Dialogue in Democratic Education

Dialogue in Democratic Education -Conference  University of Oulu, 11.-12.6.2026 We are pleased to announce a joint conference that specifically invites academic researchers engaged in the study of dialogue, democracy, and education. This collaborative event aims to foster rigorous scholarly exchange, encourage interdisciplinary perspectives, and deepen theoretical and empirical inquiry in these intersecting fields. Researchers from philosophy, pedagogy, history, political science, and related disciplines are encouraged to contribute their expertise as we collectively advance academic understanding and innovation within democratic education. Keynote speakers and invited panelists of the main event include Nicholas Burbules, Silvia Edling, Andrea English, Maughn Gregory, Walter Kohan, Jonas Lieberkind, and Dina Mendonça.

As part of the conference, a pre-seminar and workshop on philosophizing with children and young people and the Community of Philosophical Inquiry pedagogy will be held on June 10. The pre-seminar will feature presentations and a panel discussion with Maughn Gregory, Walter Kohan, and Dina Mendonça – internationally recognized experts in the field. Further details and registration for the pre-seminar will be made available in early 2026.

Conference theme

Dialogue has traditionally been situated at the very heart of democracy. Recently, however, the role of dialogue in both democracy and democratic education has been contested from different perspectives. The increasing difficulty to establish a genuine dialogue between political rivals in the present polarized political culture has led to seeking alternative interpretations and approaches to understanding the nature of democracy (e.g. conflict-based, agonistic). On a theoretical level, discussion-based models of democracy have been challenged for their over-idealized and normative nature. In the same vein, democratic education and pedagogy have been argued to be unfeasible considering the institutional realities of schooling and persistent educational inequalities. Still, the idea of democracy as dialogue seems vital and worth sustaining. In pedagogical practices, dialogue, deliberation, and debate all belong to the broader category of discussion-based approaches. Rational and evidence-based forms of dialogue, deliberation, and debate can still be justifiably regarded as crucial modes of communication for the functioning of democratic society as a whole. The purpose of the conference is to examine the significance and realizations of these modes of communication in the context of democratic education.

We invite presentations on a broad range of topics concerning the relationship between dialogue, deliberation, debate, education, democracy and the related concepts. We are also interested in contributions focusing on or fostering dialogue between different theories and fields of research in relation to these themes. In addition to contributions in the field of philosophy of education, which is the primary focus of the conference, we invite papers addressing these issues from various perspectives, including but not limited to, pedagogical practices, teachers and teacher education, empirical research on education, history of education, and political science. On abstract submissions, see further information on page Presentations.

Organizers: 

Research Consortium Education for Deliberation: Practices of Inquiry in Dialogue-Based Democratic Education (DELIBERATE; Research Council of Finland) &
The Philosophy of Democracy Education research group (DEMOED), University of Oulu &
The Finnish Network of the History and Philosophy of Education

Conference web-page: Dialogue in Democratic Education -Conference