FreshEd

Nine public service employees are suing Navient, the student debt service provider, for providing misleading and inaccurate information. They allege that Navient engaged in predatory lending, more interested in turning a profit than finding them the best repayment plan. My guest today is Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. ATF has been helping their members navigate the student loan industry. What they found is shocking. For Randi, there is a legal and electoral path to find justice for student loan borrowers. For listeners living in the USA, please make sure you vote tomorrow. www.freshedpodcast.com/weingarten twitter: @freshedpodcast email: info@freshedpodcast.com

Human capital theory connects education to the labor market. It posits that more education makes workers more productive, which increases earnings. A more educated and productive workforce subsequently increases the gross domestic product of a nation. This theory has been prevalent since the 1950s and continues to play a central role in minds of both policy makers and parents. You go to school because you will get a better job in the future. The government invests in education because it will have a return on investment in larger GDPs. My guest today says human capital theory is dead. Hugh Lauder is Professor of Education and Political Economy at the University of Bath. He specializes in the relationship of education to the economy and has for over 10 years worked on national skill strategies and more recently on the global skill strategies of multinational companies. -- http://www.freshedpodcast.com/hughlauder/ Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com

Today we look at sexuality education. In some countries, scholars who advocate for a secular worldview have constructed a progressive sexuality education that embraces science at the exclusion of religion. With me is Mary Lou Rasmussen. In her monograph, Progressive Sexuality Education: The Conceits of Secularism (Routledge, 2015), which was just released in paperback. Mary Lou carefully explores how progressive scholarship and practice might get in the way of meaningful conversations with students, teachers, and peers who think differently about the field of sexuality education. Mary Lou Rasmussen is a professor at the School of Sociology at The Australian National University. She is co-editor, with Louisa Allen, of the Handbook of Sexuality Education which will be published in October. -- http://www.freshedpodcast.com/rasmussen/ Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com

My guest today is Gina Athena Ulysse, a professor of Anthropology at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. She has a new book entitled Because when God is too busy: Haiti, me & THE WOLRD. Gina’s is a feminist artist-anthropologist-activist and self-described Post-Zora Interventionist. Her creative projects lie within the intersections of geopolitics, historical representations, and the dailiness of Black diasporic conditions. Her latest work, Remixed Ode to Rebel's Spirit, involves conversations with ghosts roving the British Museum. http://www.freshedpodcast.com/ulysse/ Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com

Many listeners probably use LinkedIn. That’s the social media website aimed at connecting employers with employees. My guest today, Janja Komljenovic, researches the ways in which LinkedIn is shaped by and shaping higher education. Janja argues that LinkedIn furthers the employability mandate in universities. Janja Komljenovic is a lecturer of higher education at Lancaster University. In today’s show, we discuss her new article “Linkedin, Platforming labour, and the new employability mandate for universities,” which was published in Globalisation, Societies and Education. www.freshedpodcast.com/janjakomljenovic/ Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com

Today we review the field of comparative and international education for 2019. With me for the last show of the year are Susan Robertson and Roger Dale, co-editors of the journal Globalisation, Societies and Education. In our conversation, we touch on many topics, including the rise of global populism, the power of youth, and the impending climate crisis. The end of the second decade of the 21st century was a watershed year in many respects. What were the big events and ideas and where are we headed in 2020? Susan and Roger also make a big announcement at the end of the show. So stay tuned until the end! Susan Robertson is a Professor of Sociology of Education at the University of Cambridge, and Roger Dale is Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Bristol. -- www.freshedpodcast.com/2019inreview/ ‎ Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com

What role does higher education play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals? My guest today is Tristan McCowan, author of the new book entitled Higher Education for and beyond the Sustainable Development Goals, which was published earlier this year. Tristan interrogates the idea of a so-called developmental university working towards the SGDs, identifying both positive and negative outcomes. Tristan McCowan is a Professor of International Education at the Institute of Education, University College London. I spoke with Tristan in his office in London, which just so happens to be around the corner from mine. This is actually the first episode that I’ve recorded at my new intuitional home at the Institute of Education. There’s a lot more to say about the future of FreshEd now that I live in London, but I’m going to wait until next year to tell you all about it. For now, enjoy our latest episode and stay tuned for our end of year show with Susan Robertson and Roger Dale, which will air next week. -- www.freshedpodcast.com/McCowan/ Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com

Play is a foundational element of a child’s life. Yet, how much is play embraced inside schools? My guests today, Pasi Sahlberg and William Doyle, argue play is the fundamental energy of learning. And schools need to embrace play much more than they currently do to support child development. For Pasi and William, screen time and the global education reform movement that emphasizes standardized tests have reduced the amount of time children are allowed to play in school. Pasi Sahlberg is a professor of education policy at the Gonski Institute for Education of the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. He is a globally renowned educator, author, speaker, and scholar, and one of the world’s most respected authorities on educational improvement. William Doyle is New York Times bestselling author and TV producer. Since 2015 he has served as a Fulbright Scholar, a Scholar in Residence and lecturer on media and education at the University of Eastern Finland, and as advisor to the Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland Their new co-written book is called Let the Children Play, which was published by Oxford University Press earlier this year. -- www.FreshEdpodcast.com/pasisahlberg-williamdoyle Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com

The timeframe to achieve the sustainable development goals is tight. We have just over a decade to complete the 169 targets across 17 goals. Target 4.7, which aims for all learners to acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, is particularly challenging. What are the knowledge and skills needed for sustainable development? And how can they be integrated into policies, programs, curricula, materials, and practices? My guest today is Andy Smart, a former teacher with almost 20 years’ experience working in educational and children’s book publishing in England and Egypt. He is a co-convener of a networking initiative called Networking to Integrate SDG Target 4.7 and Social and Emotional Learning into Educational Materials, or NISSEM for short, where he is interested in how textbooks support pro-social learning in low- and middle-income countries. Together with Margaret Sinclair, Aaron Benavot, Jean Bernard, Colette Chabbot, S. Garnett Russell, and James Williams, Andy has recently co-edited a volume entitled NISSEM Global Briefs: Educating for the Social, the Emotional, and the Sustainable. This collection aims at helping education ministries, donors, consultancy groups and NGOs advance SDG target 4.7 in low-and middle-income countries. Photo by: Helena g Anderson -- www.FreshEdpodcast.com/andysmart Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com

What are the possible futures presupposed within the organization of refugee education worldwide? Do the understood purposes of refugee education align at the global, national and school levels? My guest today is Sarah Dryden-Peterson, an Associate Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education who has been researching refugee education for 15 years. Together with Elizabeth Adelman, Michelle Bellino, and Vidur Chopra, she has recently co-authored an article for the journal Sociology of Education that looks at the purposes of refugee education today. Sarah and her colleagues argue that quality refugee education must further a sense of belongingness. -- www.freshedpodcast.com/sarah-dryden-peterson Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com