Jukka Kangaslahti – 28/03/2019
Why Emjoy Conference and Friendly Revolution in Education?
In this unpredictable world, numerous children have just started their schooling for their future lives. In fact, the skills and competences they will be learning should be applicable until they will retire more than 60 years from now.
Developing quality education and international cooperation amongst people interested in developing learning and teaching is the only way to build a sustainable future for our world.
EmJoy 2019 is an attempt to start an active dialogue in this theme. The international conference EmJoy 2019 will serve as a stimulus to assist the participants, the schools and the institutions they represent in researching and applying the possibilities and responsibilities that exist in developing the quality of teaching and learning.
I am sure that the experiences during the Conference in Athens (EmJoy 2019) have the potential to offer an opportunity for valuable learning processes with the possibility for cooperation between presenters and participants from many educational cultures and countries.
Face-to-face dialogue about the topics, which will be covered during the event will be a productive means to improve understanding and every day practices on both individual and organizational levels. This conference will be structured to provide the opportunity for each individual to share, discuss and debate different educational views, methods and experiences with the presenters and participants. During the days together there will be a chance to exchange ideas about the implications and consequences of applying different approaches to teaching, leadership practices, school management, education systems, etc.
To join the movement of friendly revolution in education responsible new approaches and in-depth thinking by teachers, principals, administrators and parents alike are essential while taking advantage of new opportunities in educating our children and youth.
As I see it, the organizing team will plan the Joyful Festival of Education for the participants to:
- stimulate each others thinking on the current state of evolution in the field of educational methods, having in mind the equal opportunities for each and every child
- explore future acts in developing the quality of learning and teaching
- debate the possibilities of developing school leadership, management and education systems
- seek new avenues of transforming bureaucracy from burden to blessing
- take opportunities to build cross-cultural networks of educational experts; networks of parents, teachers, administrators, researchers and politicians.
It is hoped that the presentations and discussion will help participants to relate the substance of EmJoy to everyday actions in their respective contexts. Constructive communication and quality sessions are not goals in themselves; the main purpose is to aim at responsible actions, which are ethically sound and meaningful for the future growth and learning of new generations. If this principle can be sensed during the days in Athens, the conference has been most successful.
March 28th, 2019
In Masku, Finland
Jukka Kangaslahti