FreshEd

Today I continue my introduction to Australia. With me is Lindsay Fitzclarence who has just published the book “The Dirty Life of Mining in Australia: A travelogue.” In it, Lindsay goes on an educational journey into the history, culture, and political economy of an industry that plays an outsize role in Australia. Lindsay Fitzclarence is an honorary professor at Deakin University. His book The Di...

Today we explore academic freedom and struggles for justice by looking at Palestine. My guests are Palestinian academics Mai Abu Moghli and Nida Badawi. Mai Abu Moghli is a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Lebanese Studies and an Academic Fellow at the University of Cambridge. Nida Badawi is a master’s students at the University College London. I spoke with them last week. freshedpodcast.com/mo...

Today we look at digital humanitarianism and how digital interfaces are constructing new forms and modes of governance. My guest is Fleur Johns, who has recently authored the new book #Help: Digital Humanitarianism and the Remaking of International Order. Fleur Johns is a professor in the faculty of law and justice at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. She is currently an Australian Rese...

Today we revisit the ideas of the so-called new sociology of education, which were popularised in the 1970s. My guest is Julie McLeod, a Professor of Curriculum, Equity and Social Change at the University of Melbourne Faculty of Education Julie McLeod recently edited a Point and Counterpoint set of essays for Curriculum Perspectives that revisit the ideas and debates in the new sociology of educat...

Today we explore generative AI in education. My guest is none-other than ChatGPT, perhaps the most infamous generative AI assistant today. In our conversation, I ask ChatGPT about some of the biases in its answers and how schools and universities should try to overcome them. ChatGPT is a large language model-based chatbot developed by OpenAI. freshedpodcast.com/chatgpt -- Get in touch! Twitter: @F...

Given the recent events in Palestine, I thought it would be a good time to revisit this episode on Lebanon. We'll be back soon with new episodes. -- What does citizenship education look like in a country affected by armed conflict and economic crises? My guest today, Bassel Akar, has closely examined citizenship and history education in Lebanon. Some of his research focuses on the ways in which te...

Today we explore new approaches to teacher education in Australia. My guest is Chris Morrissey, a Clinical Associate Professor and Director of School Partnerships at the University of Canberra. Chris tells me about the school-based teacher education clinics that he helped develop across the Australian Capital Territory. Chris was named the 2023 Australian Teacher Educator of the Year by the Austra...

FreshEd has over 300 episodes in its archive. For the next few weeks, we'll air some of our favourites. -- Is there a worldwide learning crisis today? My guest, Keith Lewin, argues that the real issue in much of international education development has to do with financing. In our conversation, we discuss aid to education and the ways in which the Sustainable Development Goals don’t take the idea o...

FreshEd has over 300 episodes in its archive. For the next few weeks, we'll air some of our favourites. -- Today we talk about intercultural competencies. These are the attitudes, skills, and knowledge that enable people to see from different perspectives, helping us get along together as humans. These competencies seem particularly relevant in our current political climate. My guest is Darla Dear...

Education privatisation continues to be a big topic across countries. But do you really know how it’s happening, how privatization as an educational policy is moving around the world? And what effect is it having on governments? Today we re-play an episode from 2017. My guest, Stephen Ball, has written a series of books looking at educational privatization. In his latest book, Edu.net, co-written...

Today we look at the research process in post-conflict Sri Lanka. My Guest is Suren Ladd, a PhD student at the University of Sydney. Suren Ladd has recently published the article “Virtual Qualitative Inquiry: Tensions of Research in Post-conflict Sir Lanka, which was published in Globalisation, Societies and education. freshedpodcast.com/ladd -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: Fre...

Today we look at the intersection of school financing and the climate emergency. Should green infrastructure updates in schools be financed primarily through grants or loans? With me are David Backer and Akira Drake Rodriguez. David Backer is an associate professor of education policy at West Chester University of Pennsylvania and Akira Drake Rodriguez is an assistant professor at the Weitzman Sch...

Today we explore aboriginal voices in education research in Australia. Australians will soon vote in a referendum about whether to change their Constitution to allow for the creation of an advisory body made up of First Nations peoples. This body would provide advice to the Parliament and the government on matters that impact indigenous communities. This is called The Voice. Nikki Moodie is an Ass...

Today we explore the alternative education providers that have emerged in the aftermath of the 2021 coup in Myanmar. My guest is James, a representative of Spring University Myanmar. SUM has recently published a report entitled Higher Education in Post-Coup Myanmar. In order to protect James, I’ve agreed not to use his surname or photo. https://freshedpodcast.com/SUM/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @Fr...

Today we look at the high school dropout crisis and the dismantling of the social safety net in Philadelphia. My guest is Nikhil Goyal, a sociologist and policymaker who served as senior policy advisor on education and children for Senator Bernie Sanders. Nikhil’s new book is Live to see the day: Coming of Age in American Poverty. https://freshedpodcast.com/goyal/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshE...

Today we take stock of the Covid-19 pandemic and higher education. After nearly four years, how have universities changed and what might their future look like? With me to discuss the post-pandemic university are Mark Carrigan and Susan Robertson. Mark Carrigan is a lecturer in education at the University of Manchester and Susan Robertson is a professor of the sociology of education at Wolfson Col...

Today we dig into the ways in which governments in low- and middle-income countries make decisions on education. What interventions work and which should be scaled? My guest is Brad Olsen. As he shows, these questions are a lot more complex than we might think. Brad Olsen is a senior fellow with the Center for Universal Education in the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Insti...

Today we talk about what it would mean to queer higher education. My guests are Louise Morley and Daniel Leyton. In their new book, they disrupt some of the norms and common ways of thinking in higher education today.  Louise Morley is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Sussex and Daniel Leyton is a Lecturer at the University of Exeter. Their new book is entitled Queering Higher Education:...

Today we explore the way in which education and economic well-being were linked in the USA. My guest, Jon Shelton, calls the link a myth and shows how it prevented alternative visions of education from expanding and furthering social democracy. Jon Shelton is a Professor and chair of democracy and justice studies at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. His new book is The Education Myth: How Hum...

Today we air the last episode of Flux Season 2. Flux is a FreshEd series where graduate students turn their research interests into narrative-based podcasts. This episode was created by Michael Rumbelow, a PhD student at the University of Bristol. In his Flux episode, Michael takes listeners on a sonic journey to explore block play. He weaves together sounds and ideas to show the power and possibi...

Today we air the next episode of Flux. a FreshEd series where graduate students turn their research interests into narrative-based podcasts. This episode was created by Aizuddin Mohamed Anuar, who recently graduated with his PhD from Oxford and is now a lecturer in education at Keele University. In his Flux episode, Aizuddin problematizes the meaning of development. Is development always a forward...

Today we air the next episode of Flux. This episode was created by Bhavani Kunjulakshmi, a recent graduate of the UCL Institute of Education and staff writer at Feminism in India. Bhavani’s episode explores the meaning of colonization and decolonization in international development and education. We might think we know what colonization is. The history. The actors involved. The exploitation. But w...

Today we re-air the first episode of the second season of Flux, a FreshEd series where graduate students turn their research interests into narrative-based podcasts. In this Flux episode, Yanan Yu tells a story that raises some interesting questions about how ability should be defined. Is it enough that she has a level ten certification in piano? And a master’s degree? And now works at the BBC? Or...

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...

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Please take this survey on podcasting in higher education: www.freshedpodcast.com/survey -- In this Flux 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 Wall Street–and makes a...