When Congress decided in 1994 to ban federal student aid for people behind bars, it was part of a wider political agenda to “get tough on crime” – even though crime rates had begun to fall in the 1990s. The number of people behind bars grew, but, without access to federal student aid, higher education programs in America’s correctional facilities dwindled. […] … learn more→

This year, 20 states proposed to ban transgender girls – meaning those assigned male at birth but who live and identify as girls – from competing on girls interscholastic sports teams. The only bill to pass was in Idaho. That law bars transgender athletes from participating in high school and college sports. It also authorizes “sex testing” of athletes […] … learn more→

Concluding on December 9 a day organized at the CNAM on the theme: “Secularism, law, standards and habits”, the Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, spoke of his desire to further structure training initial and continuing teachers with regard to secularism. He announced that from the 2022 session of the recruitment competitions, candidates’ knowledge of secularism would be duly appreciated. Jean ‑ […] … learn more→

Joseph Epstein’s recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on whether Jill Biden, pedagogy scholar and incoming US First Lady, should parade her right to place “Dr” before her name rightly caused a stir. In his article Epstein said a lot of things, but in the subtext said much more. The internet was alive […] … learn more→

The COVID19 pandemic has compelled the world to reimagine work culture and proved that it may not be necessary to be physically present in an office to get work done. With the sudden shift to remote work, a lot of organizations had to face the challenge of adopting digital technologies in such a short span […] … learn more→

The electoral votes have confirmed Joe Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election. The presidential electors gave Biden 306 electoral votes to President Donald Trump’s 232 votes. Biden also recorded a solid lead of over 7 million in the popular vote. Nonetheless, results from a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist survey found that approximately three-quarters of Republicans did not trust the […] … learn more→

“Crisis” is a word that has been much used during the pandemic to describe the scale and acuteness of the multiple challenges posed. But when, in late November, my father was admitted to intensive care with a recurrence of a cancer he’d been treated for earlier in the year, these metaphorical constructions give way to […] … learn more→

As this tumultuous year comes to a close, the Australian summer is an ideal time to relax and escape through reading. Like many people, Australian teenagers have experienced higher rates of psychological distress this year as a result of the COVID pandemic. Reading is one way for teens to remove themselves, if only temporarily, from their current […] … learn more→

How do we choose what to research? Do we choose, or do our topics choose us? I’ve been musing about this, as I’ve recently had to explain why I chose to spend six years collating information about the scandalous and sometimes downright corrupt practices in English schools. Why a focus on corruption? My answer may […] … learn more→

In Netflix hit The Queen’s Gambit, we see young orphan Beth Harmon discover her talent for competitive chess. During a game played in the orphanage basement, Harmon’s chess tutor, the janitor, tells the nine-year-old: “To tell you the truth of it, child, you’re astounding” – contrasting her youth and naivety to her seemingly inherent gift. […] … learn more→