Attending the American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference in Los Angeles with my PhD supervisors Dr. Gareth Robinson and Dr. Gavin Duffy was an exciting opportunity to engage with a global community of researchers. This years theme was “unforgetting histories and imaging futures”. The conference offered an array of sessions, from symposiums and roundtables to poster presentations. Early on, we attended onsite registration, familiarised ourselves with the different conference venues, and mapped out a plan for the days ahead.

Given the breadth of the conference sessions and our different research interests, we often attended sessions independently. This allowed each of us to focus on areas most relevant to our work. One of the most engaging and relevant sessions I attended focused on including community voice in research. This resonated with the community-engaged aspect of my PhD. It reinforced the importance of working with communities rather than conducting research on them. It also provided useful perspectives on how researchers can centre lived experience of communities in meaningful and ethical ways.

I also participated in a PhD student fireside chat exploring the “hidden curriculum” of doctoral study. This session allowed PhD students to have open and honest discussions about the realities of the PhD journey. It was beneficial to connect with other doctoral researchers, share experiences, and to start building networks that will hopefully continue beyond the conference.

 A highlight of the conference was attending the session where my supervisors, Gareth and Gavin, presented their work on Building Civic Learning Infrastructure through School-Community Networks in Divided Urban Contexts. Other papers within the same session explored a range of related themes, including race and power dynamics in education and effective collaboration with school leaders. Engaging with this wider body of work provided perspectives on the different ways researchers are working to address inequality.

 

 Beyond the conference, the trip also provided opportunities to engage with education in practice. While in Los Angeles, we visited Loyola Marymount University (LMU) and WISH Charter School, a co-located campus serving elementary, middle, and high school students. During my visit to the WISH elementary setting, I met with the Executive Director, Principal, and Special Educational Coordinator. This offered insights into their inclusive practices, how they support students with additional needs, the role of classroom assistants, and their approach to assessing and implementing Individual Education Plans (IEPs). At the same time, my supervisors visited LMU to share their work on research-practice partnerships, further strengthening international collaboration and knowledge exchange.

Together, the sessions, conversations, and connections at the AERA conference, together with visits to Loyola Marymount University and WISH, highlighted the value of exchanging ideas and learning from different perspectives. Moving forward, I will use these insights to shape the direction of my research and my development as a PhD researcher.