Conference Agenda

We live in a fractured world—a time of 'polycrisis' (Tooze, 2021). A sense of anxiety, instability, and rupture marks a crisis. Fassin (2021) defines crisis as 'dramatic ruptures into the normal course of things that […] call for urgent solution' (p.265). The present perpetual crisis has many faces. Recurring shocks contribute to heightened economic uncertainty—the surging prices of food and energy have substantially elevated the overall cost of living. War has engulfed millions. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic linger. Ecological breakdown threatens life on the earth. With the rise of extreme nationalism, democracy is in trouble. Advances in artificial intelligence have pushed us all into a moment of disjuncture.

In the context of education, crises can manifest as significant disruptions or challenges that impact the normal functioning of educational systems. In education systems, crises may stem from natural disasters, public health emergencies, economic downturns, or political instability and affect the regular teaching and learning process. The COVID-induced school lockdowns have had profound implications for learning loss, particularly among disadvantaged communities. Limited access to technology, a lack of a conducive learning environment, and a lack of resources exacerbated existing educational inequities. Extended school closure has exacerbated educational disadvantage, as reflected in the evidence of 'learning deficits' in Europe (De Witte & François, 2023) and 'learning loss' internationally (World Bank, UNESCO & UNICEF, 2021).

Crisis marks a crucial decision point (Molla & Cuthbert, 2023; Molla et al., 2023). It erodes confidence in the status quo, resulting in the urgency to return to regularity and making drastic reforms possible and difficult decisions acceptable. However, as Prudham (2005) notes, 'there is no crisis without someone to call it one [and] how it is named will influence how it is addressed' (p.21). Without persistent and timely advocacy, governments often adhere to the status quo. We need advocacy efforts grounded in evidence to prompt policymakers to tackle the adverse outcomes of crises, such as the widening achievement gap due to school closures. The following research question guides this paper:

How can engaged scholars capitalise on crisis to cause the right change in education?

To answer this question, I draw on a range of theoretical resources, including Bourdieu's (2003) idea of 'scholarship with commitment', Taylor's (2004) concept of 'social imaginaries', and Sen's (2009) call for 'public reasoning'. For Bourdieu (2003), scholarship with commitment entails intervening in "the political field" while adhering to the "rules that govern the scientific field" (p.24). Those who have evidence of the effects of the crisis in society should not shy away from being political—they should raise difficult questions and provide alternative policy ideas. Becoming political means being committed to raising difficult questions and contributing to public reasoning, which combines 'participatory discussions with public decision-making' (Sen, 2009). The desire to make contributions to public reasoning is guided by the assumption that public-facing scholarly engagement can create and shape collective narratives, which entail shared stories, beliefs, and perspectives that form a shared understanding within society. Collective narratives, thus formed, wield considerable influence, extending their impact to the realm of social imaginaries and public policies. Here, social imaginaries encompass the ways individuals envision their social existence—how they perceive their connections with others—and the underlying normative notions and images that shape these expectations at a profound level (Taylor, 2004). Imaginaries take roots through narratives (e.g. causal analysis and moral claims) that anchor shared concerns and framing devices (e.g. metaphors and catchphrases) that represent desired futures and orient actions.

In September 2023 the region of Thessaly in Greece was struck by two different floods within 20 days. Both floods had a sever effect on infrastructures, social life and schooling. Drawing from a disaster education (Preston, 2012) theoretical framework, this research focuses on the effects of disaster education regarding preparedness to Greek primary education students. In particular, it explores the role of acquired knowledge on preparedness in addition to the role of information as coefficients for action during a disastrous event. According to (Clausen, Conlon, Jager, and Metreveli, 1978 cited in Preston, 2012, p. 3) ‘whether human or anthropogenic in origin the designation of ‘threat’ or ‘disaster’ implies a discontinuity with previous social relations’ and the notion of ‘disaster’ is perceived predominately as a social category. Within this framework disaster education can be ‘delivered’ via diverse pedagogies (Preston, 2012, p. 3).

Recently it is observed the increase of a set of diverse natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, extensive fires etc. Based on this the United Nations (UN) (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, 2023) intensified its efforts aiming to raise public awareness of natural disasters and to increase and improve information and education. Within context Prevention and early warning systems were strengthened, as were emergency response, damage recovery and reconstruction procedures (Yusuf et al., 2022). In terms of education, previous research has indicated that children who have been taught about the phenomenon of disasters and how to react to these situations have been shown to be able to respond promptly and appropriately to the specific disaster context, to be able to warn others and to protect themselves in times of emergency (Shaw et al., 2011, Torani et al., 2019).

Even though in 2006 the UN launched a campaign promoting disaster education in school curricula (UN/ISDR, 2006) in Greece disaster education is mainly focused to earthquakes. In Thessaly prior to the two flooding events in September 2023, the region also faced an extensive fire that lasted four days and led to the explosion of military ammunition. All three instances affected and destroyed infrastructures, family homes and cultivations, farms and businesses. All events led to invacuations, and during the floods a large amount of population was left without drinking water, electricity and access to communications (internet and land line telephone). The population was largely unprepared, and both adults and children had to respond to unknown circumstances. Social life was interrupted and the schools year in the area begun with a two-week delay than the rest of the country. These events led to the exploration of possibilities of disaster education for diverse events within primary education starting with the exploration of knowledge and understandings of the students in affected and non-affected areas. The aim is to identify disaster education pedagogies (Preston 2012, Kitagawa, 2021) that are locally targeted and specific event orieneted as the means to enhance students and schools prepardness.