Ataulfo, Siderico, Walia, Teodoredo, Teodorico, Eurico… and so on up to thirty-three Visigothic kings. The list ends with the deposed Don Rodrigo, defeated by the Muslims in the battle of the Guadalete River in the year 711, giving way to the Muslim period in the Iberian Peninsula. It is a classic of Spanish education from another […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
Is educating in competencies educating without content?
Conservative US Supreme Court reconsidering affirmative action, leaving the use of race in college admissions on the brink of extinction
The U.S. military learned a valuable lesson about race during the Vietnam War: Diversity does not happen without affirmative action. That helps explain why a distinguished group of 35 military officials wrote a brief to the Supreme Court supporting the use of race as a part of college admissions – as the U.S. military has done at its four […] … learn more→
Why attending publicly funded schools may help students become more culturally sensitive
Being an intercultural citizen — someone who supports the principle of a multicultural state and also demonstrates positive personal attitudes towards diversity — is considered essential from a human rights perspective. What kind of learning best supports its development? To try to answer this question, I surveyed close to 400 recent Ontario high school graduates who attended regular […] … learn more→
School attendance problems are complex, and our solutions need to be as well
Over the past few years, the pandemic prompted school closures and remote learning that drew international attention to issues of students missing school — what researchers call “non-attendance.” Millions of students across the world missing varying amounts of school raises concerns about students’ learning loss and mental health — and also about long-term implications, particularly for those already […] … learn more→
Why should writing be learned in the classroom?
Students’ education has been disrupted around the world by the Covid-19 crisis. In France, distance education imposed by confinement situations has thus increased educational inequalities linked to the social origins of children and adolescents. Beyond the digital divide relating to the material conditions of equipment, the differences in the uses of language, orally and even more so in writing, have undermined […] … learn more→
Pupils with language difficulties are more vulnerable to bullying
Through language we can learn about objects, people, situations and concepts thanks to a common code system that allows us to interact quickly and flexibly. For this reason, the educational system considers language as one of its main tools and it is a key factor throughout the schooling process. This implies that people who have difficulties […] … learn more→
If you want your child to be more resilient, get them to join a choir, orchestra or band
One of the most important qualities for a young person to develop is resilience. This involves their ability to overcome adversity. Resilience is perhaps more important now than ever. Today’s young people have been facing adversity on a mass-scale, thanks to COVID and all the disruptions to their education and social, home and working lives. The […] … learn more→
Speak several languages in the family: should we set rules?
Many of us live in societies that are no longer characterized so much by their diversity as by their “super-diversity” , to use the words of anthropologist Steven Vertovec. More and more people are circulating around the world, bringing their languages and cultures on a journey. In Great Britain, for example, 20% of pupils are multilingual and speak at least one […] … learn more→
AI is changing scientists’ understanding of language learning – and raising questions about an innate grammar
Unlike the carefully scripted dialogue found in most books and movies, the language of everyday interaction tends to be messy and incomplete, full of false starts, interruptions and people talking over each other. From casual conversations between friends, to bickering between siblings, to formal discussions in a boardroom, authentic conversation is chaotic. It seems miraculous that anyone […] … learn more→
‘I feel guilty about not being good enough’: why all Australian schools need teaching material banks
School education in Australia needs a circuit-breaker. Student performance continues to stagnate and teachers report excessive workloads and alarming rates of stress. Our new report from the Grattan Institute, Ending the Lesson Lottery: How to Improve Curriculum Planning, looks at how teachers could be much better supported. Rather than tinkering at the edges of the education system, we should be looking […] … learn more→
