5 reasons why teachers should attend educational conferences

 5 reasons why teachers should attend educational conferences

For the last 10 years, I have been attending various educational conferences. The absence of teachers from these spaces is disheartening. In this post, I list some of the prominent reasons why teachers should attend educational conferences.

1. Teachers often work in isolation. Education conferences help them connect with the larger world, cutting across the boundaries of the state and nation. What appears as a constraint in one context, looks like a privilege in another context. For instance, It is common to have access to the school library in urban schools, while it is a privilege in rural schools. Conference also connects teachers to educational researchers, university professors and international scholars. The hustle and bustle of a conference brings us face-to-face with people we read in scholarly journals.

2. It's an opportunity to understand and engage with education research. However, teachers are not expected to understand and engage with policy and research. Who can resist the ultimate joy of tasting knowledge? The world of research creates the opportunity where one can taste the joy of knowledge. People are doing phenomenal research both in the quantitative domain and in the qualitative field of research. Understanding the complexities of an issue through micro-qualitative research and looking at big data opens our eyes to a new world.  

3. It's an opportunity to identify a niche. For instance, people working in the field of gender studies may identify the researchers working on this issue from different parts of the country and they can form a larger network of people with similar areas of interest. Such collaboration facilitates the exchange of resources and knowledge. 

4. Apart from the core benefits of attending a conference, of course, one gets to see a new city and a new university. For teachers, visiting a university should be viewed as a pilgrimage, and whenever the opportunity arises, teachers should not miss it. The air in the university is filled with hope, inspiration, and innovation, which makes anyone feel young. Who doesn't want to breathe such air? The local food, the flora, and the fauna all have their own beauty. Who doesn't want to engage with it? 

5. A phrase is very common; learn, Unlearn and Relearn. The educational conference brings such opportunities. Many of our beliefs are challenged. It may be a painful experience to see how ideas are challenged. At the same time, it also brings an opportunity to engage how people think differently on common issues of concern. Perhaps, this is one of the most beautiful places to understand and engage in democratic fervor. For instance, I have been writing about teacher professionalism. One scholar challenged my notion convincingly and inspired me to see teachers as workers.

Educational conferences open a plethora of opportunities for teachers. Moreover, it makes you feel like a living professional who is learning, growing and expanding.