Today I bring you a fab little vimeo, a mash up of various films showing writers in difficulty. It’s by Ivan Kander and Ben Watts. Tap tap tap on the keyboard the writers go. Pace, pace around the room. Waste bin filling up, filling up … So that made you feel better right? Nothing like seeing other people having […] … learn more→
Monthly Archives: June 2016
Writer’s block
What happens to a turnaround high school when transformative principal walks away?
It wasn’t long into Damon Holmes’ tenure as new principal of Malcolm X Shabazz High School this fall that Sharon Cook, an administrator at Shabazz, knew the school and students were going to be okay under the new guy. Cook was having a meeting with Holmes in the principal’s office when he suddenly stopped talking. […] … learn more→
Should ethics professors observe higher standards of behavior?
This is an enduring dilemma in the area of ethics and one that has recently come to light with charges of unethical behavior brought against a prominent philosopher, Professor Thomas Pogge of Yale University. Pogge has been accused of manipulating younger women in his field into sexual relationships, a charge he has strenuously denied. Without […] … learn more→
The Dutch definition of ‘a university’
The strong international reputation of the Dutch higher education sector is built on its binary system, allowing for differentiation of research agendas and facilitating optimal and differentiated access of students to higher education. In the Netherlands we cherish the tradition of a binary system, with 14 research universities and 37 universities of applied sciences. Outside […] … learn more→
University buries Google news
Hey, remember when universities were only about education and research? If you do, you must have grey hair, because it’s surely been a while. Hey, remember when news came out, there was bad publicity for awhile, and that was it? Grey hair is no longer so necessary to remember that, because that’s how things were […] … learn more→
Please think twice — maybe three times — before sharing a political post on Facebook
OPINION: If you share a political post on Facebook, I think less of you It’s not that I mind people discussing politics online. I’ve done it, and in a few of those cases I’ve even enjoyed it. It’s the particular act specific to Facebook of “sharing” that infuriates me. I have some friends who have […] … learn more→
How the young have forged European identity – from the Grand Tour to the Erasmus generation
As a wave of Eurosceptic feeling continues to spread across Europe, few voices are extolling the educational and cultural benefits of political union on the continent. Yet many of today’s young Europeans, as their ancestors did before them, see the European Union’s ability to widen their eyes to transnational forms of identity. A 2015 survey […] … learn more→
World insight: how do you encourage innovation across a continent of a billion people?
How do you foster innovation across a continent of 54 countries, where more than 2,000 languages are spoken by a billion people? Well, you put together a partnership between a leading business school and an unusual telecommunications company. Then run a competition for the best new business idea using digital technology, and bring the finalists […] … learn more→
Revisiting the remediation scam
I’ve written before on the remediation scam. The vast majority of classes on campus, at least community college campuses, are remedial, pre-high school coursework (with the high school coursework most of my readers would be familiar with being now regarded as college coursework). I’ve shown many times that 90% of the academic coursework on community […] … learn more→
Beware the digital entrepreneurs who are opening their own schools
To children who love computer games, it could be a dream come true. In early February, Nicky Morgan, secretary of state for education, announced plans to open two new free schools focusing on computer programming skills in 2017. The schools – in London and Bournemouth – are founded by Ian Livingstone, a video-games entrepreneur, who […] … learn more→