Events at the Festival, which runs from 13th to 28th March, include a host of free debates and hands-on events, including the chance to try out the latest VR platform to boost students' confidence in public speaking.
Who can fix the teacher recruitment and retention crisis? is a panel discussion on the different aspects of school staffing problems. Speakers include Clare Brooks, Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge; Lord Jim Knight of Weymouth, former Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform in the Labour government in 2009-2010 and chief education and external officer at TES Global Ltd; Andy Love, Royal Society of Biology Biology teacher of the year 2023 who is based at Highdown School, Reading; Stefanie Sullivan, Professor of Education at the University of Nottingham; and Cathy Tooze, Executive Headteacher at The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College.
Professor Brooks says research shows the poor status of teachers is an important factor which the recent early career framework will make worse. She says: “[The research evidence] should lead us to question whether current policies around teacher education, which seek to constrict and limit what new teachers learn, will encourage teaching to be seen as high status. Policies which take away all the professional autonomy of teachers and effectively deprofessionalise teaching are likely to scare off the very people who would want to be teachers. Why would a bright graduate, with the world at their feet and a desire to make the world a better place, enter a profession that seeks to control their every move? The teacher recruitment crisis in this country is a crisis exacerbated by the Department for Education.” [20th March, 5.30-7pm]
The question of how we should teach history today is a contentious one which will be addressed in an event led by Dr Tina Van der Vlies, Assistant Professor History, Heritage & Education at the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication. In Why school history matters: Public discourses on the value of history for society, 1924-2024 discusses how and why ideas on the value and purpose of school history for society changed over the last century. Van der Vlies will recount both the history of how things have developed in terms of attitudes to the teaching of history in schools and will argue for reform of the curriculum. [22nd March, 1-2pm].
Sociologist Professor Jason Arday will take part in a discussion on Race and society: have we made any real progress since Black Lives Matter? Professor Arday, who has written extensively on race in higher education and whose next book is on how to support ethnic minority educators in education, will be in conversation with Dr Claire Hynes about race and society, about where we are now, where progress has been made and how much further there is to go. The event will be chaired by Darren Lewis, Assistant editor and columnist of the Mirror. [27th March, 9-9pm]
Beyond the lecture theatre with George the Poet sees the acclaimed poet return to Cambridge for a conversation with Dr Sharath Srinivasan about education, life lessons and how he incorporates his sociology studies into his award-winning podcasts, spoken word performances and his research on the socio-economic potential of black music. Dr Srinivasan taught George while he was at Cambridge. [26th March, 6-7pm]
There's also a chance to see education research in action in:
The Meta Lab: Accelerating Learning with AI and VR - a drop-in event with a chance to meet Lab Director, Dr Chris Macdonald, and experience a pioneering VR Public Speaking project. The new platform enables students to steadily build resilience through a self-paced gamified journey where the virtual ‘audience’ increases as tasks are completed. The platform leverages the massive potential of virtual reality exposure therapy. The concept originated in response to the fact those who would benefit the most from developing public speaking skills are the least likely to sign up for in-person presenting opportunities. [23rd and 24th March]
Playful learning zone with PEDAL - another drop-in event allowing parents and children to take part in play and education research in action. [23rd March, 10am-1pm]
Other education events include:
How can we prepare students for a different future? Getting climate and sustainability education into the classroom will explore the latest thinking on education reform to tackle climate change. The panel includes Christine Özden, Global Director for Climate Education, Cambridge University Press & Assessment, Jo Trump, Principal of Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge, Rebecca Parr, a student at Long Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge, Tariq Sadiq, Careers and Employability Lead at Long Road Sixth Form College, and Dr Amy Munro-Faure, Head of Education and Student Engagement at Cambridge Zero. [21st March, 6-7.30pm]
Education, exclusion and citizenship will discuss the ways that education inequalities impact on young people’s bodies, minds and inclusion in the national conversation. The panel event will be led by Dr Kelly Fagan Robinson from the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. [19th March, 5-.6.30pm]
Empire of Normality will see the book’s author Robert Chapman, a neurodivergent philosopher, in conversation with Joanne Limburg, Teaching Associate at the Institute of Continuing Education (ICE), whose most recent book is Letters To My Weird Sisters: On Autism, Feminism and Motherhood. Empire of Normality, published in 2023, is described as a groundbreaking book which exposes the very myth of the ‘normal’ brain as a product of intensified capitalism. [23rd March, 2-3pm]
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