ECER - European Conference on Educational Research Archives

Researching education in troubled times: Reflections ahead of ECER 2025 in Belgrade

by Dr Philippe Gabriel | AECSE, NW 16 ICT in Education and Training

As we prepare to gather in Belgrade for ECER 2025, I find myself reflecting on what it means today to be a researcher in education. ECER has always been a powerful space of convergence — a moment when ideas circulate freely across borders, when educational issues are discussed in their complexity, and when we are reminded that research is, in essence, a public act.

This year’s theme, “Charting the Way Forward: Education, Research, Potentials and Perspectives”, resonates deeply in the moment in which we are living. Across Europe and beyond, we are witnessing social and political tensions that question not only the role of education, but also the very conditions under which we produce knowledge. In Serbia, where the conference is taking place, students are rising — peacefully and courageously — to demand accountability, transparency, and the respect for democratic values. Their actions, which have earned them a nomination for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, have been acknowledged in an open letter published by EERA in June, expressing solidarity with their commitment to democratic ideals and civic engagement. Their mobilisation has been exemplary, and it reminds us that the university can still be a place of critical hope and civic engagement.

In such a context, our research in education cannot remain indifferent. Whether we are exploring how students learn, how teachers adapt, or how systems evolve, we are also implicitly — and sometimes explicitly — questioning how education contributes to democracy, justice, and human dignity.

My own work, focused on educators’ professional development and digital literacy, has been shaped by this conviction. For instance, I have been involved in the development and implementation of the French national certification platform écri+, which supports students’ academic writing skills across universities. I also contributed to the organisation and facilitation of a hackathon held in Lyon in early July 2025. This event brought together researchers, students, and digital practitioners to explore how generative AI is reshaping scientific writing and academic literacies. These initiatives reflect a core belief: writing is not merely a technical skill, but a deeply reflexive and formative practice. It is a way of thinking, of situating oneself, and of constructing meaning in a changing world. At ECER, I will be presenting research that links writing practices to reflexivity and social engagement — drawing on collaborative work conducted in France and beyond.

I look forward to sharing this work and, more importantly, to engaging in the conversations that will undoubtedly emerge in Belgrade — with fellow researchers, students, and all those who believe that education is more than a field of study — it is a force for transformation.

Dr Philippe Gabriel

Université d’Avignon

Philippe Gabriel is Associate Professor (Maître de conférences hors classe) in Educational Sciences at Avignon Université, and researcher at LIRDEF (Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Recherche en Didactique, Éducation et Formation), jointly supported by the universities of Montpellier and Montpellier Paul-Valéry. His research focuses on academic literacies, digital learning environments, AI in education, and adult education. He has coordinated several national and European projects and co-leads the EERA Network 16 on ICT in Education and Training.

ORCID: 0000-0002-9337-572X

Research Lab: https://lirdef.edu.umontpellier.fr

OpenEdition (editorial role): Éducation et Socialisation (https://journals.openedition.org/edso/)

ECER Belgrade 2025

Since the first ECER in 1992, the conference has grown into one of the largest annual educational research conferences in Europe. In 2025, the EERA family heads to Serbia for ECER and ERC.

08 - 09 September 2025 - Emerging Researchers' Conference
09 - 12 September 2025 - European Conference on Educational Research

Find out about fees and registration here.

Since the first ECER in 1992, the conference has grown into one of the largest annual educational research conferences in Europe. In 2025, the EERA family heads to Serbia for ECER and ERC.

In Belgrade, the conference theme is Charting the Way Forward: Education, Research, Potentials and Perspectives

No doubt that education has a central role in society, but what it is destined to do is contested politically as well as scientifically. Yet more debate is had concerning the question of the way in which educational research should shape the future of educational practice. The important, but sensitive role educational research occupies in that regard should be the promotion of a better understanding of the contemporary and future world of education, as is expressed in EERA’s aim.

Emerging Researchers' Conference - Belgrade 2025

The Emerging Researchers' Conference (ERC) precedes ECER and is organised by EERA's Emerging Researchers' Group. Emerging researchers are uniquely supported to discuss and debate topical and thought-provoking research projects in relation to the ECER themes, trends and current practices in educational research year after year. The high-quality academic presentations during the ERC are evidence of the significant participation and contributions of emerging researchers to the European educational research community.

By participating in the ERC, emerging researchers have the opportunity to engage with world class educational research and to learn the priorities and developments from notable regional and international researchers and academics. The ERC is purposefully organised to include special activities and workshops that provide emerging researchers varied opportunities for networking, creating global connections and knowledge exchange, sharing the latest groundbreaking insights on topics of their interest. Submissions to the ERC are handed in via the standard submission procedure.

Prepare yourself to be challenged, excited and inspired.

Should genetics play a role in education?

by Dr Ben Williamson | SERA

A startup company promising to test embryos for intelligence has made headlines recently. Nucleus Genomics, a Silicon Valley-based organization backed by millions of dollars from technology investors, claims its platform will enable “genetic optimization” of embryos, with IQ one of many traits and medical conditions it can measure and assess. The educational implications of such a technology are significant, raising the prospect of students entering schools with genetically-optimised advantages over others. That is, if the technology works as the company claims.

The problem with Nucleus Genomics, as the bioethicists Arthur Caplan and James Tabery have argued in Scientific American, is that its promises are false and are not supported by scientific evidence. Nucleus is “what happens when you Silicon Valley-ify diagnostic genetics”: it has cast professional scientific consensus aside and instead sought rapid income from wooing venture capital investors and making sales pitches to wealthy customers. Parents are now being marketed expensive embryo testing, as well as other Nucleus services, with misleading promises about “investing” in their family’s future through genetic tweaks.

Genetically-optimised learning

Although the Nucleus platform is clearly “snake oil”, it highlights how genetic testing and diagnosis of traits such as intelligence has become of growing interest—not only in the medical domain, but with implications for education. On the Nucleus website, one listed “collaborator” is Professor Robert Plomin, a behavioural genetics specialist who has published extensively on the potential uses of genetic testing data in the educational context.

Plomin’s controversial 2018 book Blueprint: How DNA makes us who we are, proposed that genetic data from consumer tests could in the near future be used to inform decisions about schooling. Parents could use genetic data to decide which school would suit them best, or genetic information could even be deployed in a pedagogic model that Plomin termed “precision education”.

Precision education would involve testing children for probable future outcomes, and adjusting or personalising teaching practices to maximise their achievements. In a more recent co-authored article, Plomin and colleagues proposed that commercial genetic testing platforms could be used for precisely this purpose, particularly for the “genetic prediction of academic underachievement and overachievement” and to customise education on that basis. While the scientific validity of the Nucleus tests is highly questionable, it fits neatly with the vision of precision education that some scientists now promote. It’s a vision of genetically-optimised learning based on DNA testing.

Educational genomics

In a project funded by The Leverhulme Trust, my colleagues and I have been examining the emergence of novel data-intensive forms of biological science and their implications for educational practice and policy. This includes the growing area of “educational genomics”. We mapped out the scientific networks that are conducting educational genomics research, the scientific claims they are making, and the methods and technologies that underpin their knowledge-making practices in a recent paper.

Educational genomics is a fast-growing area of research, with scientists, research centres, networks and international associations that span Europe, the US, southeast Asia and Australia. The scientific knowledge being produced is presented as being highly relevant to educational practitioners and policymakers. Not all scientists conducting such research view the precision education model as a viable or desirable prospect. However, there does seem to be a converging consensus on the possibility of early years genetic testing for learning difficulties, as a report for the Early Intervention Foundation indicates.

A recent report from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics shows that educational genomics research also raises sharp ethical challenges. In particular, it pinpoints the risks associated with the use of commercial genetic testing technologies like those launched by Nucleus, and of precision education models proposed by Plomin and others. Genetic information collected in the early years, at birth, or even before, could lead to forms of genetic stigmatization, discrimination or fatalism, and to the fallacious belief that one’s DNA determines their educational prospects.

Genetically-scored students

Educational genomics is clearly risky science, and the “geneticization of education” it represents demands ongoing bioethical scrutiny. An additional question, however, is whether it is even valid science. Can scientists really detect traces of educational outcomes, or biological indicators of underachievement, from data-mining DNA?

Underpinning educational genomics research is a very specific method, called polygenic scoring. It involves collecting masses of genetic data from huge samples, analysing it with sophisticated computational technologies, and then producing statistical scores that are said to predict educational outcomes.

It is on the basis of these polygenic scores that various proposals have been made to incorporate genetic data into educational practice or policy. In addition to the precision education model, these include proposals for early years ability screening for purposes of genetically-based differentiation in classrooms. Genetically scoring students could, according to others, be the basis for educational decision-making at the policy level. In the popular 2021 book The Genetic Lottery, for instance, behavioural geneticist KP Harden proposed using student polygenic scores as additional information to assess “what works” in policy intervention evaluations.

But there are significant problems with using polygenic scores in education, which extend beyond ethical risks and controversies to questions of scientific accuracy. In a recent in-depth analysis of polygenic scoring methods, Callie Burt argued that the scores give the impression that genetics plays a significant role in educational outcomes, when those outcomes are primarily influenced by social factors. The underlying scientific evidence associating genetic biomarkers with educational outcomes remains too weak and confounded by non-genetic factors to support any form of translation into policy or practice whatsoever.

Controversial science

Others agree. The behavioural geneticist Eric Turkheimer recently pointed out that a new polygenic scoring study undermined the confident claims of previous educational genomics research. The results from the study, in Turkheimer’s analysis, show that “unconfounded direct genetic effects” make almost no contribution at all to complex outcomes like educational achievement.

“This is what Plomin referred to as the ‘game changer’, the fortune teller that was going to reveal to us who we really are”, Turkheimer argued, describing polygenic scores as “the basis for all the crazy, unethical enthusiasm for commercial genomic information and embryo selection” and “the big hopes for precision education”.

But if DNA plays an almost negligible role in influencing an individual’s outcomes, it would be nonsensical to base educational practices or policies on it. If this is the case, it remains highly questionable whether genetics should play any role in education at all — regardless of the rapid growth in published educational genomics research, and the rise of commercial genetic testing companies that promise parents they can optimise their children.

Now that educational genomics has established itself as a scientific domain, and commercial genetic testing is growing rapidly, educators and educational researchers will need to remain highly vigilant about how new genetic explanations are asserted for highly complex educational processes and outcomes. Far from being a settled scientific matter, as some advocates insist, the role of data-intensive biological science in education remains fraught with scientific and ethical controversies.

ECER 2025 – Keynote

At ECER 2025 in Belgrade, Dr Williamson will expand on this topic during his keynote:

The birth of the bio-edu-data-sciences: biology, data, and the consequences for educational research, policy and practice

“As the bio-edu-data-sciences continue to develop evidence of the genetic and neural aspects of learning and educational outcomes, will they complement and advance, or displace and marginalize existing practices of educational research? What futures of educational research do the bio-edu-data sciences suggest lay ahead in the next decade, and what should be done about it?”

Dr Ben Williamson

Moray House School of Education and Sports, University of Edinburgh

Dr Ben Williamson is a Senior Lecturer and Co-Director of the Centre for Research in Digital Education at the Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh. His research examines the connections between digital technologies, data practices, and education policy, practice and governance. Recent and current research projects explore data-intensive biology in education and sociodigital learning futures.

Ben is the author of Big Data in Education: The digital future of learning, policy and practice, an editor of the World Yearbook of Education 2024: Digitalisation of Education in the Era of Algorithms, Automation and Artificial Intelligence, and a co-editor of the journal Learning, Media and Technology.

ECER Belgrade 2025

Since the first ECER in 1992, the conference has grown into one of the largest annual educational research conferences in Europe. In 2025, the EERA family heads to Serbia for ECER and ERC.

08 - 09 September 2025 - Emerging Researchers' Conference
09 - 12 September 2025 - European Conference on Educational Research

Find out about fees and registration here.

Since the first ECER in 1992, the conference has grown into one of the largest annual educational research conferences in Europe. In 2025, the EERA family heads to Serbia for ECER and ERC.

In Belgrade, the conference theme is Charting the Way Forward: Education, Research, Potentials and Perspectives

Emerging Researchers' Conference - Belgrade 2025

Prepare yourself to be challenged, excited and inspired.

How an ERC bursary opened the door to a transformative research experience

by Laura Kildė | Emerging Researchers' Group, NW 1 Professional Learning and Development

When I received the email confirming that I had been awarded an Emerging Researchers’ Conference (ERC) bursary, I became excited and, at the same time, slightly nervous. As a first-year PhD student in Educational Sciences, I was just beginning to look for my footing in the world of academic research. Indeed, the bursary provided me with the opportunity to attend the Emerging Researcher’s Conference (ERC) and the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) in August 2024 in Nicosia, Cyprus—an experience that would have been out of reach without this support.

Why this experience mattered

Presenting at a major international conference so early in my PhD journey was both empowering and challenging. I was working intensively on preparing a systematic literature review in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the existing research in my field. As a result, I delivered my presentation “The Integration of Generative AI in Foreign Language Teacher Education: A Systematic Literature Review” during one of the Emerging Researchers’ sessions. This was my first time presenting my research in such a large and diverse setting. Receiving an abundance of questions made me reflect more deeply on the work I had done and inspired me to make meaningful improvements accordingly.

At the same time, what stood out most was not just the opportunity to speak—but to listen as well. The conference brought together researchers, educators, and professionals from all over Europe and beyond. I had the opportunity to choose freely from a wide range of sessions, where each offered unique insights into different areas of educational research. This diversity introduced me not only to new and unique ideas, but also to different contexts.

Growth beyond the conference room

Moreover, I was able to fully immerse myself in the event. I met fellow PhD students, early-career researchers, and experienced academics. We spoke about everything from research methodology to the emotional highs and lows of academic life.

These conversations—whether in formal sessions or over coffee—helped me reflect on my own research. Some discussions sparked new professional and personal interests, while others helped me realise what I did not want to pursue in my work. This growing sense of clarity was just as valuable as discovering new directions. I left Cyprus with a head full of questions, fresh ideas, and a renewed sense of purpose. I realised that some of the most important learning happens in the spaces between presentations: in informal chats, shared doubts, and collective curiosity.

Reimagining my research focus

Back in Lithuania, I continued the conversations I had started at the conference—with my PhD supervisor, university professors, and peers. One key realisation came into focus: I had spent significant time in Rwanda and Kenya, gaining both personal and professional experience, yet this perspective was not reflected in my research.

Listening to presentations and discussions under the ECER 2024 theme “Education in an Age of Uncertainty: Memory and Hope for the Future” made me reflect on how deeply education is shaped by historical, social, and geopolitical contexts. The theme encouraged me not only to acknowledge the complexities and uncertainties of the present but also to draw from past experiences to imagine more hopeful futures. In this light, I recognised the importance of including my African experience—not just as background, but as a meaningful lens through which to explore and reframe my research. It was a powerful reminder that educational research must remain open to multiple narratives, histories, and hopes – especially in a globalised and interconnected world.

With support from my academic community, I revised my original doctoral topic “Educational–Technology Enhanced Self-Directed Learning in Foreign Language Teacher Education”, which initially focused on how digital tools can enhance self-directed learning within the context of foreign language teacher training. However, with support from my academic community, I reshaped the topic to incorporate a broader and more critical perspective. The revised focus—Self-Directed Learning of Future Lithuanian and Kenyan Foreign Language Teachers in the AI Era—still centers on digital technologies but, at the same time, expands to include a comparative, global dimension. This new direction combines my interest in digital technologies with a deeper and a more global understanding of teacher education.

Indeed, the experience at ERC and ECER, including all the variety of presentations, networking, and critical feedback encouraged me to move beyond a Eurocentric perspective and toward a more comparative, interdisciplinary, and globally relevant dissertation topic.

The real impact of the bursary

The ERC bursary made all of this possible. It was not just some financial support—it was a vote of confidence. It allowed me to:

Present and test my ideas in a professional setting
Connect with researchers from around the world
Discover how international education challenges intersect with my own
Gain the courage to rethink and refine my research direction

Why this matters to others

Whether you are a fellow researcher, an educator, or someone interested in how education is changing, these kinds of international experiences are incredibly valuable. They help us build bridges between ideas, cultures, and communities. They show us that education is never one-size-fits-all, and that our work benefits from being shaped by many voices.

Final thoughts

Research can often feel like a solitary path, especially in the early stages. But my experience in Cyprus reminded me that academic work is a shared journey. With the support of initiatives like the ERC bursary, young researchers like me get the chance to become a part of something bigger—to contribute, to learn, and to even be transformed in the process.

Key Messages

Receiving an ERC bursary enabled me to attend and present at ERC/ ECER 2024 in Nicosia, Cyprus—an eye-opening international research experience early in my PhD journey.
Presenting my first systematic literature review on AI in language teacher education sparked valuable feedback and reflection.
Conversations with global researchers reshaped my research focus to include my African experiences and explore self-directed learning in Lithuania and Kenya.
The ERC bursary was more than financial support—it was a transformative boost in confidence, connection, and clarity.

Laura Kildė

PhD candidate, Vilnius University

Laura Kildė is a university lecturer, book author, and founder of foreign language schools. Her research interests include language education, educational technologies with a focus on generative AI, teacher training, self-directed learning, and postcolonial studies. She has worked internationally in France, Spain, Rwanda, Kenya, the UK, and the USA across various roles in education and research.

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Laura–Kilde?ev=hdr_xprf

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-kildė-14826277/

ECER Belgrade 2025

Since the first ECER in 1992, the conference has grown into one of the largest annual educational research conferences in Europe. In 2025, the EERA family heads to Serbia for ECER and ERC.

08 – 09 September 2025 – Emerging Researchers’ Conference
09 – 12 September 2025 – European Conference on Educational Research

Find out about fees and registration here.

Since the first ECER in 1992, the conference has grown into one of the largest annual educational research conferences in Europe. In 2025, the EERA family heads to Serbia for ECER and ERC.

In Belgrade, the conference theme is Charting the Way Forward: Education, Research, Potentials and Perspectives

Emerging Researchers’ Conference – Belgrade 2025

The Emerging Researchers’ Conference (ERC) precedes ECER and is organised by EERA’s Emerging Researchers’ Group. Emerging researchers are uniquely supported to discuss and debate topical and thought-provoking research projects in relation to the ECER themes, trends and current practices in educational research year after year. The high-quality academic presentations during the ERC are evidence of the significant participation and contributions of emerging researchers to the European educational research community.

Prepare yourself to be challenged, excited and inspired.

ECER Belgrade 2025

Since the first ECER in 1992, the conference has grown into one of the largest annual educational research conferences in Europe. In 2025, the EERA family heads to Serbia for ECER and ERC.

08 - 09 September 2025 - Emerging Researchers' Conference
09 - 12 September 2025 - European Conference on Educational Research

Find out about fees and registration here.

Since the first ECER in 1992, the conference has grown into one of the largest annual educational research conferences in Europe. In 2025, the EERA family heads to Serbia for ECER and ERC.

In Belgrade, the conference theme is Charting the Way Forward: Education, Research, Potentials and Perspectives

Towards reconnecting within and beyond the educational research community in Serbia

by Olja Jovanovic, Dragica Pavlovic Babic, Dejana Mutavdzin | ERAS

Serbia is a country nestled in the Balkans, Southeast Europe, which evokes a multitude of associations depending on one’s generational perspective. From Ottoman rule and the Battle of Kosovo, legendary scientist Nikola Tesla, historical figures like Gavrilo Princip, Nobel Prize winner Ivo Andrić, to the memories of Yugoslavia, the 1990s wars, the NATO bombing in 1999, the country’s prowess in collective sports such as basketball, and the tennis player Novak Đoković – Serbia’s narrative always provokes dilemmas.

But why delve into this historical labyrinth when discussing educational research in Serbia?

Serbia has always been a place where different cultures mix, leading to both understanding and conflict, requiring multiperspective approaches and fine interweaving of the joint narratives. The role of education and educational research’ in interpreting socio-cultural events, building collective narratives and bridging diverse perspectives is irreplaceable.

Due to the fragmentation of this region and the division of a multinational state into smaller, ethnically homogeneous entities, the term “balkanisation” itself was coined. The fragmentation of this geographical and political area corresponded with a divide within the research community. Moreover, international sanctions imposed on Serbia led to its educational research community being isolated from the global scientific network. However, this adversity paradoxically served as a unifying force within the local research community and its cohesive influence was reflected in the mobilization of existing resources in researching how education adapts and how education could help citizens to adapt to the uninterrupted crisis. The challenge of this task becomes even more noticeable when we take into account the limited resources and resistance on the side of decision-makers, often resulting in educational research being perceived as a form of quiet activism, encompassing ‘little acts’ that are both collectively and politically significant.

To overcome these hurdles, the Educational Research Association of Serbia (ERAS) was created in 2013, aiming to affiliate with the European Educational Research Association (EERA). ERAS stands out for its advocacy of interdisciplinary collaboration, welcoming experts from diverse fields interested in educational research. We wonder whether, together with EERA, we can rewrite the narrative of ‘balkanisation’, turning it from a tale of fragmentation into one of collaboration and reconnection. Hence, the theme of the ECER 2025 is Charting the Way Forward. We are looking forward to welcoming you in Belgrade!

Image of the University of Belgrade and the information: 08 - 09 September 2025 - Emerging Researchers' Conference
09 - 12 September 2025 - European Conference on Educational Research

ECER 2025 goes to Belgrade, Serbia.

Find out more about ECER 2025 in Belgrade, the keynote speakers, and how to submit a proposal, and the deadlines for submission and registration on the EERA website.

Olja Jovanović

Assistant Professor, University of Belgrade

Olja Jovanović is an Assistant Professor at the University of Belgrade’s Center for Teacher Education and Department of Psychology, specializing in inclusive education. With a diverse background spanning schools, NGOs, international organizations, and higher education, her research focuses on how education systems affect marginalized children and youth. She has expertise in developing frameworks to monitor inclusive education and exploring the connection between integrity and inclusive education in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Olja is a member of convener group of the European Educational Research Association’s network on inclusive education and serves on the editorial team of the European Journal of Inclusive Education.

Dr Dragica Pavlović Babić

Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Belgrade

Dragica Pavlović Babić, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Belgrade and Faculty of Mathematics University of Belgrade, teaching courses on educational psychology, educational policy and assessment. She coordinated OECD/PISA study in Serbia for 5 cycles. She has worked in developing assessment systems in Serbia, Montenegro and Central Asia (Tajikistan). Member of several scientific organizations and bodies: EERA Council; Board for Psychology in Education of European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (EFPA); Educational Research Assosiation of Serbia – president; Petnica Science Centre’ Council – president; ISCAR – International Society for Cultural and Activity Research.

Dejana Mutavdžin

PhD candidate, University of Belgrade

Dejana Mutavdžin is a PhD psychology candidate at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, where she has completed her BA and MA studies. She is affiliated as a Teaching Assistant of Psychology at the Faculty of Music, University of Arts in Belgrade. Her research interest is the relationship between different types of abilities, emotional inteligence, giftedness in non-academic domains, and opportunities for their acknowledgement in the educational process.

EERA’s unique buzz – and the lessons I’ve learned

by Professor Emeritus Terri Seddon | 30 Years of EERA

EERA is celebrating 30 years in 2024, and as part of our anniversary celebrations, we have invited people who have been at the heart of the association to share their memories and reflections. In a series of blog posts, which will run throughout 2024, we will share those precious memories, from the people who helped foster the global EERA community.

In this blog post, Terri Seddon, Professor Emeritus of La Trobe University explains why the European Conference on Educational Research became her ‘first-choice’ academic conference, and worth the long-haul flights from her home in Melbourne.

The 1994 conference was unlike anything I’d experienced. I’d attended BERA but this joint conference with the newly formed European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) was quite different. The structure and sessions were standard, but the discussion, give and take, and energy distinguished this event.

That buzz drew me back to ECER year after year. I attended Frankfurt and Lahti, missed Seville and Ljubljana, then settled into ECER on a yearly basis. Between Edinburgh (2000) and Hamburg (2019), I only missed Lille and Copenhagen, despite twenty-hour long-haul flights from Melbourne. ECER became my first-choice academic conference. What was calling me?

The buzz became clearer at a small 2002 conference on globalisation and Europeanisation of education organised by Jenny Ozga at Keele University. She asked if I’d do the plenary. I agreed.

At dinner, the night before the conference, Jenny asked if I was ready to present.

‘But aren’t I at the end?’ I spluttered, voice squeaking with anxiety. Plenaries are concluding events in Australia: usually some wrap-up comments, sometimes provocative insights.

‘No, you’re first up tomorrow.’

After a long night, I presented that plenary, what I called an opening lecture. I have no memory of the content, but there was good discussion exploring our different views, with careful attention to language, meanings and how words were used.

Later that evening, chatting about the plenary, Edwin Keiner said, somewhat cryptically, ‘In Europe, we “offer”ideas’.

The anxious Australian learned many lessons from that plenary. I learned that words have geographies, meanings differ from place to place. I learned that anxiety affects presentation style, as do linguistic conventions, cultural habits and national histories. I learned that careful listening reveals speaker’s place-based cosmologies that contextualise what they say and how they build knowledge.

ECER offered theatre where I could watch Eurozone and Anglophone worlds in action. Aligned with ECER’s spirit of dialogue, I saw Anglophone researchers called out for speaking too fast in English. I noticed disrespectful listeners, not recognising a presenter’s halting English as their second, third or fourth language. Listening to words and silences, I grasped participant’s premises and forms of reasoning.

ECER’s theatrics showed words, stories and styles framed by place-based cosmologies. Mixed-nationality panels surfaced histories through boundaries and blind spots. Participant’s memories made relationships, systems and structures more understandable. Some ways of using words communicated and created hierarchies. Others offered a hospitality of voice that recognised what it meant to live, cheek-by-jowl, within and across sensitive borderlines.

ECER’s buzz drew me into a voyage of discovery and ECER’s offers shaped my reading of cultures and cosmologies. Conferences revealed shared cosmologies through resonances between people’s theories and biographies, and as spaces of story framed by faiths, fairies and fears. These communicative spaces recognised worlds beyond the material spaces of governing and experience, where powerful narratives play through people’s space of imagination.

Bringing these ECER insights back to Australia was hard because pragmatic, performative, can-do cultures treat the Machine as cosmology. In politics and everyday life there was wariness about things beyond the tangible, business-as-usual world. Secularism is significant. Awkward silences around First Nation’s celebration of Country disregard the cosmologies of continuous cultures over 60,000 years, cannot erode the sovereignty of mind that sustains Indigenous identities and cultures.

Looking back, I’m grateful for ECER’s buzz and its offers. They helped me question established stories, universalised knowledge, claims, and narratives that claimed to trump all others. Reconceiving contextualisation, I examined communicative spaces to identify probable and preferred practices of governing education and societies.

In 1994, ECER conversations offered the idea of an emerging ‘European educational space’ and documented practices of governing that changed education and societies. In 2024, climate change, toxic chemicals, and overpopulation challenge national governments and global governance, but people schooled into Machine mindsets are slow to respond to these legacies of colonial capitalism, despite threats of extinction.

So, I offer ECER a question: Can practices of governing that now steer the ‘European educational space’ be re-designed to re-shape the conscience of nations and their peoples through the emerging ‘Anthropocene educational space’?

The EERA Office – The view from within the spaceship

Angelika Wegscheider explains what it is like to steer the ‘spaceship’ of the EERA office, the changes she has seen over the years, and the lessons she’s learned from her time with the organisation.

A European Space for Educational Research and Dialogue

Past Secretary General of EERA, Professor Lisbeth Lundahl on the importance of EERA as an open and welcoming space for educational research and discourse.

20 Years a-going – Reflecting on two decades with EERA

Past President, Professor Joe O’Hara takes a walk down memory lane to celebrate EERA’s 30th anniversary, and reflects on the developments and achievements of the organisation.

Twenty years of participating in EERA’s 30 years

In this blog post, Professor Emeritus of Educational Sciences at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, and previous EERA president, Dr Theo Wubbels reflects on his involvement in EERA over the years, and where the organisation’s future lies.

My EERA story – from novice doctoral researcher to ERG Link Convenor

ERG Link Convenor Dr Saneeya Qureshi looks back on her journey, from her first conference, to her professional and personal growth with EERA, and the friendships made along the way.

Establishing Network 27 – and trends in didactics of learning and teaching over the past decades

Professor Emeritus Brian Hudson on the establishment and development of Network 27, and the associated trends in didactics of learning and teaching over the past few decades.

EERA’s unique buzz – and the lessons I’ve learned

Professor Emeritus Terri Seddon explains why the European Conference on Educational Research became her ‘first-choice’ academic conference, and worth the long-haul flights from her home in Melbourne.

Experiences and benefits from collaborating in the international ethnography network

Four long-term Network 19 members, currently serving as network convenors, share their stories and insights into what the network means to them.

Developing an EERA Network Identity – NW 20 through the years

As part of our 30th anniversary celebration, Professor Raimonda Brunevičiūtė reflects on her EERA journey, and the development of Network 20, Research in Innovative Intercultural Learning Environment.

Past reflections and future horizons

Growing (with) EERA Network 14

As part of our 30 years of EERA celebrations, Dr Joana Lúcio reflects on her time as Link Convenor of Network 14, and her professional and personal growth.

Pleasure, confusion, and friendship – 30 years of EERA

EERA’s first Secretary General and founding editor of the EERJ, Professor Martin Lawn, looks back at the sometimes rocky road of EERA, the developments into the organisation it is today, and considers where the journey should go next.

Improving the quality of education – EERA Network 11 through the years

To celebrate EERA’s 30th anniversary, Dr Gento takes a look at the activities of Network 11 to improve the quality of education, within EERA and in the wider educational research community.

Serendipity in Action: Being a link convenor for the ERG was a vibrant thread in the vast tapestry of my academic life

For the 30th anniversary celebrations of EERA, Dr Patricia Fidalgo reflects on her time as Link Convenor of the Emerging Researchers’ Group, and the joy this fulfilling role brought her.

A Transformative Journey: Nurturing Emerging Researchers at the European Conference for Educational Research.

In our blog series celebrating 30 years of EERA, Professor Fiona Hallett reflects on the sense of belonging within a supportive community of scholars.

Terri Seddon

Professor Emeritus, La Trobe University, Melbourne

Dr Terri Seddon is Professor Emeritus at La Trobe University and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences. She uses historical sociologies of education to understand continuity and change in governing, policy and professional knowledge building. A series editor of the World Yearbook of Education (2006-2021), Terri interrogated globalising education policies, complexities of powerlessness and the transforming effects of transnational knowledge building.

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