Welcome to the 4th Asian Symposium on Education, Equity and Social Justice, which is being held Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 1-3, 2017 at the KKR Hotel in Hiroshima, Japan. All registered participants will be provided with a welcome reception, daily coffee breaks, access to the proceedings and a free, English guided tour of Hiroshima Peace Park – a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This is an international, peer-reviewed event that is being held in partnership with two other small events focusing on aspects of globalization: The 3rd Conference on the Social Sciences, Sociology and Globalization in Asia (COSGA 2017); and The 2nd International Symposium on Globalization and Media in Asia (SYGMA 2017).

About EQUIS 2017

Across Asia – and indeed, around the world—the age of globalization is having both positive and negative impacts on education systems and no-where is this more evident than on the right to education and access to quality education. We as educators have a moral obligation to ensure that we support the learning of the whole student and that we provide a safe, humane and caring learning environment.

We must also consider the danger of placing too much emphasis on high-stakes standardized tests. For example, both Korea and China added English to their mandatory curriculum more than twenty years ago; however, Japan, with its declining birthrate and stagnant economy, foresees high-stakes tests such as TOEIC and TOEFL as potentials keys to maintaining a competitive edge into the 21st century and has thus added English to the formal curriculum for primary school students from 2020.

Most importantly, though, educators must actively empower students and promote social justice in education because inequality in any classroom, in any school is a social injustice. The ‘right to education’ and the effort to build an equitable education system and learning environment will never be possible as long as students are not allowed to achieve their full potential.

What does it mean to be educated? How can we ensure the right to education? How can schools promote social justice in education? How can other areas disciplines, such as English, math, science, history, art, literature and social studies promote social justice educational theory and practice? How are high-stakes standardized tests affecting recruiters, administrators, teachers and students in your school? How are high-stakes standardized tests forcing you to change your curriculum and teaching?

With the theme of Social Justice in Education, EQUIS 2017 invites proposals from students, teachers, educational leaders, activists, organizers, and all people concerned with advancing the movement for social justice.

We welcome proposals of 250 words in English by Friday, June 30, 2017 on any of the following EQUIS 2017 streams:

Administration, Policy and Counseling
Aging, Population, Children and Youth
Distance Education, ICT, E-Learning
Education, Curriculum and Research
Education for Sustainable Development
Equity and Social Justice
EFL/ESL, Language Education
Gender, Inequality, Migration and Identity



Health, Sex and Physical Education
Human Rights Education
Math and Science Education
Politics, Conflict and Peace Studies
Public Policy
Religious Education and Religious Freedom
Teaching and Learning
Other Areas (please specify)