This symposium arises from the Joint Action in Didactics in Europe (JADE) project which has cross-curricular foci on mathematics, physical education and first language teaching. The project was formed following discussion of Joint Action Theory in Didactics (JATD) (Ligozat, 2011; Sensevy, 2011) within Network 27: Didactics – Learning and Teaching of the European Educational Research Association (EERA) over a number of years. We recognise that inequality is a core challenge that needs to be at the foreground of our thinking about didactics – learning and teaching (UNICEF/UNESCO, 2013). In particular, our work is framed by the challenge of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Number 4 (United Nations, 2015) to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. However, the need to address this goal is not only at challenge at the global level but also at the national level for all contemporary societies and educational systems in an age of mass migration and increasing austerity in many countries of the world. We also recognise that many students have experiences of defiance, contempt and humiliation that hinder the development of their self-identity and autonomy. Accordingly, we are particularly interested in better understanding the conditions in which everyday teaching practices and classroom interaction produce equitable access to high quality education, i.e. equal preconditions and chances of autonomous participation and success. With regard to ensuring equitable access to quality education, we consider the epistemic quality of what students come to know, understand and be able to do (Hudson et al., 2015; Hudson, 2016; Hudson, 2017; Hudson et al, 2017a and 2017b; Loquet, 2016)

Our main focus is to question the necessary conditions for ensuring equitable school education and to ask what kinds of teaching activities can be equitable for all students. The emphasis we place on quality education brings a focus on the didactic system and within this frame we focus on the following two aspects:

(i)            the quality of teacher-student(s) joint action and

(ii)          the epistemic quality of content

Our methodological approach is based upon studies conducted in three countries (UK, France and Germany) in relation to three specific subjects (mathematics, physical education and language learning). The aim has been to analyse different examples of epistemic quality in classroom activities and to compare findings within a broadly shared theoretical framework. In doing so we have adopted a primarily qualitative approach to data collection, analysis and interpretation using a case study approach (Stake, 1995). This process was initiated in relation to the findings of a project in the UK on Developing Mathematical Thinking in the Primary Classroom (2010-12) as reported on in Hudson et. al (2015) and Hudson (2017). It was continued in November 2015 when the research team as a whole observed a PE lesson with a class in a college in Rennes (Hudson et. al, 2017a) and was advanced further in March 2017 when the team observed a German language lesson at a primary school in Frankfurt/Main (Hudson et al., 2017b).

In this panel discussion, we will provide short overviews of each of the three studies and then primarily address the cross-cutting issues and themes of epistemic quality and teacher-student joint action. In particular we will address the question of what kinds of teaching-learning activities can be equitable for all students across school subjects.

Hudson, B. (2017) Epistemic Quality for Inclusive and Equitable Mathematics Education for All, WERA 2017 Focal Meeting/Hong Kong Education Research Association International Conference, The Education University of Hong Kong, 30 November – 2 December 2017. Hudson, B., Loquet, M., Meyer, M., Wegner, A. and Benberghout, F. (2017a) ‘I have slapped them but I haven’t slapped them really’: Epistemic Quality for Equitable Learning through Physical Education in France, WERA 2017 Focal Meeting/Hong Kong Education Research Association International Conference, The Education University of Hong Kong, 30 November – 2 December 2017. Hudson, B., Loquet, M., Meyer, M., Wegner, A. and Gerin, M. (2017b) High Epistemic Quality for Equitable Access to High Quality Language Learning in a Primary Classroom in Germany, WERA 2017 Focal Meeting/Hong Kong Education Research Association International Conference, The Education University of Hong Kong, 30 November – 2 December 2017. Hudson, B. (2016) On the relation between epistemic quality and equitable learning in the mathematics classroom. Invited paper to the WERA Symposium Global challenges for international research in didactics – learning and teaching: epistemological, pedagogical and methodological issues and questions, European Conference on Educational Research (ECER 2016), University College Dublin, 23-26 August 2016. Hudson, B., Henderson, S. and Hudson, A., (2015) Developing Mathematical Thinking in the Primary Classroom: Liberating Teachers and Students as Learners of Mathematics, Journal of Curriculum Studies, Vol. 47, Issue 3, 374-398. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2014.979233 Ligozat, F. (2011) ‘The Development of the Joint Action Theory in the Context of the French Disciplinary "Didactiques"’, Symposium on Fachdidaktik – European Perspectives, European Conference on Educational Research, Freie Universität Berlin, 13-16 September 2011. http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:75023 Loquet, M. (2016). The Epistemic Kinship: a way to Bridge the affirmed Gap between Student's and Expert's Knowledge, the case of Dance Lessons. In Symposium Global Perspectives on Didactics, Learning and Teaching, at Annual Focal Meeting of the World Education Research Association (WERA) Public Scholarship to Educate Diverse Democracies, Washington, USA (8-12 April). Sensevy, G. (2011). ‘Overcoming fragmentation: Towards a joint action theory in didactics’, in Hudson, B. & Meyer, M. A. (Eds) Beyond Fragmentation: Didactics, Learning, and Teaching. Opladen and Farmington Hills: Verlag Barbara Budrich. pp.60–76. Stake, R. (1995) The Art of Case Study Research, Sage. UNICEF/UNESCO (2013) Envisioning Education in the post-2015 Development Agenda: Report of the Global Thematic Consultation on Education in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. https://www.unicef.org/education/files/Post-2015_EN_web.pdf United Nations (2015) Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300