Dear All,
We would like to invite participants for an ESRC-funded seminar series
on 'New
Spaces of Education: the changing nature of learning in the 21st
century'.
The aims of the series include:
To examine the changing spaces within which learning takes place,
including:
homes, transnational (immigrant) spaces, cyberspace and workplaces, and
to
develop a set of conceptual tools for exploring further the questions
raised
through these discussions;
To explore the transformation of spaces of education at different
'stages',
including: nursery/pre-school; primary and secondary; tertiary and
higher
education; adult education; community-based provision; and workplace
learning;
To consider changes in the traditional relationship between life-stage
and
education (including concepts of lifelong and life-wide education,
workplace
learning, and education in retirement);
To explore the spatial variability in the value attached to different
credentials/qualifications (i.e. the different ways in which they may be
valued
across geographical boundaries);
To provide, where possible, a comparative perspective, considering
different
national and policy contexts on learning at different stages;
To consider associated changes in definitions of what constitutes
education
and learning at the beginning of the 21st century (critically assessing
the
nature of credentialism, the value attached to different qualifications,
the
impact of economic imperatives, hierarchies of institutions and national
educational systems, etc.).
The first of four seminars will be held at the University of Liverpool
on 2nd
June 2009. Details of all the seminars can be found at:
http://www.surrey.ac.uk/politics/NewSpacesofEducationIndex.htm
Seminar 1: International/Transnational Spaces of Education (University
of
Liverpool, 2nd June 2009)
This session will examine recent developments in the
internationalisation and
transnationalisation of education including: the growth of an
international
education industry; the emergence of satellite university campuses
and 'offshore' schools; the expansion of international MBA programmes;
the
creation of national education 'brands'; and the 'global'
entrepreneurial
activities of educational institutions. It will also consider the social
and spatial
implications of the international/transnational mobility of students:
the number
of foreign (tertiary) students within OECD countries has doubled over
the past
20 years (OECD, 2002). Today there are more than 2.7 million foreign
students
in tertiary education worldwide (OECD, 2007), in addition to an
unquantified
number at primary and secondary levels. The spatial configuration of
this
mobility testifies to an increasingly differentiated and uneven global
geography
of education - students generally flow from 'East' to 'West' and from
non-
English-speaking to English-speaking countries. However, a number of
regional
geographies of student mobility are also emerging (for example, student
mobility in and around East and Southeast Asia and the development of a
European space of learning). This session will address the implications
and
impacts of these uneven spatial configurations for governments,
policymakers,
non-governmental organisations, educational institutions (including
universities
and schools) and students and their families.
Confirmed speakers:
Professor Kris Olds, Department of Geography, University of
Wisconsin-Madison
Professor Susan Robertson, Graduate School of Education, University of
Bristol
Dr Mary Hayden, Department of Education, University of Bath
Jess Guth, School of Management, Bradford University
Don Olcott, Chief Executive, Observatory on Borderless Higher Education
To reserve a place at this seminar, please contact Dr Johanna Waters
([log in to unmask])
We have a number of bursaries available to cover the travel expenses of
doctoral students who would like to attend the seminar. If you would
like to
apply for one of these, please contact me, specifying the amount you are
requesting (assuming a second class train fare)
Best wishes,
Rachel Brooks
University of Surrey
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