FreshEd

FreshEd is taking a break for the next few weeks. While we are away, we'll re-play some of our favourite episodes. Special Note: We need your support to keep us ad-free in 2022. If you have the means to do so, please consider donating to FreshEd by visiting freshedpodcast.com/donate. My guest today, David Labaree, argues it was the very decentralized and autonomous structure of the higher educatio...

FreshEd is taking a break for the next few weeks. While we are away, we'll re-play some of our favourite episodes. Today's episode is with Maria Ressa, which was recorded two years ago. Maria won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to "safeguard freedom of expression." Her interview on FreshEd focused on the rise of misinformation campaigns. Maria Ressa is a Filipino-American journalist and...

As we end this year, I’d like to thank all the listeners of FreshEd. We are nothing without you. And we need your support to keep us ad-free in 2022. If you have the means to do so, please consider donating to FreshEd by visiting freshedpodcast.com/donate. This is the last show for 2021, so as is the FreshEd tradition, Susan Robertson and Mario Novelli join me to review the year. Our conversation...

In October, we aired our first focus on Afghanistan, looking at the thousands of Afghans stranded after the UK withdrew from the country. Today, we look at the situation from the perspective of the United States. With me is Susanne Jalbert, who served as the Chief of Party on the USAID Promote: Women in Government Project. She details the stories and struggles of trying to evacuate the thousands o...

Today we talk about accelerated education as an effective way to bring children who dropped out back into school. There have been many attempts at accelerated education. In this episode we focus on Speed School. Josh Muskin is Senior Director and Education Team Leader at Geneva Global, which has been supporting Speed Schools in Ethiopia and Uganda. Resources, transcript and more: freshedpodcast.co...

Earlier this month, UNESCO held a high-level segment of its Global Education Meeting aimed at galvanizing political commitment towards mobilizing additional investment in education. The goal was to encourage countries to develop strong domestic systems to fund education. My guest today is Borhene Chakroun, Director for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems at UNESCO. He has been working with UNES...

Today we think through the concept of power within the internationalization of higher education. My guest is Jenny Lee, professor at the Center for the Study of Higher Education and College of Education Dean's Fellow for Internationalization at the University of Arizona. Jenny Lee has a new edited collection entitled U.S. Power in International Higher Education, which was published by Rutgers Univ...

Today we take stock of climate education, its past and its future. With me are Christina Kwauk and Radhika Iyengar, who have recently co-edited the book, "Curriculum and Learning for Climate Action: Toward an SDG 4.7 Roadmap for Systems Change." They argue that COP26 has been disappointing in terms of education and climate action, and encourage everyone to focus on local action and change. Christi...

Today we talk about UNESCO’s new report from the international commission on the Futures of Education. The report is entitled “Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education.” It launches on Wednesday, November 10. With me to discuss the report is António Nóvoa, who was the Chair of the research-drafting committee of the International Commission. He is also a Professor at th...

Today Steve Carney joins me to talk about his new co-written book with Ulla Ambrosius Madsen entitled “Education in Radical Uncertainty: Transgression in Theory and Method.” The book offers a major critique of the field of comparative education and asks us to dwell in experience rather than make value judgements. This is a powerful book in both form and content and demands to be read by anyone wor...

Today we talk about the 45 million people in the USA who owe $1.7 trillion in student debt. My guest is Elizabeth Tandy Shermer, an Associate Professor of History at Loyola University Chicago. Elizabeth shows in her new book that the student debt crisis today can be traced back to the New Deal. She details the changing political fault lines when it comes to federally funding higher education. Eliz...

Today we talk about confronting settler colonialism in higher education. My guest is Leigh Patel, Professor of Urban Education at the University of Pittsburgh, and President of Education for Liberation. In her new book, No Study Without Struggle, Leigh shows how the ability to study has always involved some form of struggle by groups historically marginalised in the USA. Her book is a love letter...

When foreign militaries withdrew from Afghanistan on August 31, hundreds if not thousands of researchers and civil society members were left behind. In the UK, many of these people were prioritized for evacuation under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, known as ARAP, but they never got out. What has happened to those who were left behind? Today Brad Blitz joins me to talk about his wor...

Today we explore what it means to decolonize education. My guests are Riyad Shahjahan, Annabelle Estera, and Kirsten Edwards. Together with Kristen Surla, they conducted a literature review of 207 articles about the topic. They show that the very idea of decolonizing takes on diverse meanings and subsequently is put into practice in different ways. They argue there is no one way or best practice t...

Today we talk about how to teach about and beyond September 11th. My guest, Ameena Ghaffar-Kucher, says 9/11 is often taught in American schools as a one day event, focused on loss and mourning, heroes and first responders. Together with a global team, Ameena has launched the Teaching Beyond September 11th curriculum to change the narrative. Ameena Ghaffar Kucher is a Senior Lecturer in the Litera...

Today we celebrate the life and work of Paulo Freire, who was born on September 19, 1921. Freire has had an enormous impact on education around the world, from his concept of freedom and praxis to this understanding of oppression and liberation. I’m sure many listeners have read his famous book “Pedagogy of the Oppressed.” With me today is Alma Flor Ada who knew Freire and was deeply influenced by...

Today we take a critical look at the idea of competency-based education. Not only is the term hard to define but also it has various political agendas depending on which organization is promoting it. With me are Kathreyn Anderson-Levitt, a Professor Emerita of Anthropology at the University of Michigan–Dearborn and Meg Gardinier, who teaches at the School for International Training’s (SIT) Doctora...

Today Mari Casellato joins me to talk about her FreshEd Flux episode, which aired last week. I recommend you listen to her Flux episode before listening to this interview. It’ll make a lot more sense! In our conversation today, we talk about the history of environmental education and how it is different from education for sustainable development. Mari details youth conferences in Brazil in more de...

Today we air the third episode of Flux, a FreshEd series where graduate students turn their research interests into narrative-based podcasts. This episode is by Mari Casellato, a recent graduate of Teachers College, Columbia University. Mari takes us on a journey through time, revealing the potential of youth participation in environmental education in Brazil (and beyond). You might be thinking Br...

Next week we will air another episode of Flux, our series where graduate students turn their research interests into narrative-based podcasts. In fact, it’ll be the last episode of Flux for the year before we launch the application period for the next round of fellows. Next week’s episode will be about environmental education in Brazil. Environmental education is different from education for susta...

Today I’m going to play an old episode that has taken on new meaning now that we’ve aired Yardain Amron’s Flux episode, “Education is not the silver bullet.” If you don’t remember or haven’t listened, Yardain brought together multiple stories of student activism in India and Puerto Rico to paint a picture of how the privatization and marketization of higher education is a violent act. Back in 2017...

Today Yardain Amron joins me to talk about his FreshEd Flux episode, which aired last week. I recommend you listen to his Flux episode before listening to this interview. It’ll make a lot more sense! https://freshedpodcast.com/flux-amron/ In our conversation today, we talk about his process of creating podcasts and telling stories. He says he dwells on contradictions that often go unnoticed. Yarda...

Today we air the second episode of Flux, a FreshEd series where graduate students turn their research interests into narrative-based podcasts. In this episode Yardain Amron crafts a narrative that shows complex theories in action. He doesn’t simply tell his listeners what these ideas are or name them explicitly. He takes us to disparate places–from universities in India and Puerto Rico to Occupy W...

Today we explore the language of instruction in refugee education. Although learning in a home language is important, often it’s impossible for refugee children. Such tensions have important implications for refugee futures which are often unknowable. My guests are Celia Reddick and Sarah Dryden-Peterson who have recently co-written a new book chapter entitled “Refugee Education and Medium of Inst...

Today we look at some of the tensions implementing Sustainable Development Goal 4, which aims to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” My guest is Antonia Wulff who has closely followed the development, adoption, and implementation of the SDGs for nearly a decade. She even edited an open-access book about it, which was published las...