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Armenia hosted the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER), the annual forum of the European Educational Research Association (EERA), for the first time from 22 to 25 August.

The conference, hosted by Yerevan State University, brought together more than 800 educational researchers from 54 countries who explored the impact of Covid-19, wars and natural disasters on the quality of education and the prospects of educational research.

The theme of ECER 2022 was "Education in a Changing World: The impact of global realities on the prospects and experiences of educational research”. The event featured research workshops, panel discussions, interactive paper sessions, ignite talk sessions, poster sessions and symposia as well as a poster exhibition and a publisher exhibition. A conference of emerging researchers was held as part of the event on 22-23 August.

In addition, there will be an online conference, ECER plus, in Yerevan from September 1-10.

Doctor of Pedagogy, Professor Nazik Harutyunyan, head of the YSU Center of Pedagogy and Education Development, said Armenia became a full member of the EERA in 2014, thus being allowed to host its annual conference. This is the first time the conference has been organized in a post-Soviet country.

Researchers from YSU and other research institutes, including the Yerevan offices of international organizations, took part in the forum, Harutyunyan told Panorama.am, highlighting the support of UNICEF Armenia and Teach For Armenia.

The YSU Center of Pedagogy and Education Development made every effort to make the conference a success.

The event was aimed at bringing together experienced and emerging educational researchers to discuss the pending problems in the area and find possible solutions. Such meetings and discussions may result in effective cooperation and implementation of joint scientific research in the future.

YSU Rector Hovhannes Hovhannisyan hailed the event as historic as he delivered opening remarks at the ECER 2022 on 23 August. He highlighted that after the Covid-19 pandemic, the conference was held in Armenia for the first time.

In her remarks, Nazik Harutyunyan, who headed the local organizing committee for the event, stressed the importance of integration into international educational processes to modernize each country’s education, improve the quality of education and make it more competitive and attractive.

She quoted Brazilian educator Paulo Freire as saying, “Education does not change the world. Education changes people and people change the world.”

“So, to change the world, to make it better and more developed, we, the specialists in the field of education, must direct all our efforts, knowledge and research to solve the existing problems in the area,” the professor stated.

Panorama.am talked to participants from Finland, Germany, Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Italy over educational issues and the themes of their reports.

EERA President Joe O'Hara was honored with a silver medal at the closing ceremony late on August 25. The researchers who presented the best papers and posters as well as the active student volunteers were awarded certificates.

Summing up the three-day conference, Dr. Nazik Harutyunyan said it had been marked by heated debates in a positive atmosphere of mutual respect.

"New ideas emerged as a result [of the debates]. After discussing the existing problems, possible solutions were also offered. We were constantly asking both new and experienced professionals: What did you get out of the discussions? How did the conference go? There was not a single participant who would say, "You know, we came here and didn't learn anything,” Everyone said that they took an active part in the discussions. You know, it is absolutely incredible to bring together emerging and experienced researchers from 50 countries and hold debates. Today I can officially and calmly announce that the ECER 2022 has been a success. The participation was at a high level, people's opinions were positive and the results were evident. I want to express my satisfaction," she said.

Harutyunyan expressed gratitude to the EERA for providing such an opportunity to YSU as well as the university administration and dozens of student volunteers for their great efforts.

The 2023 European Conference on Educational Research will be hosted by Scotland’s Glasgow University.