Children are naturally inquisitive and tolerant. Many constantly ask questions. At some point, most of them – most of us – just stop. Why does this happen? It’s not as if the world starts to make perfect sense after several years of living. There are social pressures to stop. To succeed, to be recognized as smart, children typically feel pressure to stop asking questions […] … learn more→

Around the world, lots of researchers are currently at home, during a crisis, trying to work (as Parks Canada management so aptly said). The Australian Research Council, along with many other funding agencies, have released guidelines on responding to the impact of COVID-19 in grant applications (here is a UK version – 104 Kb PDF). I’d like to expand on their […] … learn more→

The pandemic year has been odd for open-access (OA) policy. The shutdowns of libraries worldwide illustrated brutally the fragility of our access to research but also the power of open access, with many publishers scrambling to “unpaywall” the research they publish. Open access looked like the future. At the same time, however, the plague gutted […] … learn more→

This post is co-written and simultaneously published with Helen Kara to coincide with the launch of the Insider Guides to Success in Academia book series. Helen: It’s interesting to reflect on how we do this co-editing thing. We’ve been working together on this series since May 2017, so that’s three-and-a-half years. You and I hadn’t worked together before, though […] … learn more→

It was following a moral and civic education (EMC) course on freedom of expression, where he had worked with his students from caricatures, including those of Muhammad published in Charlie Hebdo , that Samuel Paty , professor of history and geography in the Paris region, was brutally murdered on October 16, 2020, near his college, in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. This tragic event thus focused media attention […] … learn more→

What do you do if you’re a government minister sitting on two major reviews that could have huge consequences for the UK higher education system? The answer, it appears, is: launch a couple of minor reviews that could also have quite significant consequences. If they are ever completed and implemented, that is. Remember the Augar […] … learn more→

The age of Covid has conjured up strange, uncanny new creatures. Think of the “anti-maskers” and assorted “Covidiots” seemingly lurking about every street corner and shopping centre queue. There are good reasons to be wary of venturing outdoors. Yet many traditional sanctuaries of learning (and social distancing) have been closed off for much of the […] … learn more→

Teaching the new generations of digital natives who are currently being trained in schools and institutes requires integrating participatory methodologies that allow them to enhance their interests and hobbies. Aware of this reality, the educational community has been debating in recent years the role that video games can play within the didactic gamification process. The teaching […] … learn more→

How to arouse a taste for books in children? This is a question that many professionals and parents ask themselves and to which there is not just one but a multitude of answers. Indeed, each child is different and will need various incentives in their journey towards reading. The first recommendation of specialists is not to be […] … learn more→

It is an adorable story. A New York University psychology professor picks up his children from daycare and rushes home to teach his online class. But the elevator gets stuck. Despite a bad connection, he manages to dial into the Zoom meeting and improvise most of the lecture while he waits to be rescued. After […] … learn more→