SPARK Communities - Annual In-Person Meeting

See more details for each SPARK community

See more details for each SPARK community

The focus of this session is to understand even more about the colonial structures in curricula across Europe and how we as teachers and academics can (help each other to) confront it. What can we do on a structural level to put pressure on governments, publishers, school management, etc. to secure safety for all students? And what can we do in the classroom to confront the discourses and narratives that might be present in the teaching material we have access to? When do we decide not to use the material at hand and what can we do instead?

What does radical come to mean in the context of 'learning in academia?' How do we as people of colour, but also as fully realised humans with relational connections outside of the space, envisage and mobilise change through learning? How does the conservative space of education in our societal context hinder the much needed radicality for justice? In this session, we will explore ideas and practices beyond the limited confines of academia, through embodied feeling, action and thought for radical learning.

How do we tackle the reality of racism in higher education? When university systems are presented as 'safe-havens' for both knowledge and people, what happens when we know - through persistent evidence trail - that racisms are everywhere in the system? How do we talk about this, and find ways to mobilise change - for staff and students? Syra will be talking about her widely reknown project Re:Tension, a toolkit for identifying, discussing and helping to challenge racism in higher education, using film and debate. Syra will talk about the project, its impact, for a discussion with the community about similar issues across European universities.

The focus of this session is to understand even more about the colonial structures in curricula across Europe and how we as teachers and academics can (help each other to) confront it. What can we do on a structural level to put pressure on governments, publishers, school management, etc. to secure safety for all students? And what can we do in the classroom to confront the discourses and narratives that might be present in the teaching material we have access to? When do we decide not to use the material at hand and what can we do instead?

The focus of this session is to gain further insight into how unions engage with racialised members, e.g. what they already do, and what they would like to gain more insight into, as well as to share what members of the SPARK Teachers and SPARK Academia see as pressing issues for unions to tackle and what central needs and expectations we have for our unions.
The format of this session will be partly panel and partly open conversation with members of the SPARK communities. The panel will include a representative from NASUWT the Teachers Union (online attendance) and a representative from ETUCE the European trade union committee for education (includes both teachers, higher education and research) followed by an open conversation between penalists and members of the SPARK communities. The session will be moderated by Michelle Codrington-Rogers.

The session will explore two methods of generating empathy to strengthen democratic values. One is a "Don't Try This at Home" technique, highlighting potential pitfalls. The other offers an immersive experience using innovative technology to safely foster deep empathetic connections. Discover how empathy promotes inclusion. The session includes an exclusion micro hackathon.

2024 has been a challenging year for Global Majority folk across Europe with division, rising hate and violence happening both at home and across the globe. It’s taken its toll on us and we wanted to offer a session to focus on what we as a community need.
So much of our work is in service of liberating others, but how much energy and focus do we place on liberating ourselves? How much do we connect to our own joy of living to our full potential? How do we bring pleasure to the work of activism? How might we see our own authenticity as enabling and inspiring
liberation in others? How can we embody everything that liberation represents to us and use it to resource us as we do our work?
In this session we’ll be exploring these questions together. In preparation, we’d like you to bring along two images, objects or pieces of writing that represents what joyful liberation looks like for you.