EDC2027 Speakers

This page is updated periodically as the EDC2027 program develops and additional speakers and presentation details are confirmed.

Motivation, Feasibility, Sustainability: Unpacking Government EdTech Decisionmaking in South and Southeast Asia

Despite growing EdTech investment across South and Southeast Asia, little is known about how governments actually decide which digital innovations to adopt and scale. This study fills that gap, drawing on a review of 57 publications and on twelve interviews with government, private-sector, and multilateral stakeholders.

The analysis looks at three dimensions of decisionmaking: motivation to adopt, feasibility of implementation, and sustainability of impact. It finds that decisions are driven mainly by belief in EdTech's transformative promise, political incentives, feasibility concerns, and pressure from multilateral organizations and private providers—while evidence of effectiveness and long-term sustainability are routinely underweighted. This imbalance risks deepening inequities and fragmenting policy and implementation.

Drawing on the collected data, the presentation explores factors like infrastructure, teacher capacity, contextualization, community buy-in, and cross-government coordination, and examines how generative AI amplifies both existing risks and opportunities.

It closes with recommendations for governments and development partners: prioritize the hardest-to-reach learners from the start, focus on purpose rather than product, emphasize system coherence, and require evidence before scaling.

Un)selling Study Abroad: Pedagogical Guidance, Cultural Intelligence, and Transformative Mobility

Building on qualitative interview data from young adults who completed secondary school exchanges (10) and international civic service (15) evaluated through the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS) (Earley & Ang, 2003; Gozzoli & Gazzaroli, 2018), this study explores how educators can frame international mobility as a transformative process rather than a commercialized product. While international youth mobility experiences - spanning study, volunteering, and civic service - are frequently marketed as frictionless consumer goods, genuine development across Cultural Intelligence (CQ) dimensions - metacognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008) - requires deliberate re-elaboration and critical reflection (Schön, 1983; Mezirow, 2000). Drawing on Zembylas’ (2015) pedagogy of discomfort, this paper argues that encountering obstacles and emotional distress in unfamiliar settings serves as a vital catalyst for identity construction. Aligning with existing literature, preliminary findings suggest that structured reflective guidance is fundamental to transforming international mobility experiences into meaningful intercultural competencies. To prevent commodification, international education practitioners must provide structured support across three key phases: pre-departure framing, on-site emotional scaffolding, and post-return reflection. Ultimately, this framework offers actionable strategies for educators to help young people navigate the discomfort of the unknown and build lasting intercultural capabilities.

Reconnecting Children, Restoring Learning: CODEC’s Community-Based Education Experience in Mymensingh, Bangladesh

This presentation shares CODEC’s experience of using inclusive, community-based education to reconnect marginalized and out-of-school children with learning in Mymensingh, Bangladesh. With support from UNICEF, CODEC has operated 400 Learning Centres across Phulpur, Ishwarganj and Gouripur since 2022, using flexible learning approaches such as MGML and ABAL.

The programme has reached over 60,000 children through Catch-Up Learning, with girls accounting for 56% of enrolment, while more than 21,000 highly marginalized out-of-school children were enrolled through MGML, including 57% girls and 675 children with disabilities. By March 2026, 9,373 learners had transitioned to formal schooling or other education pathways.

The presentation will highlight how flexible learning, community participation, child protection, teacher development, accountability, and real-time monitoring can work together to overcome barriers to education particularly for girls and other marginalized children and ensure that no child is left behind.

From Principles to Practice: cultivating critical thinking, ethical action and service across the learning journey

International schools strive to develop students who think critically, act ethically, and contribute meaningfully to their communities. This presentation explores how these aspirations can become coherent, developmentally appropriate learning experiences through curriculum, pedagogy, reflection, and community engagement.

Drawing on examples from Antigua International School (AIS) in Antigua Guatemala, the session examines how students progress from awareness and participation toward inquiry, action, reflection, and greater agency. It highlights how service learning, STEM inquiry, and authentic community engagement connect academic knowledge with ethical decision-making and responsible action.

Presented as a case study rather than a blueprint, AIS offers opportunities for professional reflection. Participants will consider how to embed educational values in everyday learning, strengthen connections between school mission and student experiences, and adapt practices to their own cultural and community contexts. The session aims to help educators prepare young people to engage thoughtfully, ethically, and constructively with their communities and the wider world.

 Beyond Teachers’ Intended Outcomes: Supporting Individual Learning Through Shared Educational Experiences

Participation in a shared educational activity does not necessarily lead to the same learning for every student. Learners interpret and engage with learning activities in light of their prior experiences, interests, and relationships. Their understanding may consequently develop beyond teachers’ expectations. This raises a pedagogical question: how can teachers support unanticipated but educationally valuable learning while maintaining a clear sense of purpose? This presentation examines this question through reflection on the presenter’s teaching and educational activities in Japan, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. It extends earlier work on how teachers respond to students’ relationships and changing circumstances (Author, in press). Relevant perspectives include research on learner-centered environments (National Research Council, 2000), autonomy support and structure (Jang et al., 2010), and educational purpose (Biesta, 2015). The discussion considers how teachers can understand students’ experiences and concerns, examine their own interpretations through dialogue and reflection, and revise tasks and goals as students’ understanding develops. It also explores how differences in individual understanding can contribute to collaborative inquiry. The central argument is that learner-centered education requires teachers to examine the appropriateness of their goals alongside students’ progress. Departures from intended outcomes warrant consideration of what students are learning, its educational significance, and the support needed to pursue it further. Drawing together practical experience and established research, the presentation offers educators a basis for reconsidering their responses to individual learners without treating alignment with predetermined outcomes as the sole criterion of educational value.

From AI Panic to Pedagogical Choice: A Learning-First Framework for Course Redesign in the AI Era

Generative artificial intelligence has rapidly changed how educators think about assignments, assessment, academic integrity, and evidence of student learning. Yet many faculty are still being asked to make decisions about AI while the technology, institutional expectations, and student practices continue to evolve.
This interactive session offers a practical, learning-first approach to those decisions. Rather than beginning with a particular AI tool or asking whether AI should simply be allowed or prohibited, participants will start with a more fundamental question: What do students actually need to think, practice, judge, create, or demonstrate in order to learn?
Participants will explore a flexible framework for determining when AI supports learning and when it risks replacing the intellectual work students need to do themselves. Using practical strategies, examples, and guided reflection, participants will apply the framework to an existing assignment, assessment, syllabus statement, or student expectation.
The goal is not to redesign an entire course or become an AI expert. Participants will leave with a clearer approach to AI-related teaching decisions and a practical course revision they can continue developing in their own context.

From Theory to School-Based Practice: A Pilot Study on Developing SEL Indicators in New Taipei City High Schools

This presentation explores how Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) can move from policy and theory into school-based practice. In collaboration with the New Taipei City Department of Education, the Research Center for Educational Innovation at National Taiwan Normal University invited nine senior high schools to participate in a workshop to co-construct school-based SEL indicators. Drawing on document analysis and observations involving 28 participants, this pilot study examines the support schools need from local education authorities, the challenges they face in developing SEL indicators, and their expectations for using these indicators in practice. The findings highlight the importance of funding, reduced teacher workload, professional capacity building, and cross-departmental collaboration. The study also emphasizes that school-based SEL indicators should serve as practical tools for schools to understand their current conditions and clarify future directions, rather than becoming a top-down compliance exercise.

Motivation, Feasibility, Sustainability: Unpacking Government EdTech Decisionmaking in South and Southeast Asia

Despite rising investment in education technology across South and Southeast Asia, little research has examined how governments decide which digital innovations to adopt and scale or what forces shape those decisions. This study addresses that gap through a review of 57 publications and twelve semi-structured interviews with government, private-sector, and multilateral stakeholders.

EdTech decisionmaking is analyzed across three dimensions: motivation to adopt an innovation, feasibility of implementing or scaling it in a given context, and sustainability of its impact over time. Findings show decisionmaking is shaped primarily by belief in EdTech's transformative potential, political incentives, feasibility considerations, and pressure from multilateral organizations and private providers, while evidence of effectiveness and long-term sustainability are consistently underweighted. This imbalance risks worsening existing inequities and fragmenting policy and implementation.

The paper illustrates these decisionmaking dynamics using interview data on relevant dimensions such as infrastructure, teacher capacity, contextualization, community buy-in, and coordination across levels of government—and considers how generative AI intensifies existing risks and opportunities. The paper concludes with recommendations for governments and development partners, including prioritizing hardest-to-reach learners from the outset, focusing on purpose rather than product, and demanding evidence before scaling.

Problems Encountered in the Inclusion of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Kindergarten Classrooms in a Public Elementary School in the City of Manila

This study aimed to identify the problems encountered in the inclusion of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in kindergarten classrooms in a public elementary school in the City of Manila. Specific objectives were to describe (a) the experiences of participants in teaching children with ASD, (b) beliefs on inclusion, (c) problems they have encountered, (d) solutions they have implemented, and (e) practical assistance needed to improve the way they teach children with ASD.

Case study was used. Four regular and four special education teachers currently handling children with ASD and have taught these children within the last five years, the school administrator, and three parents were the participants.

Participants experienced challenging behaviors, difficulty establishing rapport, and presence of high functioning children with ASD. They have positive beliefs on inclusion. Problems included communication and social interaction deficits, need for varying levels of support, inability of children with ASD to cope with the demands of the school, and lack of assessments. Solutions included calming students, using gestures, seeking information from parents, exerting teacher authority, using behavior modification techniques, and one-on-one intervention. Participants need assistance to address bullying and training to facilitate social interaction with regular children, self-care, and professional ASD training.

Evaluation of the Claim–Evidence–Reasoning (CER) Method in Teaching Science 3

How can we help young learners move beyond giving simple answers and become thoughtful science learners who can explain their ideas using evidence? This presentation explores the use of the Claim–Evidence–Reasoning (CER) Method as a structured framework for developing scientific explanations among Grade 3 students. Drawing from three years of classroom implementation and refinement, the action research examines students’ self-evaluations and feedback on how CER supports their thinking, communication, confidence, and engagement in Science. The presentation will share practical strategies for introducing CER to young learners, including age-appropriate guide questions, collaborative discussions, real-world connections, and constructive teacher feedback. It will also highlight students’ perceived benefits, challenges, and areas needing further support, particularly in developing reasoning skills. Through this classroom-based research, participants will gain insights into how structured questioning and evidence-based explanations can be integrated into elementary Science instruction to nurture curiosity, critical thinking, and meaningful learning.