I write often of the culture of fear on campus…because I get reminders how that fear only increases: Making jokes at Portland State gets you reported to its bias response team I know, “I was just joking” is the age-old cry of the bully, and I was very much a target of the endless anti-intellectual […] … learn more→

When billionaire Robert E. Smith decided to pay off the student loans of the graduating class of 2019 at Morehouse College, he suggested that others follow his lead. “Let’s make sure every class has the same opportunity going forward, because we are enough to take care of our own community,” Smith declared in his commencement speech. But is […] … learn more→

Recently on Twitter, a debate took place over advice from Professor Jim Al-Khalili, professor of physics and public engagement in science at the University of Surrey, that a practising scientist should establish themselves before aiming to go too far down the road in communicating science. While much of the debate was based on just a […] … learn more→

Classroom management is consistently seen as a source of stress for beginning teachers. It’s also one of the main reasons cited for teachers leaving the profession. So, it’s no surprise teachers try to use classroom management strategies that appear to be effective at changing problematic student behaviour. Group, or collective, punishment is one such approach. Collective punishment in schools […] … learn more→

Talking about portraits of victim and stalker in the phenomenon of bullying can be confusing and lead to the mistaken idea that in childhood there are children who have characteristics that will make them stalkers of others and that, in turn, there are other children destined to be victims. This image contrasts with what we know of […] … learn more→

I didn’t exactly work my way through college—I lived at home, and mowed many, many, lawns in the Florida sun, among other unpleasant jobs. They were paying the princely sum of $5 an hour for sheet metal roofing, and it only took a few weeks of that to make enough to pay the $1,000 or […] … learn more→

The strike by retention of notes by teachers dissatisfied with the “Blanquer reform” has come to rest, unexpectedly, the question of the interest of a continuous control in the context of an examination such as the baccalaureate . Beyond the controversy aroused by the “technical solution” invented by the minister to solve the problem he had to face, one […] … learn more→

Chess has long been an important part of school culture. Many people believe chess has a range of cognitive benefits including improved memory, IQ, problem solving skills and concentration. But there is very little evidence supporting these conclusions. We conducted two studies (still unpublished) that found educators and parents believe chess has many educational benefits. But children […] … learn more→

Iris, a high school student in New York City, took a course aimed at preparing public school students for college. As part of the course, she visited the Park Slope Food Coop, among the oldest member-owned businesses in the United States. Members work monthly shifts in return for access to affordable, ethically sourced food and goods. […] … learn more→

So, you’ve found the call for papers, and submitted an abstract, been accepted, got your faculty funding or organised some extra shifts to get the cash, registered, booked travel and a lovely/scummy room, and decided which shoes will make your presentation really pop. My first conference outside my university was a big one at a […] … learn more→