Every disease outbreak brings an accompanying outbreak of fear. Already we’re seeing coverage on the spread of coronavirus fear which leads to misinformation, an effect on the economy and, perhaps the most alarming, xenophobia . Social stigmatisation and xenophobia are, unfortunately, well known features of disease outbreaks. And there is potential for xenophobic sentiment to build in Australian schools. In an outbreak situation, xenophobia does not feel like […] … learn more→

There is no more delicate moment in compulsory education than the transition from primary education to secondary education. It is then when boys and girls have to carry out a complex process of psychological, social and academic adaptation to accommodate the new reality of their school environment, important changes in their interpersonal relationships and changes in their […] … learn more→

Less than a decade after 18-year-old Kobe Bryant got drafted into the NBA in 1996, the league made all players spend at least one year in college or playing overseas before they could enter the professional basketball league. That rule may be about to be rescinded, paving the way for today’s star high school players to […] … learn more→

Wandering albatrosses have long been considered exceptional creatures. They can fly 8.5 million kilometres during their lifetimes – the equivalent of flying to the Moon and back more than ten times. Their three-and-a-half-metre wing span is the same length as a small car and they can weigh as much as 24 puffins. Their body shape means they […] … learn more→

For many children today, before they even start school they are already digitally literate. They know how to use a phone, make videos and take photographs. This is to be welcomed given government research has found that 82% of all advertised openings require some level of digital skills. But our new research with schools in the US and France […] … learn more→

The Times of London recently predicted that, on current trends, all students at some British universities will obtain first-class degrees by the end of this new decade. The 2:2 will become extinct across the whole sector by 2033. And in 38 years’ time we will get to the point where all students receive firsts. There are few topics […] … learn more→

Last year there was substantial hand-wringing over Australia’s declining results in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests. Ideas for how to reverse this decline were coming from far and wide, thick and fast. Federal Minister for Education Dan Tehan declared Australian education needed to go “back-to-basics” while influential commentators pointed out PISA tests are focused […] … learn more→

When those with mental illness experience prejudice and discrimination in the form of stigma, it can make their suffering considerably worse. Spreading awareness and understanding through education is one of the strategies used to tackle the problem. Years of public education campaigns have helped open the conversation. Yet evidence suggests that stigma against people with […] … learn more→

Hardly a day goes by without the popular press featuring some celebrity or sportsperson recounting their supposed experience of “impostor syndrome”. Meanwhile, on social media, posting after posting suggests that “everyone has it” – but you can cure yours with this three-point action plan. Sadly, much of this material is both incorrect and belittling to those […] … learn more→

Having to explain the value of humanistic formation in our world and in our teachings – university or not – is already an indicator of the point we have reached. The dominant utilitarian reason and a kind of economic totalitarianism produce arguments that lead to relegating humanistic studies: their uselessness in terms of competitiveness in […] … learn more→