Digital Citizenship, Digital Justice and the Promise and Perils of Technological Transformation
Bob Davis (Glasgow University)

Teaching for Digital Citizenship: Digital Ethics in the Classroom and Beyond (TfDC) is large-scale research project housed within the ESRC Education Research Programme (2021-2026) directed by Prof Gemma Moss. The PI is Prof David Lundie.

TfDC is ‘interested in the ways that digital citizenship is enacted in secondary schools across the UK…’, seeking ‘to engage philosophers of digital ethics, software development corporations serving the education sector, schools and policy-makers in the four nations of the UK in discussions about how to furnish young people with a sense of agency and an understanding of data justice’.

As well as furnishing an overview of the first phases of the TfDC project and the ethical questions it has raised, this paper will discuss the collaborative role of philosophy of education within research of this kind. Drawing upon materials such as the philosophical pedigree of Citizenship Education, Heidegger’s reflections on technology, and the Freirean practices of critical enquiry, the paper will spotlight the key questions and dilemmas with which learners, teachers and wider democratic society must contend in navigating effectively this complex and rapidly evolving terrain in schools and beyond.

Bob Davis is Professor of Religious and Cultural Education in the University of Glasgow. A former Editor of Journal of Philosophy of Education, he is current Chair of the PESGB. He has taught, written and broadcast widely on religion and education, moral education, the history of education, and the place of literature and the humanities in the modern curriculum.

Note: all sessions this term will be in hybrid form. They will take place both face to face in a room at UCL IOE and on Zoom.

For further inquiries: Yuxin Su (yuxin.su.16@ucl.ac.uk).

Please note that this seminar series is run by academics on an entirely voluntary and unpaid basis, on top of existing teaching and other work commitments. While we endeavour to make these events as inclusive and welcoming as possible, we cannot undertake any extra work regarding the presentation, dissemination or planning of the talks or make adjustments to the existing programme.