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→

Since October 30, 2020, in the context of this second period of confinement, French students have been forced to follow distance education. This situation gives rise to contrasting reactions, combining praise for the adaptability of universities and criticism of maintaining this method of teaching. The media echo the suffering of the students. Following the executive’s announcement of a resumption […] … learn more→

The pandemic has starkly confirmed just how deeply inequality shapes the lives of individuals and communities across the world. Within higher education, social background has long had a decisive impact on access and success. This only risks being exacerbated by responses to Covid-19. Take the shift to online learning. Many people would like it to […] … learn more→

As learning experiences go, the past year has been nothing if not intense. Not that the learning has been confined to students locked down in their bedrooms: universities, too, have been on something of a crash course in digital instruction. And their grades have been distinctly mixed. Those that tried to solve the Covid conundrum […] … learn more→