Conceptualizing Convivencia in Formal and Nonformal Education Spaces Internationally

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Sentiments rooted in the term convivencia, meaning coexistence and togetherness, echo in education settings striving for inclusivity, yet the concept remains ambiguous and contested across local and international contexts. The notion takes multiple forms concerned with citizenship, anti-bullying, and public-safety in formal schooling, and solidarity and social movement organizing in popular education projects.

This panel assembles comparative, international research to scrutinize the promises and tensions of convivencia in education. Our cross-country approach uses distinct theoretical and methodological perspectives to show educational arenas’ adoption and adaptation of this polysemous term, as they fail or succeed in forging coexistence within learning communities. Studies present findings from the Americas, Europe, and Asia that deepen our understanding of creating inclusive education for all students.

Sub Unit

• International Relations Committee

Chair

• Laura A. Valdiviezo, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Papers

• Norms of Convivencia as Technologies of Abjection - Belén Hernando-Lloréns, University of Iowa

• A Discourse Analysis of Italian School Policy on Convivenza, Citizenship, and Intercultura - Jamie A. Kowalczyk, Concordia University - Chicago

• Convivencia and the Affective Practice of Social Mobilizing in Popular Education in Buenos Aires, Argentina - Jennifer Lee O'Donnell, San Diego State University

• School Convivencia in Mexico: Moving From the Restrictive/Prescriptive to the Comprehensive/Analytical - Cristina Perales Franco, Universidad Iberoamericana

• Convivencia and/or Democratic Peace-Building Citizenship? Conflict Education in Mexican, Colombian, Bangladeshi, and Canadian Schools - Kathy Bickmore, OISE/University of Toronto

Discussant

• Ligia L. López López, The University of Melbourne