FreshEd

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 with Caroline Junemann and Diego Santori, he explores through network ethnography the evolution of the global education policy community that is advancing privatization. Stephen Ball was a Distinguished Service Professor at the Institute of Education, University College London. Citation: Ball, Stephen, interview with Will Brehm, FreshEd, 78, podcast audio, June 19, 2017. https://www.freshedpodcast.com/stephenball/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

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: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

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 School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania. Their new article is Movements at the Fiscal/Monetary Crossroads: Financing a Green New Deal for Schools in Philadelphia. freshedpodcast.com/backer-rodriguez -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

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 Associate Professor and Program Director of the Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity at the University of Melbourne. Together with Kevin Lowe, Roselyn Dixon, and Karen Trimmer, she has recently co-edited the volume Assessing the Evidence in Indigenous Education Research: Implications for Policy and Practice. freshedpodcast.com/moodie -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

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: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Guest Nikhil Goyal discusses the high school dropout crisis in Philadelphia and the dismantling of the social safety net. Topics include inequality in American school financing, disparities between neighborhoods and schools, the dehumanizing environment of alternative schools, and the need for government action to address inequality and injustice.

Mark Carrigan and Susan Robertson discuss the impact of the pandemic on universities, including challenges of online events, exams, and inclusivity. They explore the changes in higher education institutions and the lasting effects of the pandemic. The speakers also discuss the impact of the pandemic on collective and individual trauma, remote work challenges, and the complexities of hybrid working in universities.

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 Institution. He has recently published the report “Government Decisionmaking on Education in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Understanding the Fit among innovation, scaling strategy, and broader environment.” This report is part of the Research on Scaling the Impact of Innovations in Education (ROSIE) multiyear project housed at the Center for Universal Education at Brookings and part of the Global Partnership for Education’s Knowledge and Innovation Exchange. Brad’s opinions expressed on today’s episode are his alone, not official Brookings’ policy. https://freshedpodcast.com/olsen/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

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: Troubling Norms in the Global Knowledge Economy. https://freshedpodcast.com/morley-leyton/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

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 Human Capital Trumped Social Democracy (Cornell University Press, 2023). https://freshedpodcast.com/shelton/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate