Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade do Porto - Porto - Porto - Portugal | PortugalOXVIII Semináriof the Doctoral Program in Educational Sciences, which will take place on December 17 and 18, 2026, at FPCEUP, under the theme«Education in times of Polycrisis: technologies, democracy and social justice».
The seminar will bring together students, researchers, teachers and other education professionals to discuss the challenges facing education in a context marked by the convergence of multiple crises. Attentive to the tensions that contemporary societies go through, we intend to think of education as a space of resistance and transformation, to reflect on the opportunities and limits of technologies and to reinforce the commitment to democracy and social justice.
We understand that education is not on the margins of crises: it is in the middle of them. We invite all people to participate, to reflect and debate with us the consequences and possibilities of transformation of the current context.
Proposals will be accepted in the following modality:
- Oral communications (face-to-face presentation): open to students, researchers, teachers.
All proposals must be submitted in the form of an abstract, which will be integrated into the Book of Abstracts, to be published in digital format, after the seminar.
Axis 1 – Education, curriculum and digital educational technologies
Mobilizing question:How to reconstruct teaching, learning and training processes in contexts crossed by technological transformations?
This axis welcomes works that analyse the teaching, learning and training processes in the face of current digital, social and cultural transformations and the challenges they pose to education.
Axis 2 – Democracy, educational policies, citizenship and participation
Mobilizing question:What role can education play in defending citizenship and promoting democratic participation in times of polycrisis?
This axis welcomes works that address education as a political and democratic space, with particular attention to educational policies, forms of governance and processes of participation and construction of citizenship.
Axis 3 — Social justice, rights, inclusion and diversity
Mobilizing question:In times of polycrisis, what conditions are needed to combat inequality and structural exclusions and promote social justice?
This axis proposes a reflection on contemporary polycrisis, in its complexity. It welcomes works that problematize inequalities, oppressions and structural exclusions, as well as pedagogical practices oriented towards equity, diversity and intersectionality, capable of responding to the different social needs present in educational contexts.
Axis 4 — Contemporary crises, territories and futures of education
Mobilizing question:How can educational territories mobilize new perspectives in a world marked by multiple crises, transforming uncertainty into opportunities for the future of education?
This axis welcomes works focused on the different dimensions of contemporary polycrisis, promoting the analysis and discussion of emerging perspectives on the role of education in the face of global uncertainty.
