Blog Archives

Video shows students still get paddled in US schools

Video shows students still get paddled in US schools

The image of a teacher paddling or spanking a student at school may seem to belong in a history book – as archaic a practice as the dunce cap. However, for thousands of students across America each year, the use of corporal punishment for violating school rules is still a routine part of their education. Surprising […] … learn more→

Reading, postures, emotions: how the body helps us understand a text

Reading, postures, emotions: how the body helps us understand a text

On reading these first lines, your attention is fully focused on the content of the text. Your curiosity about the topic of the article – or simply discovering new information – makes you “cognitively” engaged in word processing. Then, during the reading, this commitment will gradually diminish: your reading will accelerate, your eye fixations will be […] … learn more→

We have the evidence for what works in schools, but that doesn’t mean everyone uses it

We have the evidence for what works in schools, but that doesn’t mean everyone uses it

By June 2020, the COVID-19 crisis had forced schools to close in 188 countries, disrupting the learning of more than 1.7 billion children. The OECD estimated the impact of these school closures would be at least two months of lost teaching for half of primary and secondary school students. In Australia, modelling by the Grattan Institute estimated disadvantaged students […] … learn more→

Machines can’t ‘personalize’ education, only people can

Machines can’t ‘personalize’ education, only people can

In the past year, COVID-19 abruptly disrupted schooling, and forced the question of how much kindergarten to Grade 12 education should or will rely on online teaching in the near and distant future. Education has taken a decided technological turn in its massive adaptation to online learning. This is precipitating a critical debate in education right […] … learn more→

'Zumping' or how neologisms in English help to learn the language

‘Zumping’ or how neologisms in English help to learn the language

After a year before the Covid-19, we have transformed our behaviors in communication and education through telepresence. Immediate information and ubiquitous communication also transcend language, which is still alive, generating neologisms that appear in the press and in the daily use of its speakers. If we asked ourselves what communication is today, we would probably answer: global, digital. And we would […] … learn more→

Back to the Future of Mathematics: If Hypatia raised her head

Back to the Future of Mathematics: If Hypatia raised her head

The mathematical Hypatia of Alexandria climbs into a DeLorian DMC-12 well loaded with plutonium. Enter the date of October 21, 2015. It accelerates to 88 miles per hour and… it appears 1,600 years later. If Marty McFly, the protagonist of Back to the Future II , finds notable differences in a journey of barely 30 years, Hypatia finds his journey shocking. […] … learn more→

I spent a year and a half at a ‘no-excuses’ charter school – this is what I saw

I spent a year and a half at a ‘no-excuses’ charter school – this is what I saw

Charter schools are 30 years old as of 2021, and the contentious debate about their merits and place in American society continues. To better understand what happens at charter schools – and as a sociologist who focuses on education – I spent a year and a half at a particular type of urban charter school that takes a “no-excuses” approach toward education. My […] … learn more→

These gestures that matter for language learning

These gestures that matter for language learning

You have certainly happened to chat with someone in a language you do not understand well. In this kind of situation, one of the reflexes to better understand what is being said is to base oneself on the gestures or facial expressions of the other person. Perhaps he will even have made the effort to underline or […] … learn more→

Do you really have to learn the syntactic rules?

Do you really have to learn the syntactic rules?

In these times in which, who more and who less, everyone allows himself to talk about science and its advances, the criticism that is directed towards certain professional sectors connected in a very direct way with science, such as the doctors and teachers, when they incorporate scientific advances. There are some very clear examples that […] … learn more→