Developing Transpositioning Capacities for Educational Futures in the 21st Century Through Co-Learning

Event Highlights

Developing Transpositioning Capacities for Educational Futures in the 21^st Century Through Co-Learning 

Professor Li Wei

Hung Leung Hau Ling Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Humanities and Social Sciences,

The University of Hong Kong

Director and Dean, UCL Institute of Education

Chair Professor (Chair of Applied Linguistics), University College London

Date: July 18, 2024 (Thursday)

Time: 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm 

Venue: Rayson Huang Theatre, HKU [Map]

Language: English

Registration: Closed

(Please note that this is an in-person event. Seats are available on a first come, first served basis.)

Zygmunt Bauman characterised the 21^st century as ‘liquid modernity’ where ‘change is the only permanence, and uncertainty the only certainty’ (Bauman, 2000). Individuals are compelled to spontaneously and simultaneously engage in multiplex virtual networks that support everyday life, requiring continuous expansions of our communicative repertoire. One has to adapt to new and different ways of being and interacting with others; one has to develop a capacity for Transpositioning. Transpositioning foregrounds a susceptibility to constant change, with a view to transcending any given position. It refers to a processual and iterative shifting of the identity position of an actor-in-communication; i.e., the process in which individuals allow their stance with regard to any given proposition to be in flow-and-flux as they interact with others. To be in flow-and-flux means to release oneself (one’s self) from given frameworks and habitual patterns of thought, generating possibility spaces in which one develops new routes (cf. roots) of thinking in conjunction with other participants and cultivates an affect of empathy for others. This talk discusses the concept of Transpositioning in detail, with examples of digital communication and lived experiences of multilingual transnationals, as well as a case study of classroom interaction to showcase transpositioning through co-learning in action. It invites the participants to think how institutional systems and practices such as education should adapt to ever-changing demands of life in liquid modernity and how they can enhance Transpositioning capacities needed for the 21^st century.          

About the Speaker

Professor Li Wei is Director and Dean of the UCL Institute of Education, University College London, where he also holds a Chair in Applied Linguistics. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, Academia Europaea, Academy of Social Sciences (UK), and the Royal Society of Arts (UK). He is Editor of International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, and Applied Linguistics Review. His previous posts include Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Birkbeck, University College London, and Head of School of Education at Newcastle University.

All are welcome!

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