Fifth International Conference of the Popular Education Network

FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE POPULAR EDUCATION NETWORK

ANNOUNCEMENT AND FIRST CALL

The Fifth International Conference of the Popular Education Network (PEN) will take place at the University of Edinburgh, from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 April 2010, hosted by the Department of Higher and Community Education. This conference builds on the success of previous PEN conferences held in Edinburgh (2000), Barcelona (2002), Braga (2004) and Maynooth (2007).

The Popular Education Network now has about 160 members in 60 institutions in 25 countries. Membership of the network is free, and participation in PEN conferences is open to all who subscribe to the broad values and purposes of the network (see below).

The language of the conference will be English, but there will opportunities for informal translation as appropriate. Non-English speakers are welcome to attend and participate fully.

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
The conference is not organised around any particular theme – although certain key concerns may well emerge. For example:

· The effects of globalisation on our work;
· Sustaining political commitment and ideological coherence in hard times;
· Developing alliances and strategic collaborations;
· Radicalising research and making it ‘really useful’;
· Contesting managerialism and the culture of the accountant;
· Respecting diversity without abandoning solidarity;
· Exploiting relative autonomy;
· Working with progressive social movements;
· Developing curriculum and pedagogy;
· Using ICT in subversive and counter-hegemonic ways;
· Engaging dialectically with the politics of policy;
· Developing more democratic, creative and expressive ways of working.

The conference will be seminar/workshop-based, with the emphasis on discussion, dialogue and debate rather than simply the formal presentation of academic/research papers. In this spirit of collegiality we invite participants to present academic papers, curriculum materials, or accounts of unfinished research in progress. Please respond by completing the return slip at the end of this message and emailing it back to us by 26th February 2010. We would also welcome ideas or suggestions about anything in particular you would like to see in the conference programme - or you would wish to offer.

The conference is an opportunity for university-based teachers and researchers, and others involved in higher education, who share a common interest in popular education – many of whom work in considerable isolation in their own institutions – to meet, exchange ideas, learn from each other and enjoy some much needed solidarity and conviviality.

We hope that PEN members far and wide will be interested in participating in this conference. Please also feel free to pass on information about it to anyone else who might be interested in attending. For further information about the network and previous conferences, see the attached paper. The conference is open to all who work in higher education and who are willing to subscribe in general terms to the Popular Education Network statement of intent:

Popular education is:

• Rooted in the real interests and struggles of ordinary people
• Overtly political and critical of the status quo
• Committed to progressive social and political change in the interests of a fairer and more egalitarian society.

Popular education has the following characteristics:

• Its curriculum comes out of the concrete experience and material interests of people in communities of resistance and struggle
• Its pedagogy is collective, focused primarily on group as distinct from individual learning and development
• It attempts to forge a direct connection between education and social change.

If you are interested in a fuller account of this particular view of popular education and its relation to higher education, see Crowther J, Galloway V and Martin I (eds) (2005) Popular Education: Engaging the Academy – International Perspectives Leicester, UK: National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (ISBN 1 86201 209 1), which contains several chapters based on presentations at previous PEN conferences.

NOT-FOR-PROFIT CONFERENCE
As in the past, the conference will be organised on a strictly non-commercial basis. No one will make any money out of it! Local costs will therefore be kept to an absolute minimum. The conference fee is £50. This covers room costs, paper work and food/refreshments while the conference is in session. Details about booking accommodation will be sent to those who express interest in participating. Participants are expected to make their own travel arrangements.

We look forward to hearing from you – and to seeing you in Edinburgh this April!
RETURN SLIP

This is to confirm that I would like to attend the Fourth International Conference of the Popular Education Network at the University of Edinburgh from 23 to 25 April 2010.

Name:

Department/agency:

Institution/organisation:

Country:

Email address:

If you would like to lead a seminar discussion, run a workshop or take responsibility for a session for any other purpose, please give brief details:

If you have any ideas/suggestions about what you would like to see in the conference programme, please make them here:

If you can speak a language in addition to English and could help with informal translation, please indicate language(s):

Special requirements (e.g., diet, mobility, access etc)

PLEASE EMAIL THIS RETURN SLIP BACK TO JIM CROWTHER (jim.crowther@ed.ac.uk) BY 25 FEBRUARY 2010.

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