About the International Conference: Professional and Cultural Identity in a Changing Socio-political Reality
Al-Qasemi College, Faculty of Education in Baqa Al Garbiah is arranging and hosting an international conference to discuss the educational identity of teachers and educators in a changing socio-political reality.
Shifting socio-political currents around the world, in the Middle East in particular, are leading to the reconstruction of the global socio-political map. Thousands of refugees and immigrants heading for the gates of Europe as well as rapid, ongoing, local political changes are contributing to changes in the nature of educational systems around the world. This new reality poses a real challenge to these systems at both the local and global levels and entails the introduction and implementation of changes and reforms to help construct new professional identities that might include and manage such changes.
Professional identity in education is affected not only by these socio-political changes, but is also affected by the willingness to adapt and deal with them. In such ways, teachers and educators create their professional identity through interaction with themselves and with their environments. The same identity influences to what extent teachers are satisfied with their role and exceedingly determines their attitude towards environmental changes and reforms in education. We would like to discuss this interaction in our conference and try to understand how it influences and shapes our professional educational performance. We seek to consider the professional identity of educators from around the world and try to examine thoroughly the reciprocation of constructing their professional identity in the changing socio-political reality. We will study thoroughly the factors that promote or constrain formalization of such educational identity, and learn from the extensive, varied experience of international researchers and educators who investigated such phenomena.
Among other issues, we seek to clarify:
- Religion identity and professional identity
- Educational identity and gender
- Educational identity in a changing reality
- Educational identity and reform
- Immigration and educational cultural identity
- Socio-political crises and structuring an educational identity
- Professional educational identity among minorities in times of crisis
- Curricula and educational content in a changing era
- Professional identity among minorities at times of crisis
Some of the accepted papers will appear in the proceedings and modified version of selected papers will be published in special issues peer reviewed journals.