FreshEd

Today we look at a UNESCO development project started in the early 1950s in Central Mexico that promoted fundamental education. My guests, Luis Urrieta and Judith Landeros, critique the common narrative of the project, revealing problematic deficit perspectives as well as nuanced counterstories of silenced voices. Luis Urrieta, Jr. is an Indigenous (P’urhépecha)/Latino interdisciplinary researcher...

Trying to write this introduction, I’m stuck looking at a blank page. The cursor is blinking, teasing me to say something, anything. But I can’t. I’m stuck. Has that ever happened to you – the stress of writing? It’s not unusual. And yet writing is essential. We communicate by writing. We process ideas by writing. Writing provides us a creative outlet. So how do people approach the writing process...

Today Michael Rumbelow joins me to talk about his FreshEd Flux episode. I recommend you listen to that episode before you continue with this one. In our conversation today, we talk about maths education and the power of block play. We even listen to a few clips of Michael’s Flux episode to dissect the subtext and sounds. Michael Rumbelow is a PhD student at the University of Bristol. freshedpodcas...

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 Aizuddin and Nazmi Anuar join me to talk about Aizuddin’s FreshEd Flux episode. I recommend you listen to that episode before you continue with this one. In today's episode, we discuss the power of memory when thinking about development and excavate some of the layers in Aizuddin’s Flux episode. Aizuddin Anuar is a lecturer in education at Keele University and his brother, Nazmi, teaches arc...

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...

Here we are. 300 episodes. I can’t believe it really. FreshEd has been putting out regular content for 2,569 days. That’s just over 7 years and averages a new episode every 8.5 days. We’ve produced close to 200 hours of recorded conversations about education broadly defined. Over 1 million words transcribed. In that time, we started a fellowship program for graduate students and two spin-off podca...

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 Yanan Yu joins me to talk about her FreshEd Flux episode, which aired last week. Spoiler alert: we talk about her episode in depth in today’s show, so if you haven’t already listened to her episode, I recommend you do so right now. Really, hit pause, go back and listen to her flux episode, and then come back here to go behind the scenes. In our conversation today, Yanan details what it’s lik...

Today we start the second season of Flux, a FreshEd series where graduate students turn their research interests into narrative-based podcasts. To kick things off, 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 does she need something...

Today we explore the meaning of regionalism in the South Pacific. With me is Seu’ula Johansson-Fua who uses the concept of Wansolwara to think about creating a regionalism from within the “sea of islands” that is the South Pacific. Seu’ula Johansson-Fua is the director of the institute of education at the University of the South Pacific. Her new article is Wansolwara: Sustainable Development, Educ...

Today Kehaulani Vaughn joins me to discuss Trans-Indigenous education primarily on Turtle Island, the name used by Indigenous peoples for North America. Kēhaulani Vaughn (Kanaka Maoli) is an assistant professor in the Department of Education, Culture, and Society and the Pacific Islands Studies Initiative at the University of Utah. She has recently co-written, with Theresa Jean Ambo, an article en...

Today You Yun joins me to talk about Social-Emotional Learning (SEL). She critiques the approach to SEL advocated by western organizations by showing how conceptions of the self, other, and emotions are not universal. By exploring these concepts from Confucian and Daoist philosophies, she begins to show alternative ways to think about SEL. You Yun is an Associate Professor in the department of Edu...

Today Mir Abdullah Miri joins me to talk about his escape from Afghanistan and takes me inside the production of “The Desert of Death,” an episode he made for the Intercepted podcast. Mir Abdullah Miri is an Afghanistan Observatory Scholar at New America. In Afghanistan, he served on the faculty of Herat University. In the fall of 2021, Miri was evacuated from Kabul to England, and now lives in Ba...

Today we explore higher education assessment for disabled students. My guest is Juuso Nieminen, an Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong. Juuso argues that assessment adjustments are often technical processes that presuppose a medical logical. Juuso’s new article is “A spanner in the works: the portrayal of disabled students in assessment adjustment research” which was published in th...

It’s great to be back after an extended holiday. I’m recharged and ready to go. We have an exciting line-up for the rest of the year, including our FreshEd Flux episodes. Before we start today, I’d like say hello to all our new listeners who may be joining us for the first time as they start their degrees at universities across the Northern Hemisphere. I hope you find FreshEd useful in your studie...

Hi FreshEd Listeners. We’re on holiday for the month of August. We’ll be back in September with new episodes, including the next round of Flux. I’ve already listened to a few rough cuts and they’re going to be great. While we’re away, please send us your recommendations for future guests as well as consider donating to FreshEd to keep independent media alive. FreshEd is nothing without you. Thanks...

Hi FreshEd Listeners. We’re on holiday for the month of August. We’ll be back in September with new episodes, including the next round of Flux. I’ve already listened to a few rough cuts and they’re going to be great. While we’re away, please send us your recommendations for future guests as well as consider donating to FreshEd to keep independent media alive. FreshEd is nothing without you. Thanks...

Hi FreshEd Listeners. We’re on holiday for the month of August. We’ll be back in September with new episodes, including the next round of Flux. I’ve already listened to a few rough cuts and they’re going to be great. While we’re away, please send us your recommendations for future guests as well as consider donating to FreshEd to keep independent media alive. FreshEd is nothing without you. Thanks...

Hi FreshEd Listeners. We’re on holiday for the month of August. We’ll be back in September with new episodes, including the next round of Flux. I’ve already listened to a few rough cuts and they’re going to be great. While we’re away, please send us your recommendations for future guests as well as consider donating to FreshEd to keep independent media alive. FreshEd is nothing without you. Thanks...

Today we explore the role of students and youth in global education governance. With me is Sebastian Berger, the Executive Director of the Global Student Forum. The Global Student Forum is the umbrella organisation of the world’s major representative student federations and the only independent, democratic and representative student governance structure dedicated to promoting the rights and perspe...

Today we explore the birth of global economic governance and the myth of equal sovereignty. We look at early efforts of international development and technical assistance, revealing how many of the tensions that existed in the early 1900s are still with us today. My guest is Jamie Martin an Assistant Professor of History and Social Studies at Harvard University. His new book is The Meddlers: Sover...

FreshEd has a new podcast! It's called Aula Divergente and it's in Spanish. The show, which airs on Fridays, is series-based (that is, we'll air a group of episodes around a single topic before moving to the next) and focuses on educational issues across Latin America. It's hosted by Daniela Hernández and Carlos Navia. Today Dani and Carlos join me to talk about Aula Divergente. We then play the f...

Special announcement: FreshEd started a Spanish-language podcast called Aula Divergente! Subscribe now: https://freshedpodcast.com/auladivergente/subscribe/ -- Today we explore mass shootings in the USA. My guest is Dinur Blum who explores this phenomenon using a sociological lens. Dinur Blum is a lecturer in the department of Sociology at California State University, Los Angeles. Together with Ch...

As many students in the Northern Hemisphere begin summer break, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on and reimagine universities. Ian Cook and Prem Kumar Rajaram join me today to talk about their new Open Access co-edited volume, Opening up the University: Teaching and Learning with Refugees, which was put together with Celine Cantat. Ian M. Cook is Director of Studies at the Open Learni...