Learning for a Complex and Hopeful Future: Pedagogies of Empowerment, Equity, and Global Readiness

Morning parallel session

These sessions will start with a brief introductory segment, including a recorded message from Professor Lorenzo Frigerio, Pro‑Vice‑Chancellor (Education), then move into learning, sharing, and hands‑on activity.

Note for delegates:

Please choose one parallel session stream to attend. We recommend selecting a first and second choice, as rooms have limited capacity and you may be redirected to your alternative option once a session is full.

09:30 - 10:40

Welcome address

Professor Georgia Kremmyda Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching)(including WATE award presentations)

10:45 - 11:00

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Morning keynote

"From flailing to flourishing? Connection and criticality for uncertain times"

Dr Karen Gravett (Associate Professor and Head of the Surrey Institute of Education at the University of Surrey, UK)

11:00 - 12:00

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Abstract

This keynote will explore how we might respond to the current uncertainty of contemporary higher education. Teaching today is a complex, evolving and challenging practice, and yet meaningful teaching has the power to both inspire and change lives. Educators work in particularly difficult and fast-changing times: financial constraints and precarity have impacted across institutions, the transformative impacts of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) are destabilising the ways in which we understand what it means to teach, learn and assess learning, and blurring the boundaries between human and machine. What it is to be a student at university, where the university is, the purpose of learning, and what constitutes knowledge are all fundamental questions that are reshaping our role as teachers. In this keynote I ask: how might we respond in order to create meaningful futures and connections – to flourish rather than to flail? To understand teaching in contemporary times, I draw upon my theory-practice to explore teaching as an affirmative and relational endeavour that can inspire others and lead to generative moments of connection. I consider how we might understand teaching as a critical practice, where educators embrace uncertainty, question assumptions, and continue to evolve their approaches.

Bio

Dr Karen Gravett is Associate Professor and Head of the Surrey Institute of Education at the University of Surrey, UK, where her research focuses on the theory-practice of higher education, and explores the areas of digital education, belonging, and relational pedagogies. She is Co-Director of the Language, Literacies and Learning research group, an Associate Editor for the journal Sociology, and Executive Editor for the journal Teaching in Higher Education. She is also a a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA) and an Honorary Associate Professor for the Centre for Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) at Deakin University. Karen’s latest books are Reconceptualising Teaching in Higher Education: Connected Practice for Changing Times, Critical Practice in Higher Education, and Relational Pedagogies: Connections and Mattering in Higher Education.

You can find some of Dr Gravett's e-books available from our Warwick digital library

• Critical practice in higher educationLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window
• Dominant discourses in higher education: critical perspectives, cartographies and practiceLink opens in a new window

Lunch

Time and space to refresh, chat and connect.

12:00 - 12:50

Lunch will be provided in the Ramphal atrium as buffet. As part of our commitment to sustainable practice, catering will be provided in a way that helps minimise waste.

We ask that you inform us of any dietary requirements on the conference registration form.

Afternoon parallel session

These one hour sessions will provide opportunities for learning, sharing and hands-on activity.

Note for delegates:

Please choose one parallel session stream to attend. We recommend selecting a first and second choice, as rooms have limited capacity and you may be redirected to your alternative option once a session is full.

12:50 - 13:50

Afternoon keynote

"We Dream the Same Dream: Collective Empowerment in Pedagogy"

14:00 - 14:50

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Jason Arday is Professor of Sociology of Education at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education, and a Fellow at Jesus College, Cambridge.

Professor Arday has previously held the position of Professor of Sociology of Education at the University of Glasgow, School of Education; Associate Professor in Sociology at Durham University in the Department of Sociology; and Deputy Executive Dean for People and Culture in the Faculty of Social Science and Health.

Jason is a Patron of the Adult Literacy Trust (ALT) and Get Further. He was formerly a Trustee of the Runnymede Trust, the UK’s leading Race Equality Thinktank for 11 years. Presently, he is a Trustee of the British Sociological Association (BSA). Jason sits on the NHS Race and Health Observatory Academic Reference Group and the ITV Cultural Advisory Council.

Afternoon parallel session

These sessions will provide opportunities for learning, sharing and hands-on activity, followed by the conference close.

Note for delegates:

Please choose one parallel session stream to attend. We recommend selecting a first and second choice, as rooms have limited capacity and you may be redirected to your alternative option once a session is full.

15:00 - 16:15