American Federation of Teachers sues over what it says are unconstitutional investigations into social media comments
A major Texas teachers’ union filed a federal lawsuit against the state on Tuesday challenging what it describes as unconstitutional investigations into hundreds of educators who posted comments on social media following the September killing of conservative activist Charlie...
Ministers promised a ‘change of approach’, but their new tax could tip weaker institutions over the edge
Education opens doors, and the expansion of higher education begun under New Labour means that millions of young people who would not previously have gone from school to university have now done so. From 336,000 places accepted in 1997, the total rose by 68% to 563,000 in 2022. In last...
Increasingly, teens are given only parts of books, and they often read not in print but on school-issued laptops
Reading fiction has been such a joy for me that my heart broke a little to learn recently that many schools no longer assign full books to high school students.
Rather, teens are given excerpts of books, and they often read them not in print but on school-issued laptops, according to...
University undergraduates are forming northern societies, but in other circumstances we find different ways to be ourselves
Of course they weren’t being mean, but each time my university friends jokingly echoed my Leeds-accented “no” with a noise that is perhaps best approximated as “nerhhh”, I found myself undergoing elocution conditioning. Within a year, the identifying...
From Duolingo to GDP, how an obsession with keeping score can subtly undermine human flourishing
Two years ago, I started learning Japanese on Duolingo. At first, the daily accrual of vocabulary was fun. Every lesson earned me experience points – a little reward that measured and reinforced my progress.
But something odd happened. Over time, my focus shifted. As I climbed the weekly...
Children are growing up as AI natives and experts say computing skills should be on par with reading and writing
In a Cambridge classroom, Joseph, 10, trained his AI model to discern between drawings of apples and drawings of smiles.
“AI gets lots of things wrong,” he said, as it mistakenly identified a fruit as a face. He set about retraining it and, in a flash, he had it back on track –...
Lucy Morville, from Burnley, thought most students would be from the north and felt ‘culture shock’ surrounded by southerners
Like many students from the north, Lucy Morville says she felt “culture shock” at being surrounded by southerners when she arrived at university. But she said the shock was even greater because it wasn’t what she expected when she enrolled at the University of York.
Prof Shitij Kapur says there are too many graduates and degree is now just a ‘visa’ to enter professional world
The UK now has a “surfeit” of graduates and students must accept that a university degree is no longer a “passport to social mobility”, a leading vice-chancellor has argued.
Prof Shitij Kapur, the head of King’s College London, said the days when universities could promise that...
Free prescriptions and eye tests ought to help these young adults stay healthy. They also signal the state’s ongoing role
The outcomes for children who grow up in care are shocking. A vital part of the welfare state, which exists to promote the safety and wellbeing of highly vulnerable young people, is falling short in health, education and employment terms. They have a 62% higher chance of...
Despite longstanding concerns over pay and conditions, more young graduates are entering the classroom
Joseph Curatolo was studying architecture four years ago when he took a summer job, teaching music to middle school students. When he told them he might leave the program to focus on his studies, he said, they burst into tears.
“The fact that I had such an impact on these kids led me to...
Health worker Naushaba Roonjho was ostracised by her family in Pakistan for wanting to work but now she is campaigning for political office
When Naushaba Roonjho became the first girl anyone in her district knew to have passed Pakistan’s national secondary school exam, the news was not celebrated. At home, in her village of Sheikh Soomar in southern Sindh, her father told her: “This is...
Growing numbers of institutions now offering lifelong careers support as older alumni seek help to change jobs
University careers advisers are used to steering fresh-faced students towards the labour market – but they are now increasingly seeing graduates in their 40s and 50s looking for help to revive their careers.
More UK universities are now giving their graduates lifelong access to campus...
Elite junior tennis players are flocking to online schools. The model offers flexibility and focus – but raises deeper questions about growth, pressure and childhood
In a major study released recently in Epidemiology, conclusions were drawn – yet again – regarding how shutdowns and online learning were ultimately very damaging to kids’ emotional and mental health (obviously some cohorts...
A Children’s Booker prize, library cards for newborns and a major campaign – initiatives to encourage a love of books in children are a cause for celebration
Reading to children from a young age leads to greater happiness, educational success, empathy and social mobility – no wonder the government wants to encourage everyone to do it more. To this end, next year has been decreed the National...