The XXIX Conference of the Comparative Education Society in Europe (https://www.cese-europe.org/), was held in Thessaloniki Greece, in July 2024 (7th to 10th). The Conference under the theme “Changing Regimes of Control in Education: Comparative Perspectives across Time and Space” invited researchers and attendees from all around the world to explore the multifaceted ways in which power dynamics, governance structures, and societal influences shape educational systems worldwide.

By examining comparative perspectives across time and space, researchers and attendees gained a deeper understanding of the factors shaping educational systems and the potential implications for learners and societies. Key themes discussed at the conference included accountability regimes, large-scale assessment, surveillance and data, multi-actor governance, digitalization and AI, as well as ethical futures. The insights gained from these discussions are expected to inform future educational policies and practices that aim to promote equity, innovation, and social justice.

A key focus of the conference was the challenges that school leaders face in an era of uncertainty, disinformation, and AI. Among the various sessions of the conference, Session 6, titled “Educational/Professional Experience and Identity Crisis Management in Schools in an Era of Uncertainty, Disinformation, and AI. School Leaders between New Challenges of Autonomy and New Regimes of Control” was of rather importance. During this Session, the DRONE’s Consortium had the opportunity to present initial findings of the gap analysis conducted during the first months of the project. In particular,  under the title “Crisis management in schools in an era of uncertainty, disinformation, and AI. School leaders between new challenges of autonomy and new regimes of control. A comparative approach in seven countries” the project’s partners presented preliminary findings on the mapping of the current state of art in Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Netherlands and Ukraine, regarding (a) the digital literacy needs of teachers, school leaders and students in these seven countries ;  (b) the pedagogical measures to promote digital literacy and combat disinformation among young people and especially minority groups at EU level; and  (c) the specificities of crisis communication with young people and especially with vulnerable teenagers.