APPLYING EDUCATION IN A COMPLEX WORLD TORONTO Dates: 26-28 April 2023 Abstracts: 10 July 2022 (Early)

Complexity theory, complex systems, complex strategies and a complex world. The range of concepts, practices, scenarios and metaphors through which we consider intricate, interconnected and changing phenomena is vast. The impact of this world view on how we operate is equally large. The education sector, like all those that make up the tapestry of contemporary societies and economies is not – and cannot be – immune.

The argument that the world in which today’s students will eventually work, will be different and more complicated that the one they currently know, has become a truism. It guides our thinking in multiple ways. In this scenario, education is becoming equally fluid. We not only prepare students to face the changes we see occurring today, but shifts and developments no one expects, or predicts. We are obliged to think outside disciplinary boundaries. We adapt constantly to changing methods of teaching. We address new and emerging professions. We negotiate the demands of learners, parents, industries and business.

While this scenario may be contested by some, it is also welcomed by others. This conference reflects on its implications from the perspective of its host institution, Sheridan College, Toronto. Here, the complexity of the world we operate in, is reflected in the complexity of teaching: interdisciplinary, engaged, embedded, creative and applied.

Disciplines: Education, Art, Design, Humanities, Health, Sciences PUBLISHERS: Routledge, UCL Press Book, journal, proceedings