JVET Vocational & Technical Education Conference 2021
Conference Report: A huge thank you to all the attendees at our JVET conference that took place on Friday 9th July 2021 with participation from attendees in countries worldwide across many time-zones. And we would like to thank our great panel of speakers, chairs and moderators for enabling such a stimulating and inspiring event.
Far more used to hosting a biannual conference event at Oxford, staging this year’s online event has been, like for so many, a learning curve. A journey that the Editorial Board and our Management Committee have wholeheartedly supported. Huge thanks to Sally Kevan and her technical team for bringing our ideas to life so smoothly!
The event kicked off with a thought-provoking and highly personal session delivered by Professor Joy Papier. Joy’s keynote, From policy symbolism to evidence-based policymaking – VET research on the rise in the South, was chaired by Professor Simon McGrath.
Professor Leon Tikly was welcomed to the zoom stage by chair, Dr Jim Hordern and spoke to his inspiring presentation Transforming TVET for Sustainable Futures: Challenges for theory, policy and practice? The chat really took off as our research community shared insights, resources and links.
The End of Neo-Liberalism and the Future of TVET was the focus for Professor Hugh Lauder’s keynote chaired by Professor Stephanie Allais with some challenging questions expertly fielded by Professor Bill Esmond.
In a fitting finale to the day, Professor Leesa Wheelahan, Professor Ann-Marie Bathmaker and Professor Kevin Orr took to the virtual stage in both a reflective mood with their sights on a hopeful future. In their keynote, Looking Back, Moving Forward, the Editors, chaired by Professor Pete Sanderson responded enthusiastically to questions from the audience moderated by Professor Prue Huddleston.
The full conference schedule from Friday 9th July 2021:
10:00 – Welcome
10:10 – Professor Joy Papier, KEYNOTE: From policy symbolism to evidence-based policymaking – VET research on the rise in the South
10:40 – Q&A
11:10 – Professor Leon Tikly, KEYNOTE: Transforming TVET for Sustainable Futures: Challenges for theory, policy and practice?
11:40 – Q&A
12:10 – Break
13:00 – Welcome
13:05 – Professor Hugh Lauder, KEYNOTE: The End of Neo-Liberalism and the Future of TVET
13:35 – Q&A
14:05 – JVET Editors, KEYNOTE: Researching VET: looking back, moving forward
14:35 – Q&A
14:55 – Final Remarks
15:00 – Close
All times are BST
