Place, Democratic Participation, and the Futures of Citizenship Education
SCEAA and James Cook University invite individuals with a keen interest in democratic and citizenship education to join 2 days of dynamic discussions exploring citizenship in action across diverse contexts.
Venue: James Cook University, Bebegu Yumba (Townsville) Campus, Queensland
Dates: June 27 and 28, 2025
The conference focuses on three distinct sub-themes.
Scroll down for the program outline.
Dates: June 27 and 28, 2025
The conference focuses on three distinct sub-themes.
- The role of place and local contexts for fostering citizenship and democratic practice, with a focus on various perspectives
- Engaging young people democratically and actively as citizens across contexts
- The future(s) of democratic and citizenship education in regional and urban contexts
Scroll down for the program outline.
Featuring provocations from
Professor Stewart Riddle, University of Southern Queensland
Professor Philippa Collin, Young and Resilient Research Centre, Western Sydney University
Stewart Riddle is a Professor in the School of Education at the University of Southern Queensland. His research examines the democratisation of schooling systems, increasing access and equity in education and how schooling can respond to critical social issues in complex contemporary times.
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Reimagining place, democracy and the futures of citizenship in schools and other sites of learning from democracy in anti-democratic timesYoung people who sit in school classrooms today face a future of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, and in this talk, Stewart will argue that a robust and vibrant civics and citizenship education must play a central role in education’s response to the increasing crises of the twenty-first century.
Drawing from his recent book, Schooling for Democracy in a Time of Global Crisis: Towards a More Caring, Inclusive and Sustainable Future (Routledge, 2022), Stewart will provide a series of provocations and propositions for schooling for democracy as one potentially generative response to the complex challenges facing young people and their communities now and in the years ahead. In doing so, Stewart will argue for a futures-focused approach to building civic virtues through education, which moves beyond content descriptions in the Australian Curriculum, to consider the diverse ways in which young people’s civic engagement, democratic participation and collective resistance to de-democratisation can be meaningfully nurtured and sustained. |
What matters to young people through turbulent times?We are living in challenging times. Since 2019 the world has seen a global pandemic, escalating climate change, dramatic advances in digital technologies including Generative Artificial Intelligence as well as persistent and new geo-political conflicts and rising costs of living. Democracies everywhere are grappling with how to respond to these challenges, and to work towards a good society.
Children and young people face the immediate and long-term consequences of decisions made today. Yet, students are narrowly constructed as the subjects of both civics education and learning about critical issues such as climate change, algorithms and AI - even when it is recognised that current approaches are severely lacking and/or ineffective (Manning & Edwards, 2014; Rousell & Cutter-MacKenzie-Knowles, 2020). Understanding student perspectives on what really matters in society and what actions, people and institutions we need to govern and live well into the future can be a valuable source of renewal for education, community and democracy. This provocation considers latest evidence on what matters to young people. It charts some of the major continuities and changes in what Australian young people are concerned about, how they conceptualise different issues, actors and actions, and what they consider makes for a good society. It also reflects on how young people are spearheading knowledge-sharing and education in two critical areas that will impact citizenship and democracy: critical digital literacy and climate change. Coupled with the need for creative and innovative approaches that can address the multifaceted nature and challenges of these complex issues, the presentation raises the question of who should educate for action on global challenges and how? Drawing on the concept of youthful ‘politics-as-action’ informed by Isin (2002) and Ranciere (2010), Philippa considers how student activism and advocacy is a disruptive, generative form of public pedagogy (Biesta, 2012). Comparing and contrasting case studies Philippa argues that learning from youthful politics offers ways to reimagine education as intergenerational and intersectional public pedagogy for civic and democratic renewal. |
Philippa (Pip) Collin is Professorial Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University (WSU) where she co-directs the Young and Resilient Research Centre. Pip investigates young people’s relationship to democracy; the role of the digital for youth citizenship, health and wellbeing; and, methodological innovations in transdisciplinary, youth-centred and intergenerational research and practice - from policy making to education. Her purpose is to catalyse research that contributes meaningfully to positive social change and planetary justice.
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A partnership between the Social and Citizenship Education Association of Australia (SCEAA) and James Cook University (JCU)
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This conference is proudly co-organised by SCEAA and representatives from James Cook University.
For questions and queries, please contact [email protected] |
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