Calendar: PhD SPEF
Visit - PhD students from Baylor University (Texas)
Contact Person/Group Coordinator:
T. Philip Nichols, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Curriculum & Instruction
Baylor University
NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow (2021)
Editor, Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education
Participants in the Group
- Dylan Kirkwood, Ph.D student, educational psychology
- Ivana Lozano, Ph.D. student, educational psychology
- Ilse Schumm, Ph.D. student, educational psychology
- Heather Walker, Ph.D. student, curriculum and instruction (mathematics)
- Rylee Arnold, M.A. student, educational psychology
- Victoria Chiu, M.A. student, curriculum and instruction (literacy)
- Kaylee Corbin, M.A. student, curriculum and instruction (literacy)
- Sofia Engstrom, M.A. student, curriculum and instruction (math)
- Langston Hilst, M.A. student, curriculum and instruction (literacy)
- Suttyn Lappin, M.A. student, curriculum and instruction (science)
- Will McNierney, M.A. student, curriculum and instruction (history/social studies)
- Daniel Musil, M.A. student, curriculum and instruction (history/social studies)
Organizers: Proff Juliana E. Raffaghelli & Emilia Restiglian
Activity on May 25th
Within the framework of the Baylor University graduate course in Comparative Education, the visit to the University of Padua offers an opportunity to situate the observation of Italian educational practices within a broader cultural, historical, and pedagogical context. Beyond the exploration of schools and educational institutions across Italy, the encounter with the University of Padua enables participants to engage directly with one of Europe’s oldest and most internationally recognised universities, whose tradition in educational research has significantly contributed to teacher education, early childhood education and care, adult learning, and pedagogical innovation.
Within this programme, the University of Padua will host several activities. The first one is also open to PhD students. We offer indeed an Educathon as an opening activity for the first day of the visit. Developed in the context of the Erasmus+ project ETH-TECH, the Educathon is conceived as a participatory and reflective learning experience focused on the ethical implications of artificial intelligence and data use in education. Through collaborative exploration of Open Educational Resources (OERs), small-group dialogue, and future-oriented exercises, participants will critically engage with key European principles concerning AI and education, including human oversight, transparency, and inclusion.
The activity aims to create a space for comparative reflection on educational technologies across cultural and institutional contexts, connecting the participants’ experiences in the United States with current European debates on AI, platformisation, and the future of education. Rather than approaching technology as a neutral instrument, the Educathon encourages participants to reflect on the values, assumptions, and forms of responsibility embedded in educational innovation.
The programme will conclude with a keynote session led by Phil Nichols, focused on the limits of contemporary “AI literacy” approaches and the need for alternative pedagogical responses to platformised educational environments. Drawing on his recent work on “speculative capture” and classroom-based research with young learners, the keynote will explore how educational practices might move beyond functional or instrumental understandings of AI toward more critical, reflective, and socially situated engagements with technology.
Particular attention will be devoted to the challenge of translating critical perspectives on platformisation, datafication, and AI ethics into concrete curricular and pedagogical practices within teacher education. While much of the existing scholarship in this field emerges from sociology of education and critical data studies, the pedagogical mediation of these ideas in pre-service teacher training remains an open and complex problem. The keynote therefore represents a significant opportunity to discuss how critical educational technology studies can inform curriculum development, teacher preparation, and classroom practice.
The session is conceived as a 60-minute interactive exchange, combining presentation and discussion around current research and emerging pedagogical approaches, including reflections on the article Speculative capture: Literacy after platformization by T. P. Nichols and colleagues.
Room G - Maldura Palace [Aula G, Palazzo Maldura]
We meet at the Reception, on Piazzetta Gianfranco Folena, 1, 35137 Padova PD
13.30 - Welcome & Group Presentation
14.00 - Educathon - The Ethics of AI and Data in education -
Prof. Juliana E. Raffaghelli
16.00 - Coffee Time offered by ARQUS and the ETH-TECH project
16.30 - Keynote: Title
Prof. Phil Nichols
17.00 - Closing Session
19.30 - Aperitivo/Spritz time!