Annual Report 2008, Gothenburg
This year we were again pleased to welcome an increasing number of participants interested in the network. We received more than 70 proposals (joint netweork sessions not included) and were quite strict in the reviewing process, finally ending up with a rejection rate of almost 30%. The six convenors- Jim Conroy (Great Britain), Leena Kakkori (Finland), Zdenko Kodelja (Slovenia), Roland Reichenbach (Switzerland), Paul Smeyers (Belgium) and Sharon Todd (Sweden)- did their best to guarantee a fair reviewing process. Comparing the sessions in Gothenburg with those at other recent EERA conferences, our impression is that, in general, the quality of the papers and sessions was improved. We are confident that this was a consequence of the stricter review processes.
The sessions, parallel sessions and joint sessions dealt with a large variety of topics. The invited speaker, Tomas Englund from Örebro University, started with an interesting lecture entitled "Questioning the parental right to educational authority".
The topic of the sessions during the conference included-
- Educational Equality and Justice
- Concepts of Education and Learning
- The Art of Teaching
- Government Intervention and Child Rearing
- Reflective Practice
- Philosophy of Learning
- Expertise and Experience
- Education and Religion
- Comparing Educational Research (joint session)
- Comparative Research and Europeanization (joint session)
- Political and Ethnical Aspects of Education
- Difference and Deconstruction
- Learning and Social Minority
With very few exceptions, these sessions were well frequented.
The dinner for the Philosophy of Education network took place in Feskekörka ("The Fish Church"), built in 1874 and still used as a fish market. It was a great evening with a remarkable ambience, illustrating that philosophers of education are very convivial people (and often talented singers).
During the year we have maintained contact through the e-mail list, distributing information about events, publications and posts for philosophers of education and, occasionally, putting questions and trying to give answers to each other. Currently our list has a total of 250 individual members plus links to other international Philosophy of Education lists.
We are looking forward to meeting again in Vienna for further discussion and conversations.