The convenors (Yvonne Leeman as link convenor as well as Ghazala Bhatti, Francesca Gobbo and Dana Moree) were present at the meeting. There were 20 delegates in attendance.
Yvonne Leeman opened the meeting with general introductions. All convenors were introduced and a summary of the network’s activities between ECER 2014 and the current meeting was presented to the audience.
Colleagues were informed that over 100 proposals were received this year. Network 7 is one of 8 networks which receives a high number of proposals every year, thus making it both challenging and exciting to put together a conference programme which best respresents researchers’ interests.
Reviewing papers is an important role for convenors and networkmembers. YL asked if colleagues would like to review papers next year, and if so, would they add their name to the circulating list. A mailing list was also circulated for new members to sign in. It was explained that this list was a good opportunity for networking. For example all colleagues could use the list to circulate information about research to each other throughout the year, or find colleagues to collaborate with when putting bids together.
Views were sought about the quality of this conference and colleagues were asked if there were any notes or ideas about the sessions they had attended. Catering facilities and centrally organized activities were commended. The close proximity of the rooms was commended, as this made it possible for people to attend different papers within one session if they wished. One feedback was the unsuitability of the size of the room for keynotes. For example Stephen Ball’s paper and another paper was presented in a room which was not of a reasonable size.
News from EERA was shared. The next conference would be held in Dublin in 2016. All present were invited to attend. It was noted that NW7 is always interested in proposals from right across Europe. This has long been the policy of this network, which has initiated and sustained useful dialogue among researchers over the years.
In terms of ideas for planning future conferences, the issue of language was raised. It was suggested that simultaneous translation in the host language should be a possibility. Or that should be a special session in the local language, or that there should be interactive poster session using a main European and local language.
A comment was also made about the ‘overlap between different networks’, though it was acknowledged that this maybe inevitable given the size of the conference. It was also suggested that some networks should be programmed to be hosted in rooms which are in closer proximity of each other- such as Inclusive Education and Social Justice.
NW 07 runs a mailing list and invites researchers to join. To join the mailing list, send a blank message to nw07-subscribe@lists.eera-ecer.