Education can feel somewhat apocalyptic right now. Across early childhood settings, schools, TAFE and universities, educators and learners are being pulled into multiple overlapping crises in response to civil unrest, widening inequality, colonialism, generative AI, ecological collapse, social media, distrust in teachers and growing disconnection and distress. And this is amidst ongoing global conflicts and genocides that education cannot possibly ethically ignore. But the word apocalypse doesn’t only mean destruction. It comes from the Greek word apokalypsis which means to uncover and reveal. This seminar series begins with this more generative understanding, that education is not just facing a (poly)crisis but is in a moment of reveal that opens up profound questions about the purpose of education itself. What are our formal institutions of education actually for? What kinds of futures are they preparing our youth for? What happens to an educational system designed around concepts of standardisation, competition and productivity when the world it faces is marked by diversity, social fragmentation and ecological destruction.

This apocalyptic moment is also revealing the undeniable ways in which education has become shaped by broader economic and market logics. These institutions are being asked to produce measurable outputs of workforce ready subjects while the deeper needs for connection, care, creativity and collective flourishing are pushed to the sidelines. Teachers and students alike are reporting, at large, exhaustion and disconnection amid a growing sense that education, and perhaps public life more broadly, is no longer nourishing us. And it is in this already fracturing context, that generative AI is emerging, not just as a technological tool that might ease pressure, but as a symptom and intensification of efficiency and productivity.

This seminar series is not about quick fixes or take-away strategies, but a space to consider what this revelation might make possible. Across four connected seminars, participants will hear from, and be invited to converse with, a panel comprised of teachers, parents, academics and young people, as they grapple with the most pressing educational questions of this moment. We will begin by naming and understanding the conditions of this apocalypse and move to understanding its historical and political conditions before considering the fundamental importance of teacher professionalism and agency. The series will culminate with a call for solidarity, and consideration of collective action and possibility.