IAFOR’s Stuart D. B. Picken Scholarship recipient Dr Melike Yozgatlı Gülüm of the Ministry of National Education, Türkiye, reflects on the value of interdisciplinary exchange at ECE/ECAH/EGen2026 in London, particularly how diverse perspectives can reveal unexpected connections and deepen conversations around education, AI, social responsibility, and meaningful practice.
One of the most valuable aspects of the conference for me was the opportunity to step outside the boundaries of my own field. I came to London with questions rooted in inclusive education and teacher preparation, but some of the conversations that stayed with me most encouraged us to look beyond our disciplinary starting points. The conference created space not only to share our own work, but also to encounter different ways of thinking about value, learning, and social responsibility.
The Forum session titled The Role of the Arts & Humanities in Troubling Times: Part III brought this experience into particularly sharp focus. What stayed with me most was not a single answer, but how differently we arrived at similar concerns. We were asked to consider the value of our own fields in today’s context and how that value can be communicated more effectively beyond our immediate academic communities.
For the small-group discussion, I joined two participants from very different disciplinary and cultural backgrounds. I approached the conversation from inclusive education in Türkiye; one participant from Jamaica brought a linguistics perspective, while another, from India, brought a perspective from ageing research. At first, our fields seemed quite distant. Yet as we discussed questions of visibility, relevance, and social value, we began to identify unexpected points of connection.
That experience reflected one of the wider questions running through the Forum: if the value of a field already exists, how do we make it visible and convincing to others? The discussion moved from recognition to communication, and then from communication to action. It also asked how interdisciplinarity might help bridge disciplinary, communication, and value gaps.
The discussion around artificial intelligence made these questions even more immediate. One question that stayed with me was, “If AI does the thinking, who is the learner?” As someone working in education, I found this especially thought-provoking. Technology can expand what is possible, but it also raises questions about agency, judgment, learning, and meaning. The conversation reinforced for me that technological progress cannot be separated from the human questions surrounding its use.
Interdisciplinarity was not simply being discussed as an academic ideal; it was happening in the room.
When the small groups later shared their ideas with the wider audience, I was struck by how often participants from different disciplines and countries had arrived at similar concerns. Interdisciplinarity was not simply being discussed as an academic ideal; it was happening in the room. Our differences did not disappear, nor did they need to. Instead, they helped us see connections that might have remained invisible from within a single disciplinary perspective.
The experience also brought me back to my own research. I came to the conference thinking about whether having more coursework necessarily means that teachers are better prepared for inclusive practice. I left with a broader version of the same question. More courses, more research, more technology, or more disciplinary expertise do not automatically
create greater value. What matters is how thoughtfully knowledge is connected, communicated, and translated into meaningful practice.
Perhaps this is where interdisciplinarity becomes most valuable: not in making our disciplines more alike, but in helping us understand more clearly why they matter to one another.
Watch the interview with Dr Melike Yozgatlı Gülüm in the video below.
About the Stuart D. B. Picken Scholarship
Professor Stuart D. B. Picken was a cherished friend and an inspiration to IAFOR and its community of supporters. In honour of Professor Picken and his dedication to academia, the ideals of intercultural understanding, and the principles of interdisciplinary study, IAFOR created the Stuart D. B. Picken Scholarship, an award supported by the Stuart D. B. Picken Memorial Fund.
This award is given to PhD students and early career academics who are in need of funding to complete their research and whose work demonstrates excellence in the core values of academic rigour, intercultural sensitivity, and interdisciplinarity.
Banner image: Enchanted Tools, Unsplash
