Panel

Hilary Cremin, University of Cambridge

Luke Roberts, Resolve Consultants

Kevin Kester, Seoul National University

Moderator

Jack Lee, University of Glasgow

This webinar focuses on what Europeanisation in education means, what it involves, how to research it and what the concepts of epistemic governance, soft power and policy learning can offer for its analysis. Drawing on their contributions to a recently published special issue in the European Educational Research Journal as well as current work, three speakers discuss these issues and the implications for comparative education policy research.

Speakers:
Katri Eeva, Tampere University, Finland
Sotiria Grek, University of Edinburgh, UK
Tore Bernt Sorensen, University of Glasgow, UK

Moderator: Jack Lee, University of Glasgow, UK

Published: 10th December 2024

Universities today face challenges on how to facilitate free debate and academic freedom around politically sensitive issues such as Israel-Palestine.  Why do university administrations and staff face such difficulties? How can these be overcome?  To address such questions, the ‘OU for Ceasefire in Gaza Group’ held a webinar on 15^th December 2023.  Although it was meant for Open University staff, the video recording is relevant to all universities.  It was hosted by OU academics, but not using OU resources. Speakers represent only their own views.    

Co-Chairs 

Lina Aghajanian, Programme Manager, OU 

Carlos Azevedo, PhD student, Faculty of Business and Law, OU 

Main speakers 

Rebecca Gould, Distinguished Professor of Comparative Poetics and Global Politics, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.  Author of Erasing Palestine: Free Speech and Palestinian Freedom  (Verso, 2023).   

Kristina Hultgren, Professor of Sociolinguistics, and ex-Senate member, OU.

Les Levidow, Senior Research Fellow, Development Policy & Practice (DPP), OU 

Cover Image Source: “” by gloucester2gaza is licensed under .

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ organised a webinar discussion on April 25, 2023, on the topic of decolonisation and education. Our esteemed panel consisted of Professor Carolina Guzmán-Valenzuela (Universidad de Tarapaca, Chile), Professor Syed Farid Alatas (National University of Singapore), and Dr Riyad Shahjahan (Michigan State University, US). Dr Jack Lee (University of Edinburgh, UK) moderated the conversation among the speakers followed by a Q&A with online participants. Approximately 50 people from across the world joined this 1.5 hour to discuss the purposes of decolonisation, conceptual distinctions between commonly used terms (e.g. decolonisation, decolonial, post-colonial), delinking from the West/Europe, and the role of language. An additional 20 people stayed online after the event ended to continue further discussions with Professor Alatas and Dr Shahjahan until the 2 hour mark.

This webinar focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education in developed and developing countries. Bringing together scholars and practitioners in social sciences, it explores how education systems at various levels have responded to challenges posed by COVID-19 over the past three years and the implications for access, equity, quality, and pedagogy. Reflecting on their ongoing research projects on COVID-19, the speakers reflect on the opportunities and challenges in moving forward and minimizing the disruptions caused within education systems.