The large symposium is in 2 parts. The aim of the symposium is to present a comparative analysis of six nation states’ governance systems. The first part of the symposium will address the research questions in four  nation states' with four respective papers. The  second part of the symposium will have two nation states' papers. The partnership will then present an analysis paper to reveal an international comparison of the six accounts.  

The objectives of the session are to present six international cases of how governance systems empower key agents of change to empower school communities to become societal innovators for equity, peace and renewal. 

Each of the six international cases take a humanist approach and collect narrative biographies of 90 Black Women and 30 religiously divided key agents of change within different International governance systems. We identify their roles and categorise the kinds of ‘turbulence’ (Gross, 2014) they experience. Next we analyse how they navigate the turbulence. Finally we reveal how the governance systems empower them to empower school communities to become societal innovators for equity, peace and renewal (Horizon, 2020). A new theory of Empowerment through Governance Systems for Equity, Peace and Renewal is presented as knowledge to action. 

The cases are of schools K-12 and include in alphabetical order: an Arab Israeli Case, an English Case, a Nigerian Case, a Northern Irish Case, a Trinidad and Tobago Case, and a US Case.

Each presenter will give the national context of the governance system. They will then explain and critique the pertinent literature to shed light on the power and interests at play within the governance system. They will then present the empirical evidence from the analysis of the key agents of change narrative biographies. Each presenter will read their findings through Gross (2014) Turbulence Theory to categorise the level and the impact of the challenges the key agents of change need to navigate as they mediate between the governance systems.

Finally each author will present a theory of knowledge to action of how the key agents of change are empowered by governance systems to empower school communities to become societal innovators for equity, peace and renewal.

The international team will then present a comparative analysis of the cases and a synthesised theory of empowerment through governance systems to empower communities to become societal innovators for equity, peace and renewal.

International comparative analysis is important and requires a more nuanced understanding of fragility to create a more informed theoretical body of knowledge. Here fragility is understood as a disempowered human that threatens the stability of cohesive systems (Sayed et al, 2015).

There is a gap in the literature regarding how governance systems empower or disempower key agents of change to deliver increased grade scores, and culturally relevant curriculums to bridge marginalised communities and dominant communities within an education system. To help us understand the need for cultural alignment of common values, and needs we draw on the Black-White achievement gap as a global phenomena (Wagner, 2010).

The population and sample will be Black Key Agents of Change, and where possible these will be Black Women because they represent traditionally minoritised and disempowered community members. However, we have become aware that Black women and Black men are not well represented at the governance level, and therefore some nation states have had to draw from a wider range of participants regarding race and ethnicity. This in and of itself is a theme we will explore. Our generation of a new theory of community empowerment through governance systems is of scholarly significance and offers opportunities for ECER delegates to connect with the research project as knowledge to action.

Gross, S.J. (2014) Using turbulence theory to guide actions. In Branson, C.M., Gross, S.J. (2014) (Eds.) Handbook on Ethical Educational Leadership. New York: Routledge. Pp. 246-262. Horizon 2020 (2015) CO-CREATION-01-2017: Education and skills: empowering Europe’s young innovators. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/topics/co-creation-01-2017.html . Accessed 21 December 2015. Sayed, Y., Sprague, T., UNESCO, UNICEF, Turner, D, Smith, A., Paulson, J., Shields, R., Kumar Shrestha, P., Unterhalter, E., Peppin Vaughan, R., Smail, A., Tungaraza, F., Sutherland, M., Stack, N., Barrett, A., Bunwaree, V., Alhalsawee, S., Hannah, H., Soudien, C., Motivans, A. (2015) COMPARE Forum: The Post-2015 education and development and agenda. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education. 43:6 783-846. Wagner. T. (2010) The global Achievement Gap. New York: Basic Books.