November 2025
The World Education Research Association (WERA) convened its 2025 Focal Meeting in João Pessoa, Brazil, October 26–30. The conference was held in conjunction with the National Association of Research and Graduate Studies on Education’s (ANPEd) National Meeting at the Education Centre of the Federal University of Paraíba.
The conference program centered around the theme “Neoconservatism in the World and Education in the Face of Socio-Political-Environmental Violence.” This thematic focus on the advance of neoconservatism and violence around the world and its impact on education provided thought-provoking exchanges among education researchers from around the globe.
WERA celebrated its 15th anniversary at this year’s meeting. In addition, WERA’s collaboration with ANPed marked the first time that the Brazilian education research association’s national meeting was held in conjunction with an international convening. A number of featured sessions provided simultaneous English and Portuguese translations which enhanced opportunities for cross-national engagement.
Members and leaders of AERA participated in the 2025 Focal Meeting across the range of conference sessions and activities, which included keynote addresses, poster and paper sessions, and workshops. WERA President Liesel Ebersöhn (University of Pretoria) and Alfredo Artiles (Stanford University), who currently chairs the AERA Early Career Award Committee, were among the distinguished scholars who delivered keynote addresses.
Gustavo Fischman (Arizona State University), co-editor-in-chief of AERA Open, led a pre-conference workshop focused on tools, ethics, and strategies for navigating academic publishing in the age of artificial intelligence. Terrell Morton (University of Illinois at Chicago), chair of the Equity and Inclusion Council, presented his work in a session on cross-continental issues in STEM education research.
Melody Jombe, AERA President-Elect Jerome Morris, and Safi Darden (left to right)
AERA President-Elect Jerome Morris (University of Missouri - St. Louis) presented a paper titled, “Affirming Blackness Amid Neoconservative Narratives: The Communally-Bonded Education Model (CBEM) and Black Education in the United States and Brazil” based on his cross-national collaboration.
WERA honored AERA Executive Director Emerita Felice J. Levine in a special session highlighting her work leveraging research for the public good. Levine chaired a session on current challenges for education research in the Americas and joined other WERA past presidents for a panel discussion on directions, priorities, and leadership in worldwide education research.
WERA is an association of national, regional, international, and specialty research associations dedicated to advancing education research as a scientific and scholarly field. Its global initiatives aim to transcend what any single association can achieve on its own. AERA is one of 27 founding member associations of WERA. The next WERA Focal Meeting will be held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in conjunction with the Taiwan Education Research Association, October 15-18, 2026.