2023 CIES Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.

The Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) 2023 Annual Conference will be held on 18th–22nd February on the overall theme of “Improving education for a more equitable world”. The event will combine on-line sessions (14th–15th February) with on-site meetings in Washington, D.C. (18th–22nd February). UNESCO’s Futures of Learning and Innovation Division will frame two important discussions.

• Responding to CIES 2023 theme: Voices from emerging scholars
  Opening Ceremony – 18th February, 5:30 to 7:00 PM (EST)

The report of the International Commission on the Futures of Education, Reimagining our Futures Together: A new social contract for education, will be used as the centerpiece of the opening ceremony of on-site sessions on Saturday 18th February, 5:30 to 7:00 PM (EST).

Working with the New Scholars Committee, this unconventional 90-minute panel discussion will promote emerging scholars in the global CIES community whose voices have not been highlighted much in our past opening ceremonies. Co-hosted by CIES and UNESCO Futures of Learning and Innovation and moderated by Sobhi Tawil and Shoko Yamada, the seven CIES 2023 Inspirers are to respond to CIES 2023 Theme on “Improving Education for a More Equitable World” in dynamic ways by re-examining the growing social and economic inequalities within different systems and rethinking the role of education and educational research. Both the consequence and the drivers of multiple intersecting crises are putting the future of humanity and the planet at risk. We are now faced with a critical existential choice between continuing an unsustainable path, or radically changing course. This unique panel brings in diverse experiences and inspiring perspectives from emerging scholars on how we might re-examine and rethink approaches to education and educational research for a more equitable world.

Click here to discover Sobhi Tawil’s response to the CIES 2023 theme of “Improving Education for a More Equitable World” through the lens of the UNESCO report on the Futures of Education.

• An Ed-Tech Tragedy?
  Revisiting the equity promises of Ed-Tech in the time of Covid-19
  Presidential Session – 21st February, 6:30 to 8:00 PM (EST)

UNESCO will convene a panel to discuss ideas to better ensure educational technologies strengthen educational inclusion and equity. The panel will engage evidence and recommendations contained in a new 2023 UNESCO publication entitled An Ed-Tech Tragedy: Revisiting the promises of educational technologies in the time of COVID-19. Authors and guest speakers will consider the ripple effects of decisions to make education dependent on connected technology for much of 2020-2022 during school closures. They will also outline strategies to chart more promising directions for technology integration in the aftermath of the health crisis. In discussing key findings contained in the UNESCO publication, the panel seeks to kick-start more vigorous debate about the uses and misuses of connected technology in education. In concluding, the panel will share suggestions to help recalibrate education’s relationship with technology in order to buttress education as a human right and public endeavor that serves collective as well as individual interests.

Click here to learn more about the CIES 2023 Annual Conference.