Academic Practice Conferences and other information: SCUTREA Conference 2015

Wednesday, 17 December 2014

SCUTREA Conference 2015

Dear all,

‘It’s All Adult Education’

University of Leeds, UK

Tuesday 7^th – Thursday 9^th July 2015

We are pleased to invite papers for presentation at the SCUTREA Conference to be held from 7-9 July 2015 at the Weetwood Hall Conference Centre and Hotel, Leeds, UK. The event brings together the SCUTREA Annual Conference delivered in collaboration with the Lifelong Learning Centre, University of Leeds to provide a forum for those engaged in adult education and lifelong learning to debate and discuss the theme ‘It’s All Adult Education’.

The SCUTREA Conference provides a platform for researchers and professionals who engage with the education of adults and lifelong learning to address key areas of national and international concern. This year the conference theme – It’s All Adult Education – is also seeking to reach out to those researchers and practitioners whose work may not be primarily focused on adults and lifelong learning but who have developed a keen interest in this area.

Adult education is in a constant state of flux and, all too often, is the ‘Cinderella’ of education and skills budgets. From higher education to work-related learning through to community education, the education/training needs to younger age groups are often prioritised to alleviate high rates of youth unemployment, a key priority for many governments.

However, even within this context there remains a very strong interest in the education of adults. There are academics and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines and sectors working in formal and informal settings who may not primarily perceive themselves as adults educators but who have a keen interest in related research, theory, policy and /or practice. These may include higher education, work-related and professional learning, vocational learning, family and intergenerational learning, digital and technology-enhanced learning (TEL), community development, pedagogy, informal learning or public pedagogies.

Papers, roundtables and poster sessions at this conference are invited to explore the education of adults within the contemporary context of austerity, neoliberal economic policies, increasing inequalities and also in an era of declining trust in political elites and policy-making. We are seeking to be attentive to the wide range of contexts and spaces where the research and practice of adult education and lifelong learning is located. Areas of interest include:

· Innovative pedagogies which are focused on or encompass adult learning;

· Impact of national and international policies on the facilitation of formal/informal adult and lifelong learning;

· Methodological approaches to researching the education of adults in both formal and informal settings;

· How class, gender, ethnicity and disability impact or inform the research and/or practice of educators working with adult learners;

· Conceptual , theoretical, interdisciplinary approaches which encompass the education of adults in a contemporary context;

· Importance of attitudinal factors such as resilience;

· Structural factors such as finance;

· The role of the geographical and historical context of places – in relation to place-based and place-responsive research and practice;

· Creative pedagogy in professional development and work-based settings;

· Role of reflective practice for adult educators and their learners

Papers should locate the research they discuss within the adult education literature and explain its significance for adult education.

The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 5pm (GMT) on Friday 16^th January 2015. All proposals should be submitted as a Word document and emailed to scutrea@leeds.ac.uk. Further details about how to submit abstracts can be found here.