As health care improves and more people live healthier and longer lives, the elderly population of Earth will balloon. There were 66m people in the UK in mid-2017, and nearly 12m – or 18.2% – of them were aged 65 years and over. By 2040, that number is expected to rise to 24.2%. Many of these […] … learn more→
Teaching archaeology in care homes, I learned how older people are often the best students
Striking teachers in Denver shut down performance bonuses – here’s how that will impact education
Nathan Favero, an education policy expert at American University, answers three questions about the effectiveness of performance-based pay and how its elimination will impact education in Denver. How did performance affect teachers’ pay? While teachers’ base salaries were mostly determined by their education levels and teaching experience, in Denver public schools, teachers also got substantial […] … learn more→
Daughters coming home from College with mustaches is a thing now
The gender dysphoria madness affecting our culture is a bit of a puzzle to me. Yes, I knew about people who wanted a sex change, thirty or more years ago…but they were rare things, and I couldn’t claim to have even been in the same room as, much less met, such a person until just […] … learn more→
Workshops “cooking” in college: the key to learn to consume better?
At a time when obesity is a real public health problem and where agri-food marketing promotes quick and easy consumption, based on ready-made meals and ultra-processed products, it is crucial to encourage young people. to adopt good eating habits. Repeated at school or during information campaigns, the messages of the National Program Nutrition Health (PNNS) gives them some […] … learn more→
School climate strikes: why adults no longer have the right to object to their children taking radical action
A worldwide wave of school climate strikes, begun by the remarkable Greta Thunberg, has reached the UK. Some critics claim these activist-pupils are simply playing truant, but I disagree. Speaking as both a climate campaigner and an academic philosopher, I believe school walkouts are morally and politically justifiable. Philosophy can help us tackle the question of whether direct action […] … learn more→
Just what are ‘zero tolerance’ policies – and are they still common in America’s schools?
When parents and educators discuss school discipline, one of the things that comes up most are “zero tolerance” policies. This term is often misused and misunderstood, according to new research I published recently. Zero tolerance policies are also thought to be widespread. But, my work and a recent report show they are actually less common than frequently thought. Zero […] … learn more→
A prickly path towards integration for EdTech
By now, most people that own a computer have heard of one or two EdTech companies. EdTech, despite being an industry that’s often not as glamorous as subjects in other technological fields such as machine learning or space exploration, still stands as an important piece of how humans normalize their interactions with the exponential nature […] … learn more→
Face recognition technology in classrooms is here – and that’s ok
Recently, the Victorian Government brought in new rules stating Victorian state schools will be banned from using facial recognition technology in classrooms unless they have the approval of parents, students and the Department of Education. Students may be justifiably horrified at the thought of being monitored as they move throughout the school during the day. But a roll marking […] … learn more→
Blanquer, “read, write, count” and “fundamental knowledge”
As part of the discussion of the French bill “Blanquer”, an amendment was adopted in committee with the approval of the Minister of National Education: the creation of “public institutions of fundamental knowledge” (ranging from CP to the third). The title could have been “Common Core School” or “Compulsory Schooling”. But these are the “fundamental knowledge”, an expression that […] … learn more→
Male teachers are most likely to rate highly in university student feedback
University students, like many in society, demonstrate bias against women and particularly women from non-English speaking backgrounds. That’s the take home message from a new and comprehensive analysis of student experience surveys. The study examined a large dataset consisting of more than 500,000 student responses collected over 2010 to 2016. It involved more than 3,000 teachers and 2,000 […] … learn more→