Leeds Beckett University, in association with the Comparative and International Education Special Interest Group (British Educational Research Association), invite you to participate in an annual international conference titled Global Perspectives: Rethinking Technology and Childhood taking place on 24th and 25th June 2027 at Leeds Beckett University, UK.
As digital technologies become ever more embedded in classrooms and in children’s daily lives, educators, researchers, and policymakers across the world are grappling with urgent and unresolved questions about their impact. This international conference brings together practitioners, researchers, and thought leaders to critically examine the role of technology in schools and childhood, with a particular focus on wellbeing, screen use, and the wider social and developmental consequences of an increasingly digitised world.
The conference will explore three interconnected themes: the use of technology in schools, including its pedagogical promise and its practical and ethical challenges; the relationship between technology and children’s wellbeing, drawing on emerging research into attention, mental health, and social development; and a critical examination of screen use, questioning dominant assumptions about the inevitability and desirability of digital immersion in both educational and domestic settings.
Bringing together an international community of educators and researchers, the conference will provide a platform for rigorous debate, shared practice, and cross-national perspectives on how schools and families might navigate the complex, often contested, terrain of technology in childhood. Delegates will engage with the latest research evidence while critically interrogating assumptions that often go unchallenged in policy and practice.
An aim of the conference will be the co-production of a practical guide, a manifesto or toolkit designed to support teachers in translating research into everyday practice. This resource will offer accessible, evidence-informed guidance for the thoughtful and managed use of technology with children, equipping educators with the confidence and clarity to make informed decisions in their own classrooms and school communities.
We invite educators, researchers, policymakers, and advocates from across the globe to join us in shaping a more critical, informed, and child-centred approach to technology in education.
Abstract submission now open:
Deadline 1 December 2026
