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Re-Imagining Education: Action and Change with Integrity and Imagination

This exclusive module-based training programme offers you the opportunity to apply imaginative and practical strategies to accelerate imaginative change in your institute, shifting the focus from problem-solving and crisis interventions to imagination and integrity.
With Education Scholar, Elke Van dermijnsbrugge

Speakers

Multiple dates. Starting on Saturday 21 November 2026.

In-person sessions held at the University of Birmingham

Educators, Leaders, Primary, Secondary and FE

£499 plus VAT

We accept all major credit/debit cards.

About

How can your organisation respond to the enormous challenges of our current moment with integrity, courage and imagination? How can your learning community become a place where alternative futures are not simply discussed, but actively created?

Delivered in partnership with The Bridge at Wellington College, this innovative year-long professional learning programme is designed for educators, leaders and practitioners working across schools, colleges, training providers and wider learning organisations who want to move beyond reacting to challenges and instead cultivate the conditions for meaningful, lasting change.

As a taster of the programme, Elke will lead a session at the 2026 UK Festival of Education exploring two urgent questions: How can educators respond to a world in crisis and create alternative futures in the present? and How can imagination be put to work in educational spaces as a catalyst for change? The session will offer insight into the wider module-based programme running throughout the 2026/27 academic year.

Through a blend of thought-provoking dialogue, practical tools and collaborative inquiry, participants will explore imaginative approaches to improvement and transformation, shifting the focus from problem-solving and crisis intervention towards possibility, purpose and integrity.

Over 12 months, participants will engage in two in-person and three online learning experiences, supported by coaching, peer collaboration and structured opportunities for reflection and discussion. All participants will also gain access to a dedicated community space on the EduScape platform, enabling ongoing connection, collaboration and resource sharing throughout the programme.

Participants will identify a challenge or opportunity within their own organisation and work collaboratively to co-design an imaginative and actionable change project. Whether focused on culture, curriculum, learner engagement, wellbeing, leadership or organisational development, the programme will support participants to turn ideas into meaningful action.

The programme culminates with an opportunity to share reflections, learning and impact at the 2027 Festival of Education, showcasing how imagination can become a powerful force for transformation across schools, colleges and training providers.

Register now and save £100 on the booking price.

Sessions Overview

Session 1: Introducing and Experimenting

November 21, 2026

University of Birmingham

Start 10:00 am

End 4:00 pm

The session starts with an introduction to the concepts of the imagination and utopia from a sociological and historical perspective. We then turn our attention to Utopia as Method, building on the work of sociologist Ruth Levitas. Utopia as Method, consisting of three ‘modes’ or phases, offers imaginative and practical strategies to thinking and taking action in the present, with alternative futures in mind. Alongside the theoretical introduction, you will participate in a range of different imaginative activities, speculative experiments and small-scale applications of the different phases of Utopia as Method. You will be asked to choose a topic of change related to your organisations context that you will be working on throughout the following sessions. Recommended texts, resources and course materials will be provided.

Session 2: Excavating Organisational Histories

January 16, 2027

Online

Start 10:00 am

End 12:00 pm

In this session we will focus on the first phase of Utopia as Method, called ‘archaeology’: an excavation of conditions and circumstances that have resulted in the current moment. We will look at examples of archeological work relating to education contexts, and we will reflect on what archeological work might entail for those examples. You will tackle questions such as: What is the history of a particular situation? Who is involved? How is it put into practice? You will receive guidelines on how to start the archaeological investigation for your topic.

Session 3: Identifying Organisational Absences

February 27, 2026

Online

Start 10:00 am

End 12:00 pm

In this session, we will build on the archeological investigations of your topics by identifying gaps and absences. First, we will look more generally at whose ideas, voices and perspectives are not addressed (enough) in education today before zooming in on your specific organisational contexts. You will tackle questions such as: which voices are not heard? What are unfavourable side effects of the current situation? Who is silenced? You will receive guidelines on how to finalise the full archaeological investigation for your topic.

Session 4: Investigating Values, Principles and Ways of Being in Education and Beyond

April 24, 2027

Online

Start 10:00 am

End 12:00 pm

In this session, we tune in to the second phase of Utopia as Method called ‘ontology’, focusing on questions such as: what are our values? What does it mean to be human, to be an educator, or a student in an institute? In the group discussions, you will share general reflections before turning the focus to your specific organisational contexts. You will be invited to reflect on your institute’s values, principles, its mission and vision and the alignment with your own values and principles. You will receive guidelines on how to conduct this specific phase in relation to your topic.

Session 5: Designing Imaginative Actions

June 20, 2027

University of Birmingham

Start 10:00 am

End 4:00 pm

This session focuses on the third phase of Utopia as Method called ‘architecture’: designing imaginative actions that support change with integrity in the short, medium and long term, building on and taking into consideration the work done in the first two phases. You will experiment with four different types of futures: possible, plausible, probable and preferable futures and look at different examples. You will co-design actions for your topics and create an imaginative actionable plan that can be integrated in your organisations context.

Contact

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