ROMA (ITALPRESS) – From Tuesday 1st September to Friday 4th September, Sapienza University of Rome will host the IV International Conference of Democratic School, entitled “Learning For Democracy / Democracy For Learning”, one of the main international events dedicated to educational research and education policies, organized in collaboration with the Democratic School and the Mill. Media partner of the initiative is RaiRadio3. With more than 1,000 selected and organized scientific contributions in about 220 sessions, 150 thematic panels, 5 keynote lectures, 5 symposiums and 6 special events, the Conference will see the participation of more than 1,200 scholars from different countries of the world, offering an interdisciplinary confrontation on the future of education and democracy. Among the protagonists of the Conference are some of the most authoritative voices of the international educational scene: Gert Biesta, among the greatest theorists of education for democratic citizenship; Radhika Gorur, expert in educational policies and data culture; Paolo Landri, who will propose a socio-ecological perspective of the democratic school; Rajani Naidoo, engaged in the study of the future of the university in the age of artificial intelligence; and Pedro N. Teixeira, among the main scholars of higher education policies.
What does it mean to educate democracy in a time marked by wars, crisis of democratic institutions, revolution of artificial intelligence, climate change and growth of inequalities? Can there be a democracy without education? Is it an education that is not profoundly democratic? These are some of the questions at the center of the 2026 edition, which takes shape by the belief that education and democracy do not represent two distinct areas, but constitute a relationship of mutual dependence: education forms citizens and citizens capable of critically participating in public life, while democracy creates the conditions for learning to develop as an experience of freedom, inclusion and responsibility. In this perspective, Learning for Democracy / Democracy for Learning is not only the title of the Conference, but a real research programme and a cultural proposal aimed at contemporary society. This year’s Conference acquires an even deeper meaning because it takes place at a particularly complex historical moment. Wars, ecological crises, accelerated technological transformations, polarization of public debate, dissemination of information, concentration of power in digital platforms and increasing distrust in democratic institutions require rethinking the role of education as an essential infrastructure of democratic coexistence.
The goal is not only to analyze the criticalities of the present, but to identify theoretical and practical tools applicable to build more just, inclusive and sustainable societies. For four days Rome will become an international laboratory in which researchers and researchers, teachers, school leaders, public decision makers and education professionals will discuss how to rethink school, universities and educational systems in the face of the great transformations of the 21st century. This edition is dedicated to the memory of children victims of contemporary wars. It recalls the more than 20,000 children killed in the Gaza Strip from October 7, 2023, the 38 children killed in terrorist attacks in Israel on the same day and all the minors whose lives were broken or deeply marked by conflicts in Ukraine, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Sahel, Somalia and Myanmar, together with the children dead in the Mediterranean in an attempt to reach a safe place. According to UNICEF, today about 473 million children, one out of six in the world, live in areas affected by armed conflicts. A dedication that recalls the inseparable link between peace, rights, education and democracy, recalling that there can be no education without peace, nor democracy without the universal right to learn.
“Hospitating in Wisdom the 4th International Conference of the Democratic School – declares the author of Wisdom Antonella Polimeni – means reaffirming the public mission of our University as a place of production, transmission and sharing of knowledge, open to the confrontation between disciplines, institutions and scientific communities around the world. It means, at the same time, reiterate the social role of the university, an active part of a wider educational community, called to accompany the growth of people and to promote the ability to read critically the complexity of the present and to contribute to the construction of the common good. ‘In a historical phase marked by profound geopolitical, technological and social transformations, – the Rector continues – education, research and training are essential tools to strengthen social cohesion, foster dialogue and form conscious and responsible citizens. This is the responsibility that the university is called to assume, helping to build the cultural tools necessary to face the challenges of our time.’ ‘This is, in particular, the value of a conference that places education at the centre of the international public debate – concludes Director Antonella Polimeni – recognizing its fundamental function for democratic development, the promotion of peace and the construction of the future of our societies.”.
The scientific program develops through over 150 panels addressing the main open issues of contemporary educational research: the future of democratic citizenship, educational poverty, new social inequalities, migrations, peace and conflicts, social justice, gender issues, inclusion, environmental sustainability, digital transformation, governance of educational systems, the role of artificial intelligence and the relationship between data, algorithms and public policies, up to the school’s perspectives and perspectives. Special attention will be paid to the transformations produced by artificial intelligence and the increasing datification of education. If in recent decades educational policies have been guided by the availability of comparative data, today the affirmation of decision-making models based on algorithms, predictive analysis and digital platforms opens new questions about transparency, autonomy of research, quality of democracy and the public function of knowledge. Similarly, the future of the university will be discussed not only in organizational terms, but as a decisive question for the holding of democratic societies and for the defense of knowledge as a public good.
In addition to the international scientific program, the Conference will host five symposiums promoted by ANP – National Association of Presidents, Be for Education Foundation, Foundation for the School – Compagnia di San Paolo, INDIRE, INVALSI and Banca d’Italia, which will put in dialogue research, public policies and educational practices on the most relevant issues for the Italian school system. The symposium promoted by ANP will deepen the relationship between neuroscience and teaching, exploring how scientific evidence can translate into truly meaningful learning practices, capable of enhancing motivation, emotions, metacognition and cooperative learning. The Be for Education Foundation will present a reflection on the well-being of the teaching profession from the results of the most recent national and international surveys, addressing the relationship between professional satisfaction, complexity of work and stress conditions that characterize the teaching today. The Foundation for the School of the Society of Saint Paul will analyse the effects of denatility on the future of school systems, proposing a reflection on how the demographic decline can turn into an opportunity to rethink organization, quality and equity of the school.
The symposium promoted by INDIRE will offer a reading of the ecosystem of education and training in the light of demographic, social and technological transformations, with particular attention to the territories, the formation of teachers, new learning environments and artificial intelligence. INVALSI and the Bank of Italy, finally, will deepen the role of gender stereotypes in the development of skills, highlighting how cultural expectations and educational practices affect school paths, financial skills and opportunities for democratic participation of the new generations. “The Conference was born of conviction – says Assunta Viterriti, head of the scientific and organizational committee of the Conference and co-director of the magazine Scuola Democratica – that education and democracy should be considered increasingly as inseparable practices: the first makes possible the second, while the second is the condition for learning to be truly free, critical and inclusive. We want this Conference – concludes Viterriti – to be an international space of confrontation able to put in dialogue different knowledge, disciplines and experiences, to imagine new ways of living the crisis of the present and building the future of education.
After the 2019, 2021 and 2024 editions, the “IV International Conference of Democratic School” confirms its role as one of the main European appointments dedicated to research on education and knowledge policies. For four days Rome will become a space of international confrontation in which different disciplines will dialogue to imagine how education and democracy can continue to strengthen one another, contributing to the construction of more open, inclusive, sustainable and democratic societies.
– photo IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
