Category: 2025 UKFIET Conference

Scaling with digital technology and AI: What else should we be thinking about?

by UKFIET and Dina D. Fajardo-Tovar | Nov 19, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference, Learning

The education and international development sector has found in technology and AI an excellent way to scale impact. Digital technology and AI have been used as powerful tools to reach more communities, children, teachers and families, especially in areas where access to quality education remains limited. Read More

The balancing act between agency and complicity: Reflections from the UKFIET 2025 conference

by Geneviève Greer | Nov 17, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference, Conflict, Crisis and Emergency

The hall fell silent. It was one of the most visceral, uncomfortable moments I have witnessed at a conference – exposing tensions at the heart of the week’s theme. In a world woven together by the digital and the geopolitical, how do we mobilise partnerships without reproducing injustice? Read More

Power, partnerships and progress: Scaling teacher development partnerships in South Asia

by M Affan Javed | Nov 12, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference, Teachers

In South Asia, education systems are vast, layered and deeply hierarchical. Across a range of academic disciplines, the structures for Teacher Professional Development (TPD) can be framed as micro (individual), meso (institutional) and macro (national). Read More

Reflections on my experience of the 2025 UKFIET Conference: On hierarchy, hard questions and praxis

by Mercy Martins | Nov 11, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference

The 2025 UKFIET three-day conference was unlike any I had attended in my three years of doctoral research. The event blurred the divide between research and praxis: every hallway, every room, and every conversation included both researchers and policymakers, discussing what research says and what is happening in practice. Read More

Inclusion and intersectionality in education: Final reflections from conveners of UKFIET 2025 conference theme

by Samantha Ross, Michelle Sandall and Laraib Niaz | Nov 10, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference

The ‘Inclusion and Intersectionality’ theme at the 2025 UKFIET Conference brought together researchers, practitioners and policymakers from across the world to interrogate what inclusion means in practice, and for whom. Read More

Coming together: Pathways for research partnerships between state and non-state actors

by Srinidhi Lakshmanan and Rajat Chaudhary | Nov 5, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference

Research has become an integral part of how education systems reflect, learn and plan for improvement. In India, District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) are envisioned as local, district-level hubs for teacher education, research and training. However, many DIETs often struggle to meet the research mandate due to limited… Read More

Teacher agency in action: Insights from the UKFIET Forum

by Hannah Walker and Sophie Lashford | Nov 4, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference, Teachers

Teachers are the heart of our education systems, yet their voices are often missing from the conversations shaping policies and reforms that affect their daily work. Following World Teachers’ Day, we reflect on insights from a UKFIET (the Education for Development Forum) symposium convened by Save the Children UK with… Read More

Defending gender equality in education: An urgent agenda and call to action

by Ján Michalko, Fernanda Gándara, Rachel Marcus, Sheena Hadi, Fabricia Devignes, Natalia Sanchez Corrales and Sarah Lane Smith | Nov 3, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference, Gender Equity

This blog is written by: Ján Michalko, Fernanda Gándara, Rachel Marcus, Sheena Hadi, Natalia Sanchez-Corrales, Fabricia Devignes, and Sarah Lane Smith. This blog summarises a...

Bringing indigenous knowledges from Peruvian rural teachers to the UKFIET conference

by Silvia Espinal-Meza | Oct 30, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference, Teachers

The UKFIET 2025 conference was my first education conference after completing my PhD in Education at the University of Bristol in June 2025. I came to Oxford with the aim not only of disseminating the findings of my thesis, but also of connecting with non-academic actors interested in social justice… Read More

Back to school after war: Is physical return enough?

by Maria Maalouf | Oct 29, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference, Conflict, Crisis and Emergency

“What does it really mean to ‘return to school’ after war? In Lebanon, being physically back in a classroom does not guarantee inclusion, safety or learning. The deeper barriers, such as poverty, displacement, and systemic inequality, remain untouched.” Read More

Placing compassion instead of fear at the heart of education: Insights from Pakistan’s ‘Maar Nahi Pyaar’ project

by Syeda Ansa | Oct 28, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference

Walking through the historic halls of Oxford, I was reminded of how education is both deeply local and profoundly global. In Pakistan, where I work, many classrooms still echo with the sounds of strict discipline, often enforced through fear rather than understanding. Yet the heart of education, I believe, must… Read More

Enhancing educational outcomes for IDP learners in Cameroon through Ubuntu pedagogy: A pathway to resilience and inclusion

by Ernest Alang Wung, Chanice Fri Okwen and Patrick Okwen | Oct 24, 2025 | 2025 UKFIET Conference, Conflict, Crisis and Emergency

Across Cameroon, conflict and instability have disrupted learning for thousands of children. The ongoing Anglophone crisis, Boko Haram attacks in the far north, and refugee influxes from neighboring countries have forced families to flee their homes. Children who are internally displaced persons (IDPs) face particular challenges when entering new schools. Read More