A while back I reviewed The Philip Dolly Affair, a work of fiction that nevertheless pulled back the curtain on the brutal reality of community college. I recently received a copy of a sequel of sorts…At The Community College: Smiles And Reflection. it’s not as good as ‘Dolly, but it still brings back a few […] … learn more→

I was in a pretty good place when I was unexpectedly called in, a couple of years ago, to see the acting head of my school at a UK university. I had just passed probation and been appointed the school’s lead in equality, diversity and inclusion: a role that I had enthusiastically applied for. If […] … learn more→

Universities are beleaguered institutions in many parts of the world. They are regularly criticised for providing poor value for money to the students, industries and countries they purport to serve. The follow-up to this criticism (much of which is clearly unfair and over the top) is to repeat the mantra that “universities should act like businesses”. The […] … learn more→

The ongoing environmentalist revolution has inspired a generation of young people to think differently about the role they play in shaping our Earth’s future. Many want to know that their future career will have a positive environmental impact, finding sustainable solutions to interrelated global problems. However, as Greta Thunberg and other environmentalists inspire us to […] … learn more→

In April 2018, the public learned that George Mason University had let the Charles Koch Foundation have a say in the hiring and review of faculty. The revelation confirmed long-held suspicions that Virginia’s largest public university was susceptible to pressure from wealthy people who make big donations to a foundation that solely exists to support the school. The news […] … learn more→

The days of the university professor who gives the master lesson are over. It can be dangerous to have analog teachers, blind to the changes that happen in their environment and disconnected from reality. Especially when the professionals of the future are in their hands and they should have the digital capabilities developed when they finish their […] … learn more→

The edu-fascists running so many of our schools are predictable. The educationists want growth at all costs, while the Progressives want to advance their destructive ideology at all costs. Entrance exams, what used to be a gatekeeper for getting in to higher education, have long been abandoned at many of our open admissions state schools. […] … learn more→

PhD graduates in the humanities need to cultivate more varied career paths. Canadian universities need to reform the culture of the humanities so that careers outside the university are seen to be just as valuable as permanent, tenure-track professorships. Changes like these will be good for the graduates, the universities and for Canadian society itself. […] … learn more→

For years, future of work reports have warned of major disruption. Artificial intelligence is spreading automation from the factory floor to the offices of university-educated professionals. Workers in jobs that don’t disappear will need different skills and regular retraining. This scenario sounds promising for universities and other education providers, who can prosper from lifelong learners. But recent […] … learn more→

Scholarly work is a slow thing, and it can take years before academics can officially declare even obvious things to be true…or at least true enough. So, while it was clear to me a decade or more ago that something was going very wrong in higher education, it’s only now that we have an official […] … learn more→