Slovak Educational Leadership Conference

Another Slovak Educational Leadership conference over for another year. This year saw a clear focus on authenticity in education at the level of pedagogy, curriculum choices and policy making. AI featured heavily, both in terms of opportunities and risk with a clear leaning into training and safe useage, at school and higher ed level. Opportunities for service, volunteering and collaborative learning were warmly endorsed as a means not only of developing character but of providing a wider cultural schema. Spirituality, too, understood as an openness to transcendence but also a humble awareness of finitude, was an area of interest, offering a richer avenue to real tolerance and inclusivity than merely ‘rights’ language. Opportunities were explored to encounter ‘the other’, to be accompanied by powerful role models, to learn through inquiry and allow truth to reveal itself. Embedding values in organisations, and building on them, as against retrofitting, were all welcomed. Thanks go as always to the superb contributors, and to the institutions from which they came as well as the good people of Bardejov

So grateful for an outstanding team of presenters including colleagues from the UK, US and Poland as well as the universities of London, St Mary’s University, London, Catholic University of Lublin, University College, London and the University of Notre Dame (USA).

Professor David Oswell, Vice Chancellor of Goldsmiths College, University of London delivering a powerful presentation on Artificial Intelligence

Dominik Kielb speaks on education as a space for dialogue between individual autonomy and group solidarity: reflections on individualism and collectivism in contemporary education.

Martin Gazda addresses religious education and the importance of the pedagogy meeting the needs of contemporary students. Done well, it foregrounds inquiry, supports discernment, good judgement, critical thinking and wisdom, challenges hate speech & stereotypes. The importance of witnesses and role models is essential.

Professor Jacek Brant delivers a barnstorming presentation on values driving all aspects of educational leadership

Ľubomír Rehák (Former Slovak Ambassador to the UK)

Rehák opened by thanking the organizers and recalling his participation nine years ago when the conference first began. He emphasized that its continuation signals both resilience and relevance. He highlighted the strong relationship between education and values rooted in the Catholic tradition, noting that the international dimension of the conference enriches this mission by drawing on global collaboration. He offered warm wishes for a successful conference, praising its consistently high quality.

Maria Budzynska presents an evaluation of AI and its uses in the classroom.

thanked the guests and echoed themes raised earlier, especially the need for integrity in public life. He distinguished genuine integrity from “artificial integrity, artificial success, and artificial freedom,” noting that AI is not the only thing that can distort human formation.

He reminded educators that their vocation is to help young people flourish — morally, academically, and socially — so that they become capable workers and civically engaged citizens. He framed the conference’s purpose simply: bringing together teachers, policymakers, researchers, and academics around shared values to support the flourishing of “complicated young people” in complicated times.

Co-chair Martin Smilnak reflected on the climate of uncertainty and negativity amplified by media — a cultural moment that leaves young people afraid to commit to marriage, family, or long-term plans. He invoked John Paul II’s “Do not be afraid” and Pope Francis’ call to joy, encouraging educators to help students navigate fear with hope. Political and social leaders, he argued, have a responsibility to remind the next generation that humanity has endured crises before — and will endure again.