bullet">Democratic learning futures: participation, civic education, public reasoning, and institutional trust in AI-mediated contexts.

Critical diversity and inclusion: bias, fairness, accessibility, disability, language, migration, and culturally sustaining pedagogy.

AI literacy in practice: curriculum, assessment, academic integrity, critical media/data literacy, and teacher education.

Governance and ethics in education: policy, regulation, procurement, transparency, accountability, and learner rights.

Alongside the special focus, we welcome proposals aligned with the Network’s broader concerns across learning theory and pedagogy; curriculum and assessment; educational leadership and systems; technology-enhanced learning; learning in workplace and community contexts; and the cultural, political, and ethical dimensions of education. Contributions may be theoretical, empirical, methodological, design-based, practice-led, or community-engaged.

Knowledge Experience and Format

The conference is organised as a hybrid knowledge experience, integrating in-person and online participation within a unified scholarly environment. All accepted proposals become Presentation Pages where presenters share abstracts and supporting media, and where delegates engage in discussion before, during, and after the event.

In-person sessions at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki are interwoven with live online sessions and asynchronous contributions within a single integrated program. Regardless of participation mode, all delegates have access to the full schedule, session media, and a growing digital archive. Across formats, the emphasis is on reciprocal, human-scale exchange—conversation, reflection, and collaborative inquiry rather than one-way presentation.

Publication Pathways

Presenters are invited to further develop their conference work for possible publication in the Network’s journals—The International Journal of Learner Diversity and Identities; The International Journal of Adult, Community, and Professional Learning; The International Journal of Assessment and Evaluation; The International Journal of Early Childhood Learning; The International Journal of Educational Organization and Leadership; The International Journal of Learning in Higher Education; The International Journal of Literacies; The International Journal of Pedagogy and Curriculum; and The International Journal of Science, Mathematics, and Technology Learning—or in The Learner Book Imprint, which publishes monographs and edited collections that extend the field of educational research. Both journals and books offer traditional and Open Access publication pathways.

Key dates

Early proposal period: Now - 6 December 2026
Early registration period: Now - 6 January 2027

For full details and submission guidelines, visit the conference website.

Sincerely,

Dimitris Zachos, Local Conference Chair, Aristotle University of Thessalonki, Greece

William (Bill) Cope, Research Network Chair, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, United States

Mary Kalantzis, Research Network Chair, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, United States

José Luis Ortega Martín, Research Network Chair (ES), University of Granada, Granada, Spain

📣 CfP: 34th International Conference on Learning