Collective Workshops

Dear Participants

Just as the basis of philosophy in general is to look critically, to question, to wonder, the essence of P4C studies, which is an application area of philosophy, is to be attentive, to learn collaboratively, to think creatively and to think critically.

 Similar methods and techniques are used in analyzing and understanding social problems and phenomena that are to the detriment of the oppressed and the powerless, which is at the core of the Critical Pedagogy method founded by Paulo Freire, as well as in producing solutions and being effective.

The main goal of this workshop is to identify the effectiveness and practical unity of Philosophy with Children and Communities in the field of education, and the areas in which this field is, could be, and might be possible with the field of Critical Pedagogy. To increase, recognize and multiply the possibilities of partnership and coordination between the two.

It is possible to say that new and original options can be offered through sample workshops that will synthesize P4C practices and the Pedagogy of the Oppressed in terms of both content and methodology.

Proposal texts should be at least 1000 words. Your proposals should include a concrete work plan and methods of the practice that will be presented in the workshop. Proposal texts should reflect the participants' research on P4C and critical pedagogy and innovative approaches in this field. It is important that the proposals are feasible, innovative and make a concrete contribution to the field of critical pedagogy. The proposals should concretely demonstrate how Philosophy with Children can be integrated into critical pedagogy practices. Proposals should articulate how this integration can contribute to teaching processes, learning methodologies and the development of educational materials.

The selection of participants will be based on the applicability, innovation and contribution to critical pedagogy of the proposals. The selected participants will interact with other participants throughout the workshop. At the end of the workshop, the workshop coordinator will write a paper on the practices exhibited and discussed in the workshop and this paper will be included in the Congress book.

We thank you for considering this invitation and look forward to your participation.

Fevzi Bakir

Dear Participants

We invite you "How can democratic education unionism be developed?" to invite you to the workshop titled

As it is known, the concepts of union and crisis have been mentioned together for a long time. The most important discourse that has come to the fore in this process is that unions should be free from politics and should be oriented towards a structure based entirely on personal rights. It is possible to define the crisis caused by this discourse as a tension between democratic demands and values and union functioning.

Historically, trade unions have not only been engaged in defending the social and economic rights of their members and securing their future, but also in more inclusive ways, they have responsibilities for the advancement of democracy in regimes with authoritarian tendencies against the weakening of pluralism in social functioning. In the face of the attacks of neoliberal policies against economic and social life, one of the current topics of discussion over the last 30-40 years has been how labor can organize and defend itself.

On the other hand, the unions with the highest number of members among the existing education unions against the central power centers have become the ideological apparatus of the dominant discourse, leading to the emergence of the understanding of "tutelary union" and have become functional structures for the ideological discourses of the dominant power to gain legitimacy in the field of education. In this context, a new crisis area has emerged in terms of the union-politics relationship, how union governing bodies are elected, gender equality policies in unions, whether the opposition within the union is effective or not, the election process, the mechanism of decision-making and objection to decisions, raising a democratic and critical consciousness among union members against the education policies implemented, etc.

The overall aim of this workshop is to rethink and discuss the possibilities of how a democratic education union can be created with the concepts of critical pedagogy, such as developing new strategies for organizing critical educators, union democracy, union education of teachers as critically conscious social agents.

We believe that your expertise and experience will greatly enrich the discussions and contribute to the success of the workshop. Your participation will be extremely valuable to us. If you have any questions or need more information, [email protected] feel free to get in touch at

We thank you for considering this invitation and look forward to your participation.

Simge YARDIM- Ergül ADIGÜZEL

Call for the Collective Workshop "What and How should be the Principles and Practices of Critical Pedagogy's Understanding of Human, Society, Citizenship, Asylum and Refugee?"

Although the formation and development of critical pedagogy cannot be given a specific historical beginning, it can be argued that it is based first and foremost on the imagination of the free, equal and sensitive individual, libertarian, egalitarian and solidarist education and society.

The fact that matter and the universe is a mobile realm, and that human beings are mobile creatures, brings with it mobility within a certain geography, within a certain country and across geographies. While some of these are predominantly based on individual will, the majority of them are caused by technological (geographical discoveries, modernization, transportation and communication opportunities), economic (e.g. slave trade and labor migrations), climatic or conflict-based reasons, certain conditions and forces. According to UNHCR, by the end of 2022, "108.4 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced as a result of repression, conflict, violence, human rights violations and serious disturbances of public order. (...) More than 1 in 74 people worldwide have been forced to flee."

Source: https://www.unhcr.org/global-trends

According to UNHCR's Turkey desk, "As the number of people forcibly displaced by conflict, violence and persecution reaches record levels globally, Turkey continues to host the largest number of refugees in the world. Turkey hosts approximately 3.6 million registered Syrian refugees, as well as some 320,000 persons of other nationalities of concern to UNHCR." (https://www.unhcr.org/tr/turkiyedeki-multeciler-ve-siginmacilar, al.29.01.2024).

Along with the migration of Afghans, Sudanese, Syrians, Syrians and Ukrainians, one of the most concrete examples of mass displacement is the situation of Palestinians and Gazans. As of the last months of 2023 and these days, 1.5-2 million Gazans have been displaced.

Except for forced migration, all types of mobility and migration are characterized by rights and freedoms, from the right of residence to participation in governance. From the Magna Charta to Turkey's EU membership, one of the first main issues was the right to free movement. Hijrah, missionaries and capitulations are also part of these. Labor migration from Turkey, forced migration including the Emergency Decree and brain drain are also part of the problem. Organ and child-woman-human trafficking are also part of the problem.

How does and how should critical pedagogy view the rights and freedoms of internal and especially external migrants and refugees, including their rights and freedoms of movement, residence, work, citizenship, and the accompanying rights and freedoms of education? What is critical pedagogy's understanding of human, society and citizenship and how does it evaluate the position, rights and freedoms of migrants across borders? What is the place of the right to education among these rights and freedoms? What kind of a model of school, curriculum, teaching, teaching, assessment, evaluation, transition between levels, educational finance, management, discipline and supervision does critical pedagogy propose for migrants and refugees? How can it improve existing models and proposals?

Adnan Gümüş

Dear Participants

Critical media literacy critically examines the representations, systems, structures and ideologies that shape culture and society. Questioning the relationships between power and knowledge, this process adopts a dialogical approach to social and environmental justice and incorporates Paulo Freire's concept of praxis: "To transform the world requires a unity of thought and action" (1970, p. 36). Recognizing that the media is not neutral, critical media literacy questions representations of class, gender, race and other forms of identity. While challenging media messages that reproduce oppression and discrimination, it also aims to contribute to the development of critical, caring and conscientious individuals (Steering Committee, 2021).

According to Binark and Bek (2007), critical pedagogy makes us aware of the importance of historical, social, political, cultural and economic contexts when thinking about media. How these contexts are perceived by the actors in education and how the knowledge that is circulated and reproduced in the educational process is applied can also be understood through critical pedagogy (Binark and Bek, 2007).

In today's global digital media environment, questioning information, recognizing fake news, algorithmic bias, discriminatory discourse, data colonialism, new power dynamics and forms of domination can be the first steps towards taking action to transform the world. According to Kellner and Share (2019), in today's world, adapting critical pedagogy and critical media literacy practices to educational processes at all levels will contribute to the establishment of social justice and democracy (Kelnner & Share, 2019).

The main goal of this workshop is to explore the intersections of critical media literacy and critical digital literacy with critical pedagogy and how these pedagogies influence each other. On the one hand, how these pedagogies can contribute to the "emancipation process of students and educators" and on the other hand, how they can encourage "thinking and acting to transform the world" will be discussed through theoretical discussions, practical examples or interactive applications.

Proposals should be 600-1000 words in length. Proposal texts can include participants' research on critical media literacy, critical digital literacy and critical pedagogy, innovative practice designs in education or theoretical discussions. It is important that the proposals are applicable, innovative and make a concrete contribution to the field of critical pedagogy. We believe that it would be especially valuable to discuss pedagogical approaches that have been in practice for some time in the context of the workshop. Proposals should focus on how media/digital literacy can be integrated into critical pedagogy practices. Proposals should articulate how this integration can contribute to teaching processes, learning methodologies and the development of educational materials.

The selection of participants will be based on the novelty of the proposals and their contribution to critical pedagogy. The selected participants will interact with other participants during the workshop. The selected participants are expected to prepare a text reflecting the discussions in the collective workshop within 3 months after the Congress and this text is expected to be included in the congress booklet (printed and online). The texts to be included in the planned congress booklet will be evaluated by sending them to the referees from the congress scientific committee. On the other hand, if the texts sent to the coordinators are not shaped around a single topic, the coordinators may prefer to proceed by dividing these texts and therefore the people into groups and forming different teams. In this case, more than one round table can be set up on the day of the workshop and more than one paper can be written.

We thank you for considering this invitation and look forward to your participation.

Esra Ercan Bilgiç & Yusuf Yüksekdağ