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→
Blog Archives
Racism lurks behind decisions to deny Black high school students from being recognized as the top in their class
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
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
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
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?
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→
Authenticate a Goya or destroy a tumor: Why is it a good idea to study Physics?
Physics is once again attractive as a study discipline for both young and older students. Proof of this is the increase in the educational offer of this study. In Spain, for example, several universities have announced the upcoming implementation of this degree. On the other hand, the cut-off mark for the degrees in Physics of the different higher schools […] … learn more→
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 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→
Schools must act carefully on students’ off-campus speech, Supreme Court rules
For decades, U.S. courts have ruled that public school students “do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression at the schoolhouse gate,” as the Supreme Court said in 1968. In that case, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District, the justices held that high school students who were suspended for protesting […] … learn more→