I must admit that before I attended their conference, I knew relatively little about CIES. However, thanks to my time with them in Chicago, I now know that the Comparative and International Education Society has over 3,500 individual members (researchers, school leaders and students) and represents over 1,000 universities, research institutes, government departments and non-governmental organisations. Their conference, drawing delegates from across the world, is one of the largest education gatherings in the USA. 

The chance to take part in the conference seemed too good a chance to miss, since it offered the opportunity to spread the word about ICP in the USA, the place where the organisation began. Hence encouraged by Sofia (who knew more than me both about CIES and the city of Chicago) I decided to see if I could get an academic paper accepted for presentation at the conference.

Since the theme of this year’s event was Envisioning Education in a Digital Society, I decided to focus upon the way in which ICP had supported members to engage with AI with and make wider use of this new technology.  Hence my paper explored how ICP was ‘Building an AI Powered Community of Practice’. I was only allowed to write 1000 words, but I tried to squeeze in the variety of approaches to AI across the worldwide ICP family and some of the ways in which AI featured in our Council and Convention in Mombasa. I focused upon examples such as Professor Li’s wonderful talk to Council on the philosophy of AI and his suggestion that AI represented a third age of education, in which machines could help humans to learn. I also described the fantastic hands-on training provided by Gabriel Rshaid and the way in which he and Sofia have used AI to power our Councils and Conventions. I also looked at the role that our student leaders play in advocating for the wider use of new technology and reflected on their panel session in Mombasa and subsequent magazine articles.

Our magazine theme of equity featured prominently in my presentation. I suggested that we find ourselves at a tipping point during which AI can either decrease or increase global equity. As part of this I shared the challenge offered by a delegate during our hands on AI training for Deputies on the first day of the Mombasa Convention: “Why are you telling me about AI when some of my pupils are still writing on clay?”, explaining the wisdom of the response offered by my friend and colleague Indimuli Kahi: “We are doing this because you need to know what is happening in the world outside, so you can lobby to get the tools your pupils will need.” I also explored some of the wider ethical issue raised by AI, illustrated by Andy Mison’s excellent article in our April 2024 edition of the magazine, in which he outlines the way in which there needs to be a balance between human and machine led learning.

I sent the paper in and must admit that I did not really expect it to be accepted, particularly when I subsequently learnt that only about 65% of submissions are successful. However, the organising committee must have been as impressed as I am by the work of the ICP community and a few months later they wrote back to invite me to deliver the paper during their March Convention.

Despite the huge scale of the Chicago Convention, I found that the longer the event went on, the more opportunities arose to make connections and to share the work of ICP with colleagues. The paper was well received and there was genuine interest amongst delegates in the work of ICP, its range of activities and how to get more involved. For example, delegates from areas as diverse as the USA, Caribbean and Haiti took away contact details and joining information. During the plenary session that followed my presentation, several delegates also commented upon the importance of the work of ICP and leadership associations more generally. For example, a delegate from Kazakhstan said that having heard our presentation he would be encouraging leaders in his region to form their own association and to link with ICP. I shared the recent experience of our newest members, the Principals Association of Nepal, as an encouraging case study in the way that leadership associations can be formed and go on to play an active part in ICP in a relatively short period of time. 

I was also impressed to see how the ICP family had extended its connections to Chicago. One of those presenting alongside me was Professor Zheng Li from East China University. He works closely with Professor Li and was delighted to realise that my case study mentioned his address to Council and the work of the National Training Centre in Shanghai, which is based at ECNU. A further example came when I attended a session on the work of those funding AI in education and found it was being led by Vicki Phillips, who delivered one of the keynote addresses during our Shanghai Convention in 2019. Vicki has played a prominent leadership role both within the Gates Foundation and National Geographic and is now CEO of the National Centre on Education and Economy. Hopefully we can renew our connection with Vicki’s work in the USA and look for opportunities to connect with her and other agencies to support the work of ICP and its members.

I came away from the five days of CIES reminded once again of my favourite quote from E.M Forster ‘Only Connect’. I have always felt that the greatest opportunity that ICP offers is the chance to join a worldwide family with a set of global connections. CIES 2025 offered the chance to extend those connections and hopefully, over time, to bring other groups and individuals into the global family of ICP.