Rethinking humanism and education

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

This session brings together scholars working on questions of humanism and education. Particular attention is paid to the educational work of UNESCO, one of the leading international organizations in the field of education -- and an organization with longstanding humanist commitments. In part occasioned by the preparation and release of UNESCO's new (2021) report "Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education", the various interventions on this panel engage with humanism as a evolving concept. Education is one of the key domains for exploration of what it might/ can/ has/ hasn't/ should/ and shouldn't mean to be human.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Noah W Sobe, UNESCO

Individual Presentations

• UNESCO, humanism and dehumanization - Maren Elfert, King's College London

• From transactionalism to relationality: Examining calls for a new social contract - Elena Toukan, OISE (University of Toronto)

• From Homo economicus to Persona implicitus: rethinking the person at the heart of education - Keri Facer

• Contested Meanings of Humanism and UNESCO’s visions of Educational Futures - Fazal Rizvi, University of Melbourne

Discussants

• Daniel Friedrich, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Iveta Silova, Arizona State University