Our TERSD-2026 conference showcases years of collaborative work between Kathmandu University School of Education (KUSOED) and partner institutions across communities, both locally and globally. This work has shown us that building educational institutions of genuine repute requires more than academic excellence measured by conventional metrics. It demands a fundamental shift in how we understand knowledge, power, responsibility, and solidarity. When we speak of "universities and schools" we mean something different from, for example, many of the universities with top global rankings that remain largely disconnected from the communities they serve. We envision educational institutions that have earned respect through their commitment to justice, their willingness to confront difficult truths, and their capacity to generate knowledge that serves human liberation. Our notion of universities and schools, therefore, represents those who are engaged with communities. But it is not engagement over or on communities, rather it is for and with communities. With this in mind, our engagement in this conference focuses on three key themes of transformative research and practice: Praxis, Emancipatory Interest, and Dharma Ideals.
We draw the key idea of praxis from Paulo Freire, who taught us that authentic education emerges from praxis, the dynamic relationship between reflection and action in the world. But praxis is more than applying theory to practice. It represents a way of being in the world that refuses to separate thinking from acting, knowing from transforming. Praxis has been the heart to building universities and schools within and beyond Nepal. In our experience working across diverse contexts, from rural to urban, from townships to less economically developed areas, we have learned that the most powerful R&D emerges when academics step down from their pedestals and become co-investigators with communities. Researchers who, for example, spend time in villages, listening to community members’ stories about changing weather patterns, before designing climate adaptation studies. It means educators working alongside parents and students to understand what healing from historical trauma actually looks like in specific places. We view this praxis approach as challenging the colonial legacy that positions universities as elite places where knowledge is produced by experts and then delivered to passive recipients. Instead, it recognizes that the people most affected by problems often hold crucial insights into their solutions. A grandmother's understanding of child development, shaped by raising multiple generations, deserves space alongside standard developmental psychology theories. A community organizer's meaning of structural oppression carries weight at par with academic research on educational inequity. This shift is not anti-intellectual; rather, it demands even more rigorous thinking because it requires researchers to grapple with the messiness and contradictions of real life rather than retreating into controlled laboratory conditions. At KUSOED, we have been making this shift across recent years, thereby preparing our faculty and staff members to move beyond elitist intellectualism to an engaged scholarship committed to making a difference in people’s lives.
Our source of inspiration comes from Jürgen Habermas, as he has written about knowledge constitutive interests, distinguishing between technical interests (controlling nature), practical interests (understanding meaning), and emancipatory interests (freeing ourselves from domination). Most educational institutions excel at the first two while largely ignoring the third, as it requires institutions to work with a host of organisational discomforts. Emancipatory interest in education is about asking uncomfortable questions: Whose knowledge counts? Who gets to define intelligence? What assumptions about normalcy exclude entire communities from educational opportunities? How do schools reproduce class, ethnicity, and gender hierarchies even when educators have good intentions? Whose interests are well served by the existing curricula? Working with communities in Nepal and beyond has taught us that emancipatory education requires decolonizing not just curricula but also our fundamental assumptions about how learning and knowledge creation/production happen. We need to recognize that oral traditions also carry sophisticated epistemologies—that land, water, and forest-based knowledge systems offer crucial insights for ecological survival—and that multilingualism represents cognitive wealth rather than deficiency. Our recent introduction of multilingual teacher education programs inclusive of indigenous and local knowledge has been a testament to our commitment to emancipatory education that addresses the national and global demands of our time. But emancipation is not just about eidos, and it is not only about including previously excluded voices, although that matters enormously. It also means developing critical consciousness about how power operates through seemingly neutral educational practices. Emancipatory education requires the courage to sit with discomfort while working to transform the conditions that create it.
Incorporating Dharma ideals into educational transformation might surprise many Western academics accustomed to secular institutions. But Dharma, understood as righteous duty, moral law, and the path toward enlightenment, offers something crucial that purely secular approaches often lack: a coherent framework for ethical action rooted in recognition of our interdependence. Dharma reminds us that knowledge divorced from wisdom becomes dangerous, that individual achievement without concern for collective wellbeing breeds suffering, and that technological progress without spiritual development threatens our survival as a species. It asks not just "Can we do this?" but "Should we do this? What are the long-term consequences for all beings?" This perspective has proven particularly valuable when working with communities facing environmental destruction. Dharma ideals help us understand that protecting forests is not just about carbon sequestration—it is also about maintaining relationships between humans and more-than-human beings that have sustained life for millennia. Educational institutions guided by Dharma take responsibility for their ecological footprint while teaching students to see themselves as part of Earth's web of life rather than its masters.
Each of the following 8 subthemes connects to the conference's main themes of Praxis, Emancipatory Interests, and Dharma ideals while addressing specific areas where transformative research and practice are urgently needed. Together, these subthemes provide a comprehensive framework for developing educational institutions of genuine repute working as agents of transformative change in our interconnected world.
1. Sustainable Development Through Indigenous Wisdom and Contemporary Science
Rural communities worldwide have developed sophisticated strategies for living sustainably within local ecosystems. These knowledge systems, refined over generations, offer crucial insights for addressing climate change and environmental degradation. Yet academic research typically ignores or appropriates Indigenous knowledge rather than engaging respectfully with knowledge holders as equals. This subtheme examines how Indigenous wisdom can inform contemporary sustainability research while ensuring that knowledge holders maintain control over their intellectual heritage. It explores collaborative research models that benefit Indigenous communities rather than extracting knowledge for external use. Participants will examine case studies of successful partnerships, develop protocols for ethical collaboration, and explore how traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) can inform policy and practice in diverse contexts.
2. Inclusionary and Meaning-Centered Early Childhood Development and Education
The early years profoundly shape life trajectories, yet many children face barriers to high-quality early learning due to poverty, discrimination, or inadequate support systems. Traditional approaches to early childhood education often reflect middle-class assumptions that ignore the strengths and challenges of diverse families and communities. This subtheme focuses on developing inclusive practices that honor different cultural approaches to child-rearing while ensuring all children have opportunities to thrive. It addresses professional development for educators working with diverse populations, family engagement strategies that respect different communication styles and values, and systemic approaches to supporting children with varying abilities and needs. Participants will examine community-based early learning models, multilingual development approaches, and strategies for addressing trauma and adversity in young children's lives.
3. Continuous Transformative Professional Development
Professional development is considered to be a foundation for empowering educators. As educators transition from traditional pedagogical approaches to transformative sustainability-focused methodologies, targeted professional learning addresses multiple dimensions: enhancing educators' understanding of sustainability concepts, developing pedagogical skills for experiential and systems-thinking approaches, and fostering critical reflection on their role as change agents. This includes training in innovative methodologies such as project-based learning, community engagement, and digital tools. However, professional development extends beyond technical skill acquisition. It requires creating spaces and/or lenses for educators to examine their own values, beliefs, and practices through transformative learning experiences. Collaborative professional learning communities, action research opportunities, and mentorship programs enable teachers to collectively explore the complexities of education in general. Participants will examine case studies of successful professional development initiatives, develop protocols for continuous professional development, and explore how traditional ecological knowledge of professional development can inform policy and practice in diverse contexts.
4. Transformative STEAM Education for Sustainable Development
Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics education has enormous potential to develop problem-solving skills and creative thinking. However, STEAM fields remain dominated by privileged groups while many communities lack access to quality programs. Traditional approaches often disconnect learning from real-world applications, particularly those relevant to social justice concerns. This subtheme explores how STEAM education can become a tool for community empowerment and social change. It examines maker spaces in underserved areas, environmental justice projects that combine scientific inquiry with advocacy for sustainable development, and arts-integrated approaches that make technical content more accessible. Participants will examine curricula that connect STEAM learning to community needs while ensuring that all students see themselves as capable of scientific and creative work.
5. School Counseling and Wellbeing in Times of Uncertainty
Young people today face unprecedented stressors—climate anxiety, social media pressure, economic uncertainty, political polarization, and the ongoing effects of the pandemic. Traditional counseling approaches, designed for individual problems, often prove inadequate for addressing these systemic challenges. This subtheme examines how schools can become healing-centered communities that address both individual trauma and collective stress. It explores culturally responsive counseling practices that honor different approaches to mental health and well-being. Participants will examine peer support models, mindfulness-based interventions adapted for diverse cultural contexts, and strategies for engaging families and communities in supporting young people's mental health. Participants will examine approaches that address the root causes of distress rather than just managing symptoms.
6. Multilingual Education as Cultural Wealth and a Cognitive Asset
Children who speak languages other than the mainstream school language often face educational practices that treat their diverse linguistic abilities as problems to be overcome rather than as resources to be developed. This deficit approach ignores research showing cognitive benefits of multilingualism while contributing to loss of heritage languages and cultural knowledge. This subtheme challenges monolingual assumptions in education while exploring effective approaches to supporting multilingual learners. It examines translanguaging pedagogies that allow students to use their full linguistic repertoire, family and community language practices that can inform school approaches, and Indigenous language revitalization efforts. Participants will examine policy advocacy for linguistic equity, technology tools that support multilingual learning, and the intersection of language and identity in educational settings.
7. Transformative Education Leadership in Complex Systems
Educational leaders today must navigate unprecedented challenges while driving systemic change in their institutions and communities. Traditional leadership preparation programs, focused on management skills and compliance with regulations, often fail to prepare leaders for transformative work in complex, rapidly changing environments. This subtheme focuses on leadership models that integrate social justice commitments with organizational effectiveness, distributed leadership approaches that share power and decision-making, adaptive leadership strategies for uncertain times, and collaborative networks that support both individual and institutional growth. Participants will examine frameworks for leading change in diverse cultural and economic contexts while building community partnerships and addressing educational inequities.
8. Community-Engaged University for Transforming Self and Others
Universities have historically positioned themselves as separate from, and often superior to, the communities that surround them. This ivory tower model creates institutions that extract knowledge from communities while offering little in return, perpetuating colonial relationships even within ostensibly progressive institutions. The community-engaged university represents a fundamental reimagining of higher education's role and purpose. This subtheme explores what happens when universities commit to genuine partnership with surrounding communities, recognizing that transformation must be mutual; institutions change communities and communities also change institutions. It examines how community engagement transforms not just research agendas and teaching methods, but the fundamental identity of faculty, students and staff who participate in this work. The focus goes beyond traditional service learning or community outreach programs to explore deeper questions of institutional identity and purpose. How do faculty members change when they spend significant time learning from community elders, organizing with social movements, or collaborating with grassroots organizations? How do teacher education students develop differently when their education includes sustained engagement with community struggles for justice and sustainability? What happens to institutional culture when community voices have genuine influence over university priorities and practices? Participants will examine models of community-university partnerships that demonstrate reciprocal benefit and shared authority. Participants will explore how engaged scholarship can challenge traditional academic reward systems while maintaining intellectual rigor. The subtheme addresses practical questions about building sustainable partnerships while examining the spiritual and ethical dimensions of institutional transformation. This work recognizes that universities cannot transform society while remaining unchanged themselves. True community engagement requires institutions and individuals to become vulnerable to transformation by the communities they claim to serve. It demands humility about academic expertise while recognizing the unique contributions that universities can make to collective liberation movements. The community-engaged university becomes a space where the boundaries between campus and community become permeable, where learning flows in multiple directions, and where the ultimate measure of institutional success becomes the well-being of all community members rather than narrow academic metrics. This transformation challenges everyone involved – faculty, students, administrators, and community partners – to grow beyond their current limitations while working together toward more just and sustainable futures.
