33th Annual ATEE Conference 2008 Brussel
23 August t/m 27 August 2008
Teacher Education Facing the intercultural dialogue
From 23 to 27 August the Free University of Brussels will host the 33th ATEE Annual Conference.
Theme of the conference focusses on the intercultural dialogue en its consequences for teacher education.
THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE ATEE CONFERENCE 2008 ARE NOW AVAILABLE.
Libotton, A & Engels, N. (2009). Teacher Education, Facing the Intercultural Dialogue. Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the Association for Teacher
Education in Europe, Brussels, 23-27 August 2008. ISBN978-90-812456-2-3
The 2008 conference programme will be structured around the following types of activities:
- Pre-conference workshops organised by local and international experts around current themes in teacher education.
- Keynote speeches by specialists on the opening and closing days, which elaborate on the conference theme from different viewpoints to provoke discussion.
- Parallel sessions, in which papers will be presented. These will be presided by the RDC chairs. Based on the subjects of the papers submitted, they decide what will be the most effective form of presentation within the parallel session (round table, symposium, paper presentations, etc.). In addition there will be a poster session.
- RDC activity meetings, to continue paper discussions, for and the ongoing work of RDC-projects and to the incorporate new members in their activities.
The content of papers can be related to:
- the conference theme,
- the themes of the Research and Development Centers,
- or any topic in the field of teacher education.
Teacher Education, Facing the Intercultural Dialogue
The enlargement of the European Union and the increased mobility and migratory flows between countries, results in more exchanges and interactions between citizens of Europe and beyond, people with various and different cultures, languages, ethnicities, etc.
The challenge will be to deal with these new and complex data in our societies and to live in coexistence with different cultural identities and beliefs.
An intercultural dialogue can contribute towards that coexistence, promoting mutual respect and understanding, recognition of values and identities, but also discovering common and shared belongings.
Therefore, institutions providing initial and/or inservice teacher education should consider that they themselves become more and more embedded in this intercultural context, and that the personal development of their student teachers as well as their employability and professional functioning should be reconsidered consequently. Building multilinguism into the curriculum, organizing staff and student exchange and participating in learning community based projects are only a few examples of approaches that could stimulate the intercultural dialogue.
This conference will initiate the discussion on theoretical as well as practical perspectives about the realization of intercultural dialogue throughout educational settings. The conference will present 'examples of good practice', mobility initiatives in teacher education programs, studies on curriculum adaptations, innovations towards inclusion, research based implementation and evaluation of intercultural initiatives and policy oriented cases.
For details see http://www.atee2008.be