18 months.
Early pre-Kindergarten education is associated with a whole range of societal goods, including lower crime rates, psychologically sounder citizens, and much higher grade retention and achievements leading to stronger economic and societal returns from education.
At the other end of the age spectrum, some leading universities are recognizing that a tremendous amount of social capital is wasted in the years between retirement and incapability..generally now about a 20 year span. So these universities are pioneering in training newly retired individuals to “give back” to society during those last potentially productive decades. This creates a new age cohort for universities at the very time when the young bulge is passing in many countries…a win-win.
Societies that start education early and that enable their citizens to capitalize on their capabilities in later life will, like the individuals themselves, fulfill so much more of their potential.
Email address: lioraw@012.net.il
Abstract:
An examination of the relationship between overt and covert speech among the speakers of twelve different languages has revealed the existence of two brain systems that form the basis of speech. One is the Relax System, an intelligent, rational and self-aware system involving cerebral activity in the brain’s frontal lobes. Alongside this system, there is the Stress System: an ancient, instinctual and unconscious brain system. This multiplicity of systems has been corroborated by brain imaging conducted by Prof. Tzila Zwas of the Sheba Medical Center and the Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University. The last finding has led to the development of a theoretical and practical model: The Switch My Mind (SMM) method for developing cerebral awareness to realize the Human-intelligence that sets humans apart by using meta Language to distinguish between conscious/rational and unconscious speech. In addition, a practical psychophysiological/mobile phone based application has been developed in cooperation with Dr. Ernesto Sholomo Korenman, (Neurophysiologist/Biophysicist/Neurofeedback expert), to quantify the effects & impact of each SMM session and provide physiological assessment data to monitor its progress all through the training.
From research to implementation: The SMM method for Consciousness Speech has been developed for adults and children. The Adult study is covered in the book, “The Code of Speech”. There are also practical courses for the parent-teacher-child, which are covered in a six-booklet series: “Rash or Rational Speech?” to reach a common Meta-Language.
The lecture will show how to use the Meta-Language “Rash or Rational?” to solve conflicts and misunderstanding by using conscious skills to improve communication skills and reach a higher level of Co-operation.
Email address: odonohue.jules@gmail.com
Abstract:
This presentation will discuss effective teaching methods for coding in the early years as a means of developing in children the solutions-oriented thinking required to navigate a complex and uncertain future. Coding education in early years can also empower girls and women in an age where digital industry is consistently under male hegemony. From a linguistic perspective, coding language as a subject crosses cultures and borders in its inclusivity. This presentation will also provide practical and inclusive approaches for coding education in the early years including methods that require no technology. A portion of this presentation will be open to comment and critical discussion of the benefits and challenges of this approach
Email address: voillotmarion@gmail.com
Abstract:
Our society is being digitised, which means that digital technology transforms the society itself. Children become digital users from a very young age. They easily adapt to these everyday objects.
Alternative pedagogical approaches share common values, such as senses development, investment and mutual aid, as well as autonomy. These values are enhanced by digital culture. The relationship between alternative approaches and digital technology creates a new type of education named “Education by the digital technology”.
The underlying idea of this Education is to consider digital technology as a pedagogical material instead of a risk for the young child. Thus, digital technology serves the child’s development, in the context of a pedagogy stimulating the interaction between the young child, the teacher and the digital tool.
Numerium, my diploma project, is a device that allows an “Education by digital technology”. It is a digital tools’ tank in which children are informed and educated about digital technology. Through raising awareness of digital technology use among young children, we support them into becoming responsible, intelligent users of digital technology.
2E – Human Rights, Social Power & Education
Email address: erich.hoedl@aon.at
Abstract:
Industrialism has produced an enormous stock of economic and societal resources, which are actually allocated around high financial and real capital accumulation. Human capital has also increased, but primarily for further economic growth and only subsidiary for the development of the potentials of the humans. The unfolding of human creativity and productivity is restricted through the oppressing power structures of prevailing industrialism.
For enhancing the universally accepted human rights societal power has to be more equally distributed. We will distinguish three fundamental means of societal power: The ownership of material and immaterial properties, the kind of their organisation and the values of its handling. The redistribution and reorganisation of properties has to be complemented through a vigorous increase of human-centred education creating consciousness of the societal power structures.
We will shortly describe the prevailing power structures of the financial, real productive, political and social subsystems of the society and sketch the strategies for a redistribution of power. For an enhancement of human rights, a simultaneous redistribution is needed, which is bound to more human-centred education. Therefore, the future of education has to go strictly beyond industrialism and to take into account the increasing power of the population in the emerging human society.
Finally, we will stress the importance of changes of the distribution of properties and its organisation, which are largely neglected in discussions of human rights. The enhancement of human rights depends on an increasing awareness of the oppressing distribution of societal power. No doubt, to develop concepts of future education has actually priority, but it has to take into account the problems of still existing problems of wealth distribution.
2F Learning to Think Creatively
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Achieving Effective Predicative Competence for Person-centered Learning and Creativity by Rodolfo A. Fiorini
Email address: rodolfo.fiorini@polimi.it
Abstract:
In every discourse, whether of the mind conversing with its own thoughts, or of the individual in his intercourse with others, there is an assumed or expressed limit within which the subjects of its operation are confined. According to Piaget, human adults normally know how to use properly classical propositional logic. Piaget also showed that the integration of algebraic composition and relational ordering in formal logic is realized via the mathematical Klein four-group structure. In the last fifty years, many experiments made by psychologists of reasoning have often shown most adults commit logical fallacies in propositional inferences. Relying on many empirical evidences, they concluded that Piaget’s claim was wrong. According to experimental psychologists, Piaget was overestimating the logical capacities of average human adults. The Piaget-Klein four-group structure generates squares of opposition, and an important component of human rationality resides in the diagram of the squares of opposition, as formal articulations of logical dependence between connectives. But the formal rationality provided by the squares is not spontaneous and therefore, should not be easy to learn for adults. This is the main reason why we need reliable and effective training tools to achieve full predicative proficiency and competence, like the Elementary Pragmatic Model (EPM). The Piaget-Klein group structure can be even interpreted as the group of transformations mapping the human perception and representation of our universe, where the encoding process is carried out by human affectors (our biological sensors) and the decoding process is done by human effectors (our biological actuators). Examples are presented and discussed.
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The Teacher as Catalyst: Skills Development and Self Discovery in Group Contexts by Ullica Segerstrale
Email address: segerstrale@iit.edu
Abstract
Recent reports note that college does not prepare its graduates for the jobs of the future. The need is no longer for technical knowledge and skills but a skill set that will help the transition to a rapidly changing work place. Top skills now include communication and problem solving, and ability to think creatively. I believe that these and other capabilities can be developed within the current curriculum through the actions and interactions of the students themselves. Here I see the teacher functioning as a kind of catalyst as he/she introduces small group discussion and group projects as a natural part of the course work. Catalyst, because he/she initially makes the students talk to one another! He/she also provides the groups with provocative questions and problems relating to the common course material, as well as mini-lectures on good group practices. Group work in class might be just a 10-15 minutes discussion of a question relating to common class material (preferably controversial), after which each group announces its conclusion, and the teacher picks up from there. Other bigger group projects can develop students’ presentation skills and their creative imagination. Those projects will also be valuable lessons in team work. As students express themselves, take on different roles, learn from mistakes, and meet new challenges, group work becomes a venue for self-discovery and development of hidden potentials. Also intercultural and inter-professional communication skills can be developed this way. Alternatively, term-long Interprofessional Projects have been developed to directly address the needs for skills.
3A Multiculturalism & Education
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An investigation into non-local university students’ intercultural experiential learning by Min Yang
Email address: myang@eduhk.hk
Abstract:
This study investigates how non-local students at a Hong Kong higher education institution adapt to living and studying in Hong Kong. Intercultural competence refers to the knowledge and skills for effective communication with culturally diverse individuals. Informed by the experiential learning theory and research in intercultural competence, the study will adopt a theoretical framework of intercultural experiential learning, which describes the process of individuals’ development of intercultural competence as a recurring cycle: (a) gaining concrete experience of interacting with culturally different others, (b) observing the behaviours and communication style of culturally different people, (c) reflecting on the observation to generate knowledge and rules for interacting and behaving in intercultural situations, (d) actively experimenting on the new knowledge and rules for intercultural interaction.
Although researchers have proposed theoretical conceptualization of how the constructs of learning styles, cultural intelligence, and acculturation outcomes are interrelated in the context of cross-cultural contact, very few attempts have been made to establish the relationships between these variables. The current study will fill research gap by examining how non-local students’ learning styles and cultural intelligence are interrelated to affect the students’ acculturation outcomes while adapting to living and studying in Hong Kong.
3B Innovation, Creativity and Technology
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Not just another brick in the wall. A delphi study on the future of learning and technology in the Netherlands by Dhoya Snijders
Email address: snijders@stt.nl
Abstract:
In the ‘70s Pink Floyd sang about the need to rebel against education and reimagine it as ‘we don’t need no thought control’. Now that our world is being flooded by technologies that give us access to zettabytes of information, can connect us to virtually everyone on earth, and are increasingly more intelligent, Pink Floyd’s message is relevant once again. We are not just another brick in the wall, but can radically personalize our learning process. More than ever, technologies enable us to control thoughts, if we choose to develop and employ them.
This article presents the results of a Delphi study on the future of technology and learning in the Netherlands. By questioning a group of 100 senior level policy makers, industry captains and researchers in the educational field it reexamines fundamental educational questions such as what we learn, how we learn it, when we learn, and why we learn. The results give insights in the expectations of the Dutch educational field concerning the role of technology in human learning processes and delve into desires, hopes and fears as well.
Email address: jcaraca@gulbenkian.pt
Abstract:
Curiosity is the powerful seed of critical thought that based the whole construction of modernity. Curiosity has led mankind to enjoy the pleasure of discovery, of understanding, of imagination, of innovation. Discovery is intimately linked to the culture of doing that provided the context to modern scientific thought and to the technological progress that ensued. For the past three centuries, experimentation and philosophical discussion taught generation after generation about change and how to envisage coping with it.
Speculation, however, cherishes other basic attitudes, emphasizes different values. Speculation posits the world as a big game, which humans are supposed to engage in playing. It promotes the attitude of exploiting at one’s own advantage any insecurity or incomplete knowledge concerning the rules of the game the competitors (or opponents, or adversaries) may experience.
Speculation is inherent to a culture of playing, which stimulates sagacity, not curiosity. And the player is therefore left totally unprepared to a sudden change in any rule of the game which is being played. No doubt playing is necessary, and useful, but education cannot solely glorify competition. It is tinkering and doing with one’s hands that allows behavior amenable to accommodate change. It is time to overcome «to count, read and write» with «to experiment, read and write images», balancing playing with doing and using and interacting, the only recipe that will prevent our societies to evolve towards oblivion.
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The Dynamic Definition of Creativity: A New Framework for Education in Creativity by Giovanni Emanuele Corazza
Email address: gecorazza@gmail.com
Abstract:
The talk will start by considering the central role of creativity in the future post-information society, followed by a call for a pragmatist approach to creativity studies, bringing as a consequence the recognition of the dynamic nature of this phenomenon. At the foundation of the proposed new theoretical framework lies the definition of creativity itself: the standard definition based on novelty and value can and should be challenged, especially if the purpose is to educate the younger generations. The approach to creativity is turned from static to dynamic through the introduction of the concept of potential originality and effectiveness. Starting from this central definition we arrive at novel definitions for creative achievement and creative inconclusiveness. While both aspects are key in the creative process, creative inconclusiveness was not part of previous definitions, but it can be argued that its role is most fundamental for effective education in creativity.
3C Education, Health & Sustainability – Sustainable Development Goals
Email address: raoul.weiler@telenet.be
Abstract:
A triple evolution is taking place in the industrialized societies. How will society adapt to its evolution. Three essential parameters raise the question how the society can keep pace of with the evolution of the living human condition. The society is facing simultaneous developments creating a real revolution: people getting older, a very large part of human labor will be replaced by robots and Artificial Intelligent Devices and the professional knowledge changes fast and continuously during the active life.
It is proposed to consider an educational system for long-life-learning (LLL). The concept is not new, however the translation into an educational system remains to be designed and last but least to be implemented by society and the political establishments. A LLL system should be understood to be as an extension of the present educational system addressing professional and higher education.
Email address: kadie@buildstrongcities.com
Abstract:
Current urban sustainability narratives are more concerned with how deep to dig our culverts than the depth of our relationships with our neighbours. Urban planners are busy trying to find the right mix of aggregates to create the longest lasting pavement rather than cultivating spaces where people thrive. However, the first germ of a city as we know it today was as a ceremonial meeting place that served as a goal for pilgrimage where families and clans were drawn together at regular intervals. They didn’t just pilgrimage to discuss civic works, but because the city consecrated something of greater significance and higher potency than the ordinary processes of life.
In order to question the current paradigm of social and economic growth, and reach the newly defined Sustainability Goals, we must challenge citizens to co-create their communities, cities, and countries by becoming active responsible contributors in shaping their present and future.
Ward argues that people are the greatest drivers in sustainability by way of their conscious participation in shaping their local economies and communities.
Email address: kahane@tau.ac.il
Abstract:
We are not just living in an era of changes but rather in a change of era. Global economic growth in recent decades has been accompanied by the creation of immense environmental and societal risks that literally threaten the survival of humankind on planet Earth. These threats grew as a result of the use of inappropriate metrics that focus merely on the economy. The UN suggested a new set of 17 quantitative and qualitative Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that could serve as a new metrics. At the end of 2015, 193 states accepted and committed to reach these targets by 2030. Reaching these ambitious targets require major efforts, new managerial tools and investments of $trillions per annum.
In order to achieve the committed targets by 2030, there is a need to reach in the near future a change of the scale of thinking from $ billions to $ trillions and acquiring the needed managerial skills and tools to activate the reform. “From B to T by 2020”. The only way to do that is by using the elder business mentors who know how to make a transformation happen quickly. Despite the fears, a paradigm shift may be complex, but not complicated! It simply requires a new way of looking at things! We have a plan to do that.
The next step is to reach the fourth SDG – i.e., the education quality goal. The paradigm shift requires immense investments, trillions of dollars per annum in impact investments. We have a possible solution to where the money could come from. We showed above how a country can do what an individual can’t—lift itself off the ground by pulling its own bootstraps! These mechanisms can be established and activated within a short period, and can be used to simultaneously treat at least three major and pressing global challenges: mitigation of major social and environmental threats through the appropriate impact investments, creating jobs and reducing the job insecurity of Millennials, and re-establishing retirement security for Millennials and future generations. In short, hitting several ambitious and extremely urgent targets with a single arrow!
Can we do this “Trans-Form-Nation”? Yes We Can!
3E Complexity, Unity & Uncertainty
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Beyond the “False Dichotomies”. The urgency of Rethinking Education to heal the fracture between the human and the technological by Piero Dominici
Email address: piero.dominici@unipg.it
Abstract:
Hypercomplexity is not – has never been – an option; it is a “fact of life”: unfortunately, there is still too little awareness of the fact that the hypercomplexity that we are facing has extended so far as to make it very complicated and difficult to attempt to formulate reductive schemes of complexity or to analyze it; in fact the resulting view would at best be partial. It has extended so far as to make it almost unthinkable to try, even more ambitiously, to define a theoretical-interpretive model or a “system of thinking” capable of explaining the ongoing changes, capable of recognizing and comprehending the ambivalence and the interactions at all levels of the problematics that are involved. The real issue is that we have never been (and are still not being) educated and taught to recognize this hypercomplexity, or at any rate, not by using our own heads. An inadequacy which has become even more apparent in this society of interdependency and of global interconnections: a “new ecosystem” in which everything is linked and connected, within non-linear processes and dynamics, with many variables and concauses that must be considered. Nowadays, as never before, technology has come to participate in the synthesis of new values and of new evaluation criteria. This paper, therefore, has the following objectives: a) to define the limits of this Hypercomplexity; b) to highlight the urgency of rethinking education/formation and of a systemic approach to hypercomplexity …beyond the «false dichotomies» (education <-> new asymmetries/inequalities)
Email address: roberto.poli@unitn.it
Abstract:
I distinguish different ways of using the future in an educational context. The most widespread orientation towards the future sees the future as an implied, almost deserved, reference to the educational process. Working with a dimension that is not explicitly discussed and articulated, the future in this orientation remains unarticulated, acts as a tacit background to educational action without being able to become an active resource for proactive use.
Opposite to this ‘passive’ orientation towards the future, a variety of other ‘active’ orientations can be found that intentionally use the future in the educational process. I shall analyse their features and present their pros and cons.
Email address: je@ioc.ee
Abstract:
We live in a complex world. The global civil society should use all the knowledge and conceptual tools for explaining and understanding the natural and social phenomena around us. In order to be prepared to face the challenges of the global world, the contemporary education should include the knowledge about the complexity of the world.
Why is the complexity theory important? The basis in understanding complexity is to recognize that everything around us is made of interconnected and interdependent elements (individuals, pieces) depending on the scale. In general, it is impossible to predict the properties of a system by simply summarizing the properties of single elements. The interrelations promote and inhibit the properties and changes in systems. The basic knowledge about such behaviour has revealed many essential properties: the importance of simple but repetitive rules, the importance of nonlinearities, the sensitivity to initial conditions, self-organisation, adaptivity, networks, etc. There are many simple and brilliant examples which illustrate the behaviour of complex systems like small world, sand piles, butterfly effect, birds in flight, emergence of chaotic motion, etc that do not need complicated mathematics but demonstrate the richness of the world in unexpected ways. These simple models form a set of cornerstones which prepares the ground for understanding more complicated phenomena and functioning of the world. The educators should pay more attention to primers in complexity for preparing pupils not only along traditional fragmented disciplines but also to generalizations. This will help next generations to manage future challenges.
3F Individuality & Transformational Leadership
Email address: tatjana.mitrovic@dliflc.edu
Abstract:
In today’s ever-changing, agile environment, to have ability and flexibility to execute change, leaders need to sharpen their transformational and instructional leadership skills and become the Leaders of Change. This workshop intends to demonstrate how Effective Change Leadership can facilitate and inspire positive change within the organization. The particular Change Leadership model and its concepts are linked to the local context of Hawaii LTD, DLIFLC with examples of how leading change through innovation, empowerment of faculty and investment in their abilities and creativity dramatically changes the organizational culture, motivates and inspires, and creates a culture where challenge of change is embraced by all. Workshop attendants will have an opportunity to fully participate and engage in some of very practical examples of Effective Change Leadership.
Email address: rubennelson@shaw.ca
Abstract:
Decades of research and practice into cultural and civilizational paradigm change has led me to these views: (1) Ours is a rare time in human history – a time when we are slowly and incoherently changing our minds about the nature of reality, our own nature as human persons and the relationship between persons and reality. As our efforts to extend Modernity fail, the grip on our hearts and minds of the underlying paradigms of our Modern/Industrial cultures loosens. Turmoil intensifies as no new and reliable faith stance has emerged fully formed to save us from deep and lasting disorientation. (2) As Modern/Industrial cultures we are “progress trapped” and in denial. Yes, we see and respond to the turmoil. No, we do not see or understand the dimensions, drivers, dynamics or drifts of the underlying cultural paradigm change. Nowhere on the planet is there an institution with adequate funding and a clear mandate to make reliable sense of the need for and fact of civilizational paradigm change. Of course, the result of faulty diagnoses are wrong-headed prognoses and prescriptions. We re-live Adelaide’s Lament: “The medicine never gets anywhere near where the trouble is.” (3) The only way out of this culture trap is to be led by persons who in non-judgmental ways are coming to understand both of the above points; persons who have wrestled with and are being transformed by their own experience with paradigm change. Drawing on my experience, both successes and failures, I shall reflect on the nature of the leadership we now need to acknowledge, cope with and capitalize on civilizational paradigm change.
Email address: brunnhuber.cor@gmxpro.de
Abstract:
Despite rising expenditure and general enrollment rates, on a global level educational output is stagnating, if not declining. There is increasing empirical evidence that we need a completely different approach to enhancing the learning curve, towards more individuality and transformational leadership; this holds true for early childhood, primary education, secondary education and higher education. Most existing educational programs do not tap into the full creative potential of our mind and of our brain and often lead to suboptimal outcomes both for the individual and for society as a whole. Findings in clinical psychology, neurobiology and social psychology are not sufficiently considered when setting up appropriate educational programs. The presentation tries to outline five relevant empirical findings: The J.Heckman-equation, J. Hattie’s findings; the Input-Out put Fallacy; The creativity response (including exercise, mindfulness training, noutrission etc.) and the causal links between educational reforms and societal variables (like health, wealth among others). It is not the cognitive part of the curriculum (the program in each discipline) that makes a difference, but rather the non-cognitive features (including stress management, impulse control, self-regulation, emotional attachment etc.). Empirical scientific findings can make a difference in education, if we consider them properly. And such findings can enhance Individuality and Transformational Leadership.
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Education for Leadership: Metaeducation, Initiatory Learning and the Future of Excellence by Mila Popovich
Email address: milapopovich@gmail.com
Abstract:
This paper anticipates the next evolutionary stage of global education and outlines its most prominent features. Then, it proposes strategies and initiatives we can take individually and collectively to activate, accelerate and accomplish transition into that new culture of learning as creative responses to the demands of our times.
We are witnessing a powerful paradox in the current crisis of leadership. On the one hand, there is the evident crisis of conventional leadership and, on the other, we have an increasing democratization of excellence – ever younger people exhibit masterful capacities while our elderly push inspirational limits. Here is a challenge and a productive gap to be expanded into a creative spectrum. Our transitional times need to be navigated by the most refined capacities, agility and ability to hold and balance paradoxes and extremes as productive apertures.
We need education devoted to nurturing the culture-makers and world-builders – metaeducation that will educate, elevate and entitle new leadership for social transformation. Through this vision, each individual will see himself / herself as evolving being belonging to the greater human community and continuity as a worthy contributor, social artist and planetary curator.
Email address: afzal.mir@nu.edu.kz
Abstract:
The ‘Strengthening Teacher Education in Pakistan’ (STEP) is an innovative programme jointly funded by the Government of Canada and the Aga Khan Foundation Canada and implemented by the Aga Khan University – Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED) in partnership with the local governments, education departments and communities in the provinces of Balochistan, Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan. One of the key components of the programme is professional development of teachers, head teachers and teacher educators through a variety of teacher education programmes including a two-year Masters of Education (MEd) Programme offered by AKU-IED. A number of teachers, head teachers and teacher educators from these provinces have been developed through the MEd Programme.
The in-service training, like the MEd programme at AKU-IED, has been found to be an effective method of connecting teachers to an emerging knowledge base (Ramatlapana¬, 2009). Such training provides teachers with opportunities to refresh their knowledge, reflect upon their practices, and more importantly to gain a critical understanding of the theories of deconstruction, and reconstruction of ideas, and conceptual frameworks that guide their approach and practices of teaching and learning (Tajik, 2004). Educational leaders and teachers are trained by means of a range of professional development training courses and there is evidence to suggest that such training brings positive change in the behavior and practices of the trainees (Fields, 1990; Leach & Conto, 1999; Saiti & Saitis, 2006). However, the implementation of theories acquired from training in a context which may not resemble the training setting, is complex and difficult. In the process of applying the theory into practice, trainees had to constantly look for answers to newly emerging questions, often leaving them confused and frustrated (Lamb, 1995). For their frustrations to be minimized, they need to feel that their expertise is valued and respected (Pyle et al., 2011).
A review of studies on teachers’ in-service training programmes has provided useful insights into the effectiveness and challenges of these programmes but hardly any study, particularly in the context of developing countries, has focused on the nature of learning experiences and success stories of the graduates of these programmes. Hence, the present study was an attempt to explore the nature of experiences of learning and development and to validate the success stories of the graduates who attended AKUIED Med programme and who are now working in their different work environments. The main research question that guided this study is “What is the nature of the experience of STEP sponsored graduates’ learning experiences in the MEd programme and how these experiences have fostered their own professional development and their ability to bring about positive changes in their schools”.
A qualitative case study was conducted to explore the nature, relevance, rigor and richness of the experiences of the MEd graduates, and how these experiences have fostered their own professional development and their ability to bring about positive changes in their schools. A purposeful sample of 25 MEd graduates funded by the STEP programme and representing all three provinces was selected for focused group discussions. Out of these 25 graduates, 6 (2 from each province) were selected for further in-depth interviews, observations, and shadowing. Data was collected through focused-group discussions, individual interviews, classroom observations, shadowing, and document analysis.
The findings of the study provide useful insights into the graduates’ self-actualization, transformation of their professional beliefs and practices, the difference they have made in their schools, and the challenges they face. The study also provides evidences of how the implementation of this multi-stakeholders and multi-partners STEP programme has led to the development of ‘communities of practice’ in schools. The study then makes a number of recommendations for policy and practice related to teacher education programmes as well as for partnerships in education.
4A Education for Full Employment
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Re-thinking curriculum to meet the expectations of the 21st century skills and learners by Lone Krogh Kjær-Rasmussen
Email address: lkr@learning.aau.dk
Abstract:
Society and labour markets have in many ways been undergoing dramatic changes in the direction of the knowledge society, and even the learning economy and society. Academic working life has become more complex and unpredictable, technologically as well as in terms of work functions, competencies, values and attitudes among employers and employees. This has had an impact on jobs, work functions and company structures, as well as on industrial dynamics, and it has had an important impact on everyday social life and on the dynamics of the economy. The tendencies influence the requirements for professional and personal competencies of academics. Universities therefore have to continuously re-think how to prepare students for this working life. Beside the professional foundation of disciplines, there seems to be a demand for abilities in development, planning, knowledge processing, theoretical reflection and problem solving (Globalisation Council, 2006)
An experiment of changing curriculum where students to a larger degree become ‘leaders” of their own learning processes will be presented. It will be argued that Problem Based Learning principles as they are practiced at a Danish University, with focus on concepts such as student direction, problem solving, peer feedback and teachers facilitating the learning processes and the competence development can be transferred to other teaching areas. Students are offered the possibility of participating in co-creative and collaborative processes with the teachers as far as the formal framework of the program allows it. Some of the results of the experiment will be presented.
4B Education, Science & Innovation
Email address: calvarez@innaxis.org
Abstract:
Nowadays, in spite of many initiatives to get Science, Technology and Society closer to each other, a significant gap persists, which hinders the potential of research and innovation and restrains our capacity to overcome the societal challenges we face. We identify in that gap at least three key dimensions: the Governance Gap between the conventional conception of Science & Innovation processes and how they actually work (or don´t) in society, the Knowledge Gap between the planned exploration of new scientific and technological territories and the new ignorance that exploration itself creates, and the Challenge Gap between the “Business as Usual” way of doing, the economic and political frameworks and tools used to think and act, and the complexity of the societal challenges we face, as exemplified by the SDGs and their interdependencies.
We propose a conceptual framework to address these intertwined gaps in a holistic manner, leading to more desirable futures around the emergence of an effective Innovation Democracy, a new definition of knowledge creation toward Symmathesy (“learning together”) and a pathway to the desideratum of Sustainable Development. The framework is built on the concept of Co-Creation of Science and Innovation, as a new paradigm of integration between S&I and Society. A systemic and process-oriented approach is used, whereby an assessment of existing co-creation processes and their leverage points leads to proposals for the emergence of a much wider network of self-organized and thriving co-creation processes as enablers of a transformative change in the S&I ecosystem at large.
Email address: g.gutenschwager@gmail.com
Abstract:
When WAAS was founded it sought to address the gap between science and society, or rather the apparent unwillingness or inability of scientists to address their responsibilities as important members of society. This problem is related to the growing disparity between the tool making and symbol making, those ancient skills that brought humans to the highest stage in the evolutionary process (at least until now?). The use of symbols – language, mathematics, graphic and other pictorial and linguistic representations, as well as clothing, hairs styles, etc. — when used to establish social rank, may serve to give legitimacy to the current social order or may serve to criticize and change it. Reincorporating science into society would require that scientists, as well as every member of society, recognize this. This would require an educational system that would give equal emphasis to tool making and symbol making, and that would help students to understand how society is a product of both of these processes.
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UNIVERSITIES: Enhancing the Education, Research and Innovation by Multi-/ Inter-/ Transdisciplinary Education by Marcel Van de Voorde
Email address: marcel@vdvoorde.eu
Abstract:
The social, scientific and technologic conditions for the development of ideas, of knowledge and of solutions to problems have changed dramatically over the recent decades. The globalisation of information, of work, of ecologic aspects, to mention just a few, has made a tremendous impact on our life. Problems have become more complex and their solutions require a new thinking which has to take into account the influences from multiple sources in our world.
It is not enough to value the links between experiences, disciplines, creativity and ideas. One has to develop methods, strategies and practices that will transform those links into real connections. To achieve this goal; this contribution focusses on Transdisciplinary Approaches in the Arts, Humanities and Science”
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Strategic Planning: Designing an Online Global Curriculum to Accelerate Progress and Wisdom by Lloyd Etheredge
Email address: lloyd.etheredge@verizon.net
Abstract:
Philosophers in ancient Athens began to inquire about wisdom and how human flourishing (“eudaimonia”) can be achieved by governments and individuals. Today, using scientific methods and expanded data systems, researchers and agenda-setting institutions are making new cross-cultural discoveries about the causal pathways of human flourishing. In turn, these discoveries suggest strategies and priorities for the design of online global curriculum and a new, timely, and value-adding paradigm that expands beyond GDP/capita to invest in people and their quality of life.
This paper suggests that the new global communication technologies for education and learning, experimenting with innovative applications, can accelerate progress for billions of people – more people, more quickly, than at any time in history. It outlines discoveries in seven areas where authoritative conveners or professional/scientific networks can set priorities and stimulate creative planning.
4D Transdisciplinary Education, Anticipation and Complexity
Email address: katy@technologyawareness.org
Abstract:
‘Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.’ –Marie Curie
Few would argue with Curie that the more we understand a thing, the less we are inclined to fear it. But how do we truly come to understand something? One could argue information alone is insufficient to curb fear of the unknown, and that without sufficient time to assimilate knowledge, fear can be exacerbated rather than alleviated. This is amongst the most profound challenges we face today: that in order to truly integrate information requires time and space, both of which are in short supply in our modern world.
I propose that an overwhelming and uninterrupted flow of information, enabled by the persistent march of technology, does not allow us to feel we understand the complex challenges we face, upending rather than enabling our sense of understanding.
My paper examines how we can reconcile the need for psychological space, considered thinking, and deep work with the age of acceleration. I argue that in order to turn the information we have into knowledge, and to extinguish fear through understanding, we must collectively engage more deeply in considered reflection. I bring the work of Thomas Friedman, Simon Sinek, Yuval Harari and other multidisciplinary thinkers into my argument to illustrate the idea that only by slowing down can we make sense of – and begin to meaningfully address – the upheaval around us.
4E Transition to a New Paradigm in Education
Email address: dino@ifi.uio.no
Abstract
Already a half-century ago visionary thinkers observed that the global issues point to a key capability our civilization is lacking – to innovate on the scale of basic institutions and other systems. Think of systemic innovation as updating the gigantic socio-technical ‘machinery’ whose function is to take everyone’s daily work as input and produce socially and environmentally useful effects as output. Consider it the feedback-and-control needed to give our civilization a viable evolutionary course; the flexibility our institutions need to be able to transform under pressure, and not break down. The Collaborology prototype is an intervention to foster the systemic innovation capability through education. Systemic innovation is exemplified, developed and promoted by
- Being applied in the creation of the Collaborology prototype;
- Offering education that manifests and empowers systemic innovation
- Teaching systemic innovation as subject
- Federating a key systemic innovation educational material
- Applying the developed systemic innovation ideas in another type of learning
Email address: pavel.luksha@gmail.com
Abstract:
As the 21st century unfolds, humanity faces unprecedented opportunities and existential challenges unseen in history. Our technological achievements empower us to create futures that work for the humankind and the biosphere. But we also experience global environmental & social challenges that increasingly jeopardize our existence on the planet. These challenges and opportunities create pressure on human systems to evolve, including educational systems. But educational systems can do more, by becoming instrumental in inducing, cultivating, and governing change for the betterment of society and our planet. Educational innovators must become navigators of “Spaceship Earth” trajectory, our home that is in need of our healthful and regenerative presence and actions. The vision of Global Education Futures, a platform for shapers and sherpahs of global educational ecosystems that unifies hundreds of visionaries from many regions of our planet, suggests several focal points where such transformation can be brought about: (1) inducing the learner agency and self-guidance, (2) embracing collective as well as individual dimensions of learning, (3) introducing new metrics that redefine learners’ success, and (4) cultivating educational ecosystems for lifelong learning. These four elements need to be accompanied by changes in learning content and methodologies that will enable cultivation of collective wisdom and driving our society towards “thrivable” eco-friendly civilization. Such a new model of education will empower us for the evolutionary transition to a higher level of social complexity, where present crises will be overcome, and a new dynamic balance between the humanity, the biosphere and the technosphere will be established.
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Universities and Knowledge for Sustainable Urban Futures: as if inter and trans-disciplinarity mattered by Giulio Verdini & Olivia Bina
Email address: g.verdini@westminster.ac.uk
Abstract:
The aim of this presentation is to show the results of the ‘London Workshop’, held in March 2017 and supported by the EU COST Action ‘INTREPID’ http://www.intrepid-cost.eu/about-intrepid/, which was meant to advance the agenda of “Universities and Knowledge for Sustainable Urban Futures: as if ID and TD mattered”. Academics and practitioners have discussed in a world café format how to characterise the ‘Status quo’ of University today, identifying its ‘Drivers of/for change’, ‘Values to guide change’ and ‘Uncertainties, obstacles, opportunities’. The idea of the Future-of-U (Future of Universities) have been introduced during the final joint discussion alongside the identification of a range of themes tentatively categorised under ethos, purpose and qualities. Two possible ways forward have been also discussed.