I feel blessed and honored to have been chosen as one of the winners of the Emerging Researchers’ Conference bursary, which provides opportunities to join the Emerging Researchers’ Conference (ERC) and the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2025.
This opportunity provided me with many valuable experiences. The first being that this was the furthest that I have travelled in my whole life. Starting from my home country of Indonesia, the route to Belgrade took almost 48 hours. Second, this was the first time I had attended a global forum with so many participants – the conferences were attended by 3076 participants from 70 countries. For me, one of the most valuable moments as a young researcher was the “Network Meeting”. This connected me with researchers from around the world who work on the topic of my doctoral study.
The importance of ECER and ERC as a global forum for PhD students
The global forum holds regular meetings including the education community. A global forum is a conference, symposium, or workshop that brings together participants from many countries and regions, not just one nation or institution. There are several ways in which PhD students can connect to global forums. One is to attend international conferences that are relevant to their research discipline. For example, as a PhD student in educational research, I chose the EERA conference. As EERA is an organization that brings together several research associations in regional and national education in Europe, attending the conference provided direct interaction with international researchers, either related to my work directly or other fields. Through this global forum, I had the opportunity to connect and exchange contact information with them, and begin building a professional network that will bring many benefits in the future. For PhD students who need financial support, many organizations offer scholarships to help students attend the conference. One of them is the Emerging Researchers’ Conference (ERC) Bursary.
Global forum and whole self education
Whole self education, sometimes referred to as holistic education or education for the whole person, is the idea of wholeness: of connections, inclusiveness, and oneness across intellectual, emotional, social, and ethical dimensions. It is an approach to education that views learning not only as the acquisition of academic knowledge but also as a process that develops the person as a whole. (Kwak, 2020; Saito & Akiyama, 2024)
As I reflected on my experiences at ERC, I was inspired by the book Redefining Spiritual Spaces in the Age of Technology: Innovations and Pitfalls. One chapter discusses Forum as a Transformative Method of Whole Self Educationby Jeff Snipes (Snipes J, 2025), and this really resonated with me. The chapter introduces the Forum Theory of Change model, which explains the four fundamental principles that shape whole self-education.
- Be with awareness
- Feel with compassion
- Think with wisdom
- Do with purpose
Applying the four principles through my ERC and ECER experience
My experience of attending ERC and ECER in Belgrade offered real examples of how these four principles can shape academic and personal growth:
- Be with awareness
Self-awareness and our relationship with others and our environment affect our psychological health. This capacity has a positive effect on various aspects of our lives, including academic performance. When I attended ERC, I met with other young researchers from around the world and exchanged results from our research. The large number of ECER participants also meant there were many discussion rooms where I could explore new knowledge from other fields. This encouraged me to reflect on my research, compare how other presenters explain their work, and consider the feedback from others. I felt these experiences emotionally and they reminded me to be aware of my role as a PhD student in the future, both for my academic community and for my country.
- Feel with compassion
A five-year longitudinal study with1090 participants showed that compassion for oneself and for other people is linked to reduced loneliness and increased mental health positivity throughout life (Lee et al., 2021). One of the valuable experiences from ECER and ERC was feeling compassion from others. After a long trip, I found it difficult to carry my travel bag, and local Belgrade residents around me offered their help. This was a memorable experience that helped me understand the culture of Belgrade. I realized that compassion can be found even in countries so far from my own. This also includes how I experienced the academic interactions (workshops, discussions, etc) that occurred during the ERC and ECER. I interacted with researchers from various countries, experiencing mutual respect in giving and receiving advice and feedback.
- Think with wisdom
According to Grossmann et al. (2020), a person is said to be wise when they consider multiple viewpoints, combine opposing perspectives, reflect deeply, and show intellectual humility (Grossmann et al. 2020). When I participate in global forums such as ECR and ECER, as a PhD student it gives me the opportunity to develop my thinking with wisdom. For example, I can practice listening openly to a presenter when joining a parallel session, engage thoughtfully with new information, or offer suggestions in a supportive, not patronizing way.
- Do with purpose
Damon et al. (2019) describe purpose as a stable and general intention for achieving something that is meaningful for the self, but also has an impact on others. One of the memorable moments of the ERC was in the opening ceremony, when the President of EERA, Marit Honerød Hoveid addressed all participants of ERC, saying, “…you are the future.” Her words remind me of my responsibility as a young researcher and as part of a new generation in my country – to do my best and build a network within the global community. Attending the ERC and ECER encouraged deep reflection, providing space to think about educational issues in my country and consider what role I can play in addressing them in the future.
Key Messages
- Participating in global forums is a meaningful way to foster whole self education.
- Global forums create opportunities to meet with various researchers from different countries around the world
- ERC and ECER provide space to reflect on educational issues and envision the roles we can play in the future.
- Global forums nurture a sense of identity and responsibility as emerging researchers
Mutmainna
Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia
PhD candidate of Educational Research and Evaluation, Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia. Mutmainna is a lecturer in the Physics Education Department at Universitas Sulawesi Barat. Her research interests include physics conceptual understanding and misconceptions, curriculum and instruction, and assessment in physics learning.
Other blog posts on similar topics:
Goetz, J. L., Keltner, D., & Simon-Thomas, E. (2010). Compassion: An evolutionary analysis and empirical review. Psychological Bulletin, 136(3), 351–374. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018807
Lee, E. E., Govind, T., Ramsey, M., Wu, T. C., Daly, R., Liu, J., Tu, X. M., Paulus, M. P., Thomas, M. L., & Jeste, D. V. (2021). Compassion toward others and self-compassion predict mental and physical well-being: A 5-year longitudinal study of 1090 community-dwelling adults across the lifespan. Translational Psychiatry, 11(1), 397. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01491-8
Snipes, J. (2025). Forum as a Transformative Method of Whole Self Education. In Redefining Spiritual Spaces in the Age of Technology: Innovations and Pitfalls (pp. 155-178). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.