Actors for Social Justice in Education

Issues related to diversity and education, dropping out of education, social exclusion and inclusion of young people, marginalization and belonging are focal questions in all of the Nordic countries as well as globally. Marginalization and exclusion from active participation and success in education are detrimental both for the individual and society at large. Schools, other educational institutions as well as various actors within and beyond these institutions have a significant role in the processes of exclusion and inclusion. This pre-conference focuses on factors that constrain or serve to further justice in education. The focus is on the actors and their agency, negotiations, transgressions and practices of resistance at the policy, society, school, and classroom levels. The pre-conference seeks papers that study such responses to marginalization or exclusion and inclusion, and the conditions for different actors in education to work towards social justice.

Keynote speaker: Heidi Safia Mirza, Professor of Race, Faith & Culture, Goldsmiths College, University of London. Find the abstract here.

Panel discussion: Are the Nordic systems of education providing a fair and equal education for all students? Panellists:
Director General Anna Ekström, Swedish National Agency for Education
Director General Aulis Pitkälä, Finnish National Board of Education
Professor John Benedicto Krejsler, Aarhus University, Denmark.

The panellists will discuss what they think makes the school system in their respective country socially just. Furthermore, the panellists will treat questions such as: What are the most important inequalities with regard to gender, social class, race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, (dis)ability and language in the Nordic schools, and what are the Nordic countries doing to alleviate these inequalities?

Read more about the pre-conference on www.justed.org