Democratic Education in the Age of AI: Critical Diversity & AI Literacy
Educación democrática en la era de la IA: Diversidad y alfabetización para la IA
Thirty-Fourth International Conference on Learning
XXXIV Congreso Internacional sobre Aprendizaje
Abstract
We invite you to join us for the Thirty-Fourth International Conference on Learning, the annual meeting of The Learner Research Network, taking place 7–9 July 2027 in Thessaloniki, Greece, and online, hosted by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The conference brings together educators, researchers, policy makers, and practitioners concerned with learning across formal and informal settings, and with the social, cultural, technological, and institutional conditions that shape educational opportunity.
Announcement
Thirty-Fourth International Conference on Learning, Aristotle University of Thessalonki, Thessaloniki, Greece, 7-9 July 2027
Presentation
Founded in 1989, The Learner Research Network is brought together around a common concern for learning in all its sites, formal and informal, and at all levels, from early childhood, to schools, colleges and universities, and adult, community and workplace education. We seek to build an epistemic community where we can make linkages across disciplinary, geographic, and cultural boundaries. As a Research Network, we are defined by our scope and concerns and motivated to build strategies for action framed by our shared themes and tensions.
Special Focus and Themes
The special focus of the 2027 conference, “Democratic Education in the Age of AI: Critical Diversity & AI Literacy,” examines how democratic aims in education—equity, participation, voice, inclusion, and shared public reasoning—are being reshaped by the rapid uptake of artificial intelligence in schools, universities, workplaces, and everyday life. As AI systems increasingly mediate information, assessment, decision-making, and access to opportunity, questions arise about who benefits, who is excluded, how bias is reproduced or challenged, and what it means to learn, teach, and participate responsibly in AI-saturated environments. This focus invites contributions that bring critical diversity perspectives together with AI literacy—not only technical or functional competence, but also ethical, civic, and epistemic capacities: how learners evaluate AI outputs, understand data and model limitations, recognize discriminatory effects, and act as informed participants in democratic institutions.
Hosted in Thessaloniki, a city shaped by layered histories, plural identities, and ongoing debates about belonging, language, and citizenship, the conference offers a fitting setting for examining how education can strengthen democratic life amid technological transformation. We welcome proposals that engage the special focus through research, policy analysis, pedagogical design, classroom practice, professional learning, and community-based work.
Sub-themes:
- Democratic learning futures: participation, civic education, public reasoning, and institutional trust in AI-mediated contexts.
- Critical diversity and inclusion: bias, fairness, accessibility, disability, language, migration, and culturally sustaining pedagogy.
- AI literacy in practice: curriculum, assessment, academic integrity, critical media/data literacy, and teacher education.
- Governance and ethics in education: policy, regulation, procurement, transparency, accountability, and learner rights.
Alongside the special focus, we welcome proposals aligned with the Network’s broader concerns across learning theory and pedagogy; curriculum and assessment; educational leadership and systems; technology-enhanced learning; learning in workplace and community contexts; and the cultural, political, and ethical dimensions of education. Contributions may be theoretical, empirical, methodological, design-based, practice-led, or community-engaged.
Knowledge Experience and Format
The conference is organised as a hybrid knowledge experience, integrating in-person and online participation within a unified scholarly environment. All accepted proposals become Presentation Pages where presenters share abstracts and supporting media, and where delegates engage in discussion before, during, and after the event.
In-person sessions at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki are interwoven with live online sessions and asynchronous contributions within a single integrated program. Regardless of participation mode, all delegates have access to the full schedule, session media, and a growing digital archive. Across formats, the emphasis is on reciprocal, human-scale exchange—conversation, reflection, and collaborative inquiry rather than one-way presentation.
Publication Pathways
Presenters are invited to further develop their conference work for possible publication in the Network’s journals—The International Journal of Learner Diversity and Identities; The International Journal of Adult, Community, and Professional Learning; The International Journal of Assessment and Evaluation; The International Journal of Early Childhood Learning; The International Journal of Educational Organization and Leadership; The International Journal of Learning in Higher Education; The International Journal of Literacies; The International Journal of Pedagogy and Curriculum; and The International Journal of Science, Mathematics, and Technology Learning—or in The Learner Book Imprint, which publishes monographs and edited collections that extend the field of educational research. Both journals and books offer traditional and Open Access publication pathways.
Join Us
We warmly invite you to submit a proposal and to join us—either in Thessaloniki or online—for the Thirty-Fourth International Conference on Learning. Together, we will examine how democratic education can be strengthened in the age of AI, and how critical diversity perspectives and AI literacy can support more equitable, participatory, and accountable learning futures.
Scientific Commitee
- Dimitris Zachos, Local Conference Chair, Professor, Aristotle University of Thessalonki, Thessaloniki, Greece
- William (Bill) Cope, Research Network Chair, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, United States
- Mary Kalantzis, Research Network Chair, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, United States
- José Luis Ortega Martín, Research Network Chair (ES), University of Granada, Granada, Spain
Submit Proposal
You’ll be asked to select a presentation format—either in-person at the conference venue or online via our integrated CGScholar (KX) platform—but our hybrid model is designed to support both. You may change your choice at any time if your plans or preferences shift.
This Research Network is fully bilingual. You are welcome to present in Spanish or English. Take the appropriate link below:
Proposals are accepted from launch until one month prior to the conference start date. The dates below indicate the opening of both the proposal submission and registration periods.
Proposals will be reviewed within two to four weeks of submission.
- Early Launch to 6 December (26)
- Regular 7 December (26) to 6 April (27)
- Late 7 April (27) to 7 June (27)
Registration Periods
The digital media deadline is one week before the conference.
- Early Launch to 6 January (27)
- Regular 7 January (27) to 6 June (27)
- Late 7 June (27) to 8 July (27)
Learn more: https://thelearner.com/2027-conference
Places
- Thessaloniki, Greece
Event attendance modalities
Hybrid event (on site and online)
Keywords
- learning, education, pedagogy, AI Literacy, educational diversity, ethics in education
Reference Urls
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Democratic Education in the Age of AI: Critical Diversity & AI Literacy », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Monday, August 10, 2026, https://doi.org/10.58079/16nqt
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