Education – Articles, Analysis, Comment – The Conversation

Curious Kids: do grownups still grow?

Barry Bogin, Loughborough University

Grownups don’t get taller, but they can grow in other ways.

Coronavirus: universities are shifting classes online – but it’s not as easy as it sounds

Kyungmee Lee, Lancaster University

Learning over the internet is not a simple replacement for face-to-face teaching.

Learning – and talking – together… Shutterstock

How children can learn to balance science and religion

Liam Guilfoyle, University of Oxford

The two subject areas can cooperate to create better arguments.

Universities need to look outwards: their local economic and social impact really matters

Charles Clarke, King's College London

A former education secretary says universities need to choose between being “engines for equality” or “engines of inequality”.

Schools don’t feel like safe spaces for LGBT teachers

Catherine Lee, Anglia Ruskin University

Research has found that 64% of LGBT teachers have experienced a serious episode of anxiety or depression linked to their sexual or gender identity and role as a teacher.

Survey of academics finds widespread feelings of stress and overwork

Mark Erickson, University of Brighton; Carl Walker, University of Brighton, and Paul Hanna, University of Surrey

Academics report feeling unhappy and isolated in their current work culture.

How to make universities more inclusive? Hire more working-class academics

Carole Binns, University of Bradford

Working-class academics can play a key role in boosting student diversity.

Learning through adventure: the many skills that can be taught outside the classroom

Gary Stidder, University of Brighton

Improving social, physical and psychological abilities.

Girls consistently outperform boys in reading skills – but could this be changing?

Louis Volante, Brock University and Francesca Borgonovi, UCL

Closing the reading achievement gap continues to be a pressing global challenge.

The Daily Mile gets children out of the classroom for fifteen minutes every day to run or jog, at their own pace. The Daily Mile

Running a mile a day can make children healthier – here’s how schools can make it more fun

Emily Marchant, Swansea University; Charlotte Todd, Swansea University; Gareth Stratton, Swansea University; Michaela James, Swansea University, and Sinead Brophy, Swansea University

From obstacle courses to playing music, school children give their thoughts on how to make a daily run more exciting.

Over-parenting teaches children to be entitled – let them fail and learn to be resilient instead

Ana Aznar, University of Winchester

It doesn’t work, so why do so many parents do it?

Student accommodation is big business – but confused regulation leaves students vulnerable

Emily Walsh, University of Portsmouth

The regulation of student accommodation varies between different providers.

Teachers less likely to take phones away from white, privileged children

Emeline Brulé, University of Sussex and Matt Rafalow, University of California, Berkeley

Privileged children get to use phones in school while others face bans for ‘messing around’‘.

Automatic enrolment in Gaelic education will benefit both children and the language

Claire Nance, Lancaster University

Education in Gaelic is hugely valuable in keeping the language alive in Scotland.

Holocaust survivor Janine Webber (British Empire Medal) being filmed for the forever project. The National Holocaust Centre and Museum

Auschwitz 75 years on: preserving survivor’s voices and listening to those of their children

Sara Jones, University of Birmingham

Survivors voices are central to Holocaust education, but as their numbers dwindle educators must work to preserve their testimonies and bring in the second generation.

Learning Together insists on the importance of education within prisons. © Learning Together

I’m an ex-prisoner and education behind bars saved my life

Ed Schreeche-Powell, University of Kent

I know first-hand the need for a rehabilitative rather than punitive system.

Why media education in schools needs to be about much more than ‘fake news’

Frances Yeoman, Liverpool John Moores University and Kate Morris, Goldsmiths, University of London

Only 2% of children have the skills needed to identify a credible news story.

You should read some Franz Mesmer. airdone/Shutterstock

Academic writing can be boring – but there are good reasons for that

Gordon Rugg, Keele University

Academic language wasn’t always rigorous – and it led to people hugging trees to cure their illnesses.

Perfectionistic students get higher grades, but at what cost?

Daniel Madigan, York St John University

A focus on more realistic performance outcomes can help students cope when things do not go to plan.

Paul Grover/Daily Telegraph/PA Wire/PA Images

Conservative parliamentary majority: what it could mean for schools

Chris Rolph, Nottingham Trent University

Reforms are set to continue in the same direction as before.

Reading problem or problem with the lights? shutterstock/ Chinnapong

Fluorescent lighting in school could be harming your child’s health and ability to read

Arnold J Wilkins, University of Essex

But there is an answer.

University strikes: yes, students should get compensation – but not in the form of monetary payment

Fabio Aricò, University of East Anglia

Should students get refunds during strike action? An education economist gives his thoughts.

Capitalist creep on campus: the largest, quietest privatisation in UK history – it’s why we’re striking

Martin Parker, University of Bristol

The gradual withdrawal of state support for universities has been the largest, and quietest, privatisation in UK history, and most people don’t even know about it.

University strikes: why they’re happening and what you need to know

Heather Connolly, University of Leicester

The university strikes show how a dispute around a fairly technical employment issue, pensions, can develop a momentum of its own and become a catalyst for a much wider expression of dissatisfaction.

Free adult education is vital for a healthy economy – and UK politicians are finally starting to get this

John Butcher, The Open University

Adult education should never be seen as a luxury.