Ten years ago, I was employed on two part-time contracts at two universities in the UK. In one I was employed as an academic study skills tutor, in which I would give advice to students on essay writing, reading strategies, exam preparation and time management. In the other I was employed as a specialist dyslexia […] … learn more→
Author Archives: Kevin
Dyslexia tutors should be part of wider support services
How to stop using food to reward and punish your kids
At one time or another, just about every parent uses food to reward their kids for good behavior and achievements – or to console them when they’re sad or disappointed. When children make honor roll, win a big game or persevere through a struggle, a parent might express their pride and joy with candy or […] … learn more→
When the Spanish public university opened the door to women
“Educate in equality so you don’t miss a single talent due to lack of opportunities.” Josefina Aldecoa, Story of a Teacher, (1990). Every March 8 we commemorate the International Women’s Day declared by the UN in 1975. That important day for feminism has not only become a memory for textile workers who demonstrated in New […] … learn more→
Psychopathic behaviour is a hidden problem in higher education
Irina Dumitrescu’s November 2019 article in Times Higher Education “Ten rules for succeeding in academia through upward toxicity” highlights an important issue that all university administrators should be more aware of: an environment where some psychopaths flourish. She was correct to say that “universities sing the song of meritocracy but dance to a different tune. […] … learn more→
Why gender mix is not compulsory
Even in public establishments or private establishments under contract, mixed education is not legally compulsory. In this case, we are not talking about the fact that there is practically no gender diversity which can exist in certain vocational high school courses where the rate of girls can approach 99% (for example 96% in medico-social sciences) or else […] … learn more→
Dealing with plagiarism and cheating in schools
To curb cheating effectively, there are plagiarism detectors for students that are useful as an originality checker for dissertations. Understanding duplicate content issues in student papers Intentional copying of the content and camouflaging the authorial identity is a severe offense that falls under plagiarism. Learners often have multiple reasons behind committing the misdeed of copying […] … learn more→
Cyberbullying by students in course evaluations should not be tolerated
Those people who said cruel things in the press and on social media about the British reality TV host Caroline Flack, who killed herself last month, probably thought she was too famous and successful to be hurt by anything they could say. But while it is impossible for outsiders to say what prompted this desperate […] … learn more→
Why colleges should think twice before punishing student protesters
For much of the 2019-2020 academic year, Syracuse University has been besieged by student protests over how the school handled of a series of racist incidents on campus. In the latest protest, Syracuse student activists have occupied the campus administration building since Feb. 17. Using the hashtag #NotAgainSU, they are calling for action in the wake of racist, anti-Semitic and bias-related […] … learn more→
We should use ‘I’ more in academic writing – there is benefit to first-person perspective
The use of the word “I” in academic writing, that is writing in the first person, has a troublesome history. Some say it makes writing too subjective, others that it’s essential for accuracy. This is reflected in how students, particularly in secondary schools, are trained to write. Teachers I work with are often surprised that I […] … learn more→
Critical theory represents the power, not the corruption, of the humanities
It would seem as if the Trump era has been especially bad for the humanities. Sure, in the years before 2016 there was constant worry about “the crisis in the humanities”, with the disciplines’ supposed descent into jargon, specialisation and obscurity. Undergraduate enrolments fell. Literature and language departments closed. Even President Obama, a former law […] … learn more→
