To celebrate the UK Literacy Association’s (UKLA) 61st International Conference, we invite you to explore the role of critical imagination in language and literacy education with us.
In a constantly changing and increasingly divisive world, language and literacy learners across all ages need access to education that nurtures cognitive development, creative experimentation, empowered civic participation, and emotional engagement in order to grow holistically and thrive. Critical imagination is a fundamental component of this: (re)imagining more inclusive curricular and pedagogies, (re)imagining ourselves and our relationships to each other in the world, (re)imagining meaning-making across material and digital technologies, and (re)imagining research methodologies that serve a broad range of people and contexts. In developing our understanding of language and literacy education as both critical (i.e., related to power and identity) and imaginative (i.e., related to creativity, experimentation, and play), we hope to explore research and practice across an ever-growing UKLA community.
This year’s theme therefore seeks to nurture delegates’ diverse perspectives and practices by bringing together an international community of language and literacy educators and researchers. Join us as we revisit old and ongoing questions, engage across differences, and (re)imagine ‘conditions of possibility’ for a more sustainable and equitable future.