Monthly Archives: June 2020

Some ECR responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

Some ECR responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

Since February 2020 I have conducted Zoom conversations with eight early career researchers about their experiences. They all completed Humanities and Social Sciences PhDs from Australian universities in the last five years, and are citizens and/or residents of four different countries (Australia, Canada, Indonesia and the USA). Some are working as academics in universities, but […] … learn more→

Management: teaching collective action for ecological transition

Management: teaching collective action for ecological transition

In higher education, many voices have called for an ecological revival before the Covid-19 crisis. It is a question of students being able to understand in their training the challenges of the ecological transition imposed by climate change, the depletion of resources and biodiversity. More than 30,000 students signed the first call launched in 2018. A second collected more than […] … learn more→

Student teachers must pass a literacy and numeracy test before graduating – it’s unfair and costly

Student teachers must pass a literacy and numeracy test before graduating – it’s unfair and costly

A recent media report noted student teachers are facing delays in sitting a literacy and numeracy test they need to pass to graduate, due to the pandemic. The report noted a group of student teachers have petitioned education minister Dan Tehan to scrap the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education Students (LANTITE) this year, and […] … learn more→

Learning from live pandemic research

Learning from live pandemic research

I haven’t taught research methods for a year or so. But right now I do wish I still was. I’m not asking for additional workload. Not at all. It’s just that there is so much potential for learning in the current pandemic. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m pretty unhappy with the kind of […] … learn more→

The only way to save Higher Education is to make it free

The only way to save Higher Education is to make it free

College was already a financial house of cards. Then coronavirus hit. In January 2020, while I was in New Hampshire canvassing for Elizabeth Warren, a campaign organizer urged me to tell voters why I supported her. For me, that was easy. “As a college teacher,” I said when someone answered the door, “I believe that […] … learn more→

The good-guy image police present to students often clashes with students’ reality

The good-guy image police present to students often clashes with students’ reality

Eight days after George Floyd was killed during an encounter with Minneapolis police in an incident that sparked protests around the world, Minneapolis Public Schools terminated its contract for the Minneapolis police to provide officers in schools. “I value people and education and life,” school board chairwoman Kim Ellison told a local newspaper. “Now I’m convinced, based on the actions of […] … learn more→

Science curricula must be decolonised too

Science curricula must be decolonised too

The murder of George Floyd has caused outrage across the US and the world, forcing everyone to confront the fact that the goal of racial equity remains a distant one. This is as true in the academy as it is in Minneapolis’ police service. In the past few years, we have seen a huge movement […] … learn more→

Climate change is the most important mission for universities of the 21st century

Climate change is the most important mission for universities of the 21st century

Universities are confronting the possibility of profound sector-wide transformation due to the continuing effects of COVID-19. It is prompting much needed debate about what such transformation should look like and what kind of system is in the public interest. This is now an urgent conversation. If universities want a say in what the future of higher education […] … learn more→