Annual Report 2013, Istanbul
In 2013, NW14 received 69 proposals, including papers, posters and symposia. Eleven reviewers took part in the reviewing process, and, as had happened in previous years, we used a double-review system. Of those original 69 proposals, 53 (77%) were accepted, 7 (10%) were rejected and 9 (13%) were redirected to other NWs for the second phase of the reviewing process. For the second reviewing period, NW14 received two proposals, one of which was accepted, with the other being rejected.
NW14 had then, for ECER2013, 54 presentations, including 47 papers, 5 posters and 2 symposia. Of those 47 papers, five of them were submitted within topic 1 (schooling in rural and urban settings), two were submitted within topic 2 (place-based and place-conscious education), six were submitted within topic 3 (school related transitions within a life course perspective), twenty were submitted within topic 4 (family education and parenting), seven were submitted within topic 5 (policies and actions related to co-operation and dialogue among social actors) and seven were considered, by the submitting authors, as not fitting within any of the topics.
During ECER2013, NW14 hosted 18 sessions: topic 1 had two sessions; topic 2 had one session; topic 3 had three sessions; topic 4 had six sessions and topic 5 had three sessions. NW14 also hosted a two-part Symposium on the theme of «Children as Members of a Community: Citizenship, participation and educational development» (chaired by NW14’s link convenor, Joana Lúcio, and discussed by Rune Kvalsund, NW14’s previous link convenor; the two sessions had an attendance of about 20 people each) and an interactive poster session (with three presentations, one of which was a last minute withdrawal).
One of the sessions within topic 1 was a joint session with NW10 – Teacher Education Research, chaired by NW14’s link convenor, Joana Lúcio. In this session, two papers were presented, and it had an attendance of around 10 people.
As had already been the case in previous years, our geographical spectrum was fairly broad, as we were fortunate to welcome presenters and attendants from all across Europe (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Turkey, etc.), as well as Australia, China, New Zealand, Russia and the USA.
The NW meeting took place on Thursday, 12th September, at 13:00 H. It was chaired by the NW’s link convenor, and it was attended by about 10 people, between convenors, authors of presentations that took place within NW14 and others.
NW14 experienced some issues regarding last minute withdrawals, and we also noticed a significant decrease in the number of attendees per session. On the second day of the conference, and especially in the morning, session chairs and authors found no computers available in the rooms; some sessions had to take place without computers, and others were significantly delayed until the equipment was made available.
Has had been the case in the previous year, and despite being contacted via bulk e-mail in the weeks ahead of the conference, many presenting authors did not bring handouts. Handouts are, as we see them, a very important tool in ensuring researchers stay in touch in between ECERs, because they contain, among other things, references and contact information. NW14 will continue to insist on their relevance.
The overall quality of presentations was considered high, both in paper sessions, in symposia and in poster presentations. The interactive poster session was a fairly successful event, and NW14 intends to ensure one will take place next year as well.