Blog Archives

Racism lurks behind decisions to deny Black high school students from being recognized as the top in their class

Racism lurks behind decisions to deny Black high school students from being recognized as the top in their class

Two Black students – Ikeria Washington and Layla Temple – were named valedictorian and salutatorian at West Point High School in Mississippi in 2021. Shortly afterward, two white parents  questioned whether school officials had correctly calculated the top academic honors. Ultimately, the school superintendent named two white students as “co-valedictorian” and “co-salutatorian” on the day of graduation. High […] … learn more→

Critical race theory: What it is and what it isn’t

Critical race theory: What it is and what it isn’t

U.S. Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana sent a letter to fellow Republicans on June 24, 2021, stating: “As Republicans, we reject the racial essentialism that critical race theory teaches … that our institutions are racist and need to be destroyed from the ground up.” Kimberlé Crenshaw, a law professor and central figure in the development of critical […] … learn more→

Academic freedom is paramount for universities. They can do more to protect it from China’s interference

Academic freedom is paramount for universities. They can do more to protect it from China’s interference

A report from Human Rights Watch released yesterday found students and academics critical of China’s Communist Party are being harassed and intimidated by supporters of Beijing. Human Rights Watch interviewed 24 pro-democracy students from mainland China and Hong Kong, and 22 academics at Australian universities. In three verified cases, families of students in Australia who lived in […] … learn more→

How to get into further education as an adult

How to get into further education as an adult

There are all kinds of reasons why you might not have pursued further education as a young adult. Maybe you needed to get a job fast in order to earn money, or perhaps it just wasn’t the right direction for your life at the time. Whatever your reason, you might think that the path of […] … learn more→

College can still be rigorous without a lot of homework

College can still be rigorous without a lot of homework

How hard should it be to earn a college degree? When the book “Academically Adrift” appeared in 2011, it generated widespread concern that college was not effectively educating students and preparing them for today’s world. Among other things, authors Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa claimed that most colleges were not rigorous or demanding, in part because college […] … learn more→

University rankings: geopolitical issues underestimated ed?

University rankings: geopolitical issues underestimated ed?

The world of higher education and research is now punctuated by seasonal announcements of the results of “rankings”. Since 2003, when the first ranking of world universities was published by a research team from the Chinese Jiaotong University in Shanghai, meetings have multiplied. Alongside the generalist rankings established annually by the British press group Times Higher Education (since […] … learn more→

Make your case stronger – argue against yourself

Make your case stronger – argue against yourself

Argument is crucial to academic writing. It’s argue argue argue all the way. Once we have identified a problem or puzzle that we think is worth researching, we then make a case for research, creating the warrant for our work. We present evidence in a persuasive sequence. We argue that the research results have a […] … learn more→

Podcasting overcomes hurdles facing unis to immerse students in the world of workers’ experiences

Podcasting overcomes hurdles facing unis to immerse students in the world of workers’ experiences

Podcasting is helping to revolutionise tertiary education. Universities have found themselves caught between shrinking budgets and an official insistence that they make graduates job-ready. Academics have had to be creative and flexible about how they engage their students with crucial learning, and podcasting is one way to do this. In the past year, universities have […] … learn more→