FreshEd

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...

Special announcement: Starting in July, the University of Canberra will be the new home of FreshEd! While Will moves to Australia, we'll be re-playing the FreshEd Flux episodes. Also, please take this survey on podcasting in higher education: www.freshedpodcast.com/survey -- In the first episode of Flux, Daniela Hernández Silva takes listeners to a faraway place in the Colombian countryside. Here,...

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Please take this survey on podcasting in higher education: www.freshedpodcast.com/survey -- Today we continue our mini-series called the FreshEd Questionnaire. I’ve been asking guests a set of standard questions after each interview. These questions focus on how guests approach writing, reading, research, and supervision. I want to talk about them to highlight the many differ...

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Please take this survey on podcasting in higher education: www.freshedpodcast.com/survey -- Today we continue our mini-series called the FreshEd Questionnaire. I’ve been asking guests a set of standard questions after each interview. These questions focus on how guests approach writing, reading, research, and supervision. I want to talk about them to highlight the many differ...

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Please take this survey on podcasting in higher education: www.freshedpodcast.com/survey -- Today we continue our mini-series called the FreshEd Questionnaire. I’ve been asking guests a set of standard questions after each interview. These questions focus on how guests approach writing, reading, research, and supervision. These are the day-to-day activities we do inside unive...

Today we explore the interconnections between Educational Assessment and Inclusive Education. My guests are Alison Milner and Ezequiel Gómez Caride. Alison Milner is an assistant professor in the Centre for Education Policy Research of the Department for Culture and Learning at Aalborg University in Denmark. Ezequiel Gómez Caride is an assistant professor at the School of Education at the Universi...

Today we look at systems thinking in international education and development. With me are Moira V. Faul and Laura Savage. Moira V. Faul is Executive Director of NORRAG, and also a Senior Lecturer at the Geneva Graduate Institute. Laura Savage is the Executive Director of the International Education Funders Group (IEFG). Their new co-edited collection is entitled Systems Thinking in International E...

Today we explore the production of global learning metrics inside the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. My guest is Clara Fontdevila, a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Education at the University of Glasgow. Clara’s newest article is entitled “The politics of good enough data. Developments, dilemmas, and deadlocks in the production of global learning metrics,” which was publish...

Today we explore scholarly podcasting: what it is and why it matters. With me is Ian M. Cook, who has recently published the book Scholarly Podcasting: Why, What, How? Ian M. Cook is Editor and Chief at Allegra Lab. He is an anthropologist whose work focus includes urban India, scholarly podcasting, open education, and environmental (in)justice. https://freshedpodcast.com/cook/ -- Get in touch! Tw...

Today we explore one Ph. D. student’s journey from Yemen to the USA. We dig into different traditions of Islam and education, and what it means to shift between extremes. My guest is Abdulrahman Bindamnan, a Ph. D. student in Comparative ‎and International Development Education at the University of ‎Minnesota. He serves as a Fellow at the Interdisciplinary Center ‎for the Study of Global Change an...

Today we explore the process of colonization and decolonization from a comparative perspective. My guest is Lachlan McNamee who has recently published the book Settling for Less: Why states colonize and why they stop. Lachlan McNamee is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at UCLA and a Lecturer of Politics at Monash University. https://freshedpodcast.com/mcnamee/ -- Get in touch! Twitter:...

Today we explore the experiences of Black Caribbean youth in the United Kingdom and the United States. My guest is Derron Wallace, an assistant professor of sociology and education at Brandeis University. Derron Wallace’s new book is The Culture Trap: Ethnic Expectations and Unequal Schooling for Black Youth. https://freshedpodcast.com/wallace/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: F...

Today we talk about Black Lives Matter and what it means for the field of comparative and international education. With me are Sharon Walker and Krystal Strong, who have recently co-edited with Derron Wallace, Arathi Sriprakash, Leon Tikly, and Crain Soudien, a special issue of Comparative Education Review entitled “Black Lives Matter and Global Struggles for Racial Justice in Education.” https://...

Today Michael Crossley reflects on the field of comparative and international education. He looks at different eras to unpack some of the major debates in the field. Taking a historical perspective provides useful context and intellectual tools to understand and make sense of the big issues facing the field today, such as environmental uncertainty and decolonization. Michael Crossley is Emeritus P...

Today we explore the learning crisis in education. In particular, we unpack the crisis narrative, which has reached a crescendo during Covid-19. With me is Michele Schweisfurth, a Professor of Comparative and International Education at the University of Glasgow. She has a new article in the International Journal of Educational Development entitled “Disaster Didacticism: Pedagogical interventions a...