Hope and education

There has always been – and still is – a hope attached to education. Hope is the heart of the normativity of pedagogy and didactics: We are educating for a potentially better future. The question is which hopes exist today, and which hopes can meaningfully be linked to today’s school and education?

On the one hand, we invest our believes in the next generation. On the other hand, we fear the self-same generation. ‘What if they do not do what we hope for?’ Therefore, another question is: How can education and teaching provide future generations with new forms of hope, dreams, and ideals? How can communities of hope, in which plurality, equality and democracy are valued, be supported on a day-to-day basis in education? What are the limits of hope in and beyond education?
How can education cope with and possibly change the current pressure to perform in economical, productive, and measurable ways? Can education support hopeful ways to conceptualize the ‘good life’ in a world with inequality, climate change, and human suffering? How can researchers and educators contribute to inclusive social communities without systematically excluding certain groups and individuals?

New dates
Due to COVID-19 the NERA board and the committee at University of Southern Denmark have, after many considerations, decided to postpone the NERA conference to 3-5 November 2021.

New deadlines:

• May 13 2021: Registration starts and  abstract notification (Read more about registration here)  
• June 20 2021: Deadline for registration
• November 3-5 2021: Conference in Odense, Denmark