In our fast-changing world, how should we think about the curriculum? For what macro competencies should education aim? And has the COVID-19 pandemic revealed any failures in our education systems worldwide?
Education & Coronavirus
Recommended by Will Brehm
Human life around the world has radically changed in a matter of weeks because of the novel coronavirus, known scientifically as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2).
Over 1.5 billion children missed school at some point in 2020. What does that mean for educational delivery and assessment? And are there issues of equity we need to consider?
In this on-going series, FreshEd explores the coronavirus and its impact on education from diverse perspectives.
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended higher education internationalization. Many universities are worried the pandemic will cause a huge drop in international student enrollment and their associated fees, which account for a large part of many university budgets.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an emergency situation for most education systems worldwide. Schools are closed. Students are at home. Stress and anxiety are high. Domestic violence and food insecurity are on the rise. And we are uncertain when this emergency will end.
Luckily, there is a large body of research on education in emergencies that can help guide us through this unprecedented situation. My guest today is Sarah Dryden-Peterson, a foremost scholar on education in conflict and post-conflict settings.
Sarah Dryden-Peterson is an Associate Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is the co-founder and director of REACH, a collaborative initiative that provides guidance and resources on key topics in education, migration, and displacement for educators, policymakers, and researchers. She has recently started Books of Belonging, an online video series where she reads a picture book each day of the week.
Books of Belonging | Episode 1 | The Why-Why Girl
Enjoy the first episode of 'Books of Belonging' featuring 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙝𝙮-𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙂𝙞𝙧𝙡 by Mahasweta Devi as read by HGSE Professor Sarah Dryden-Peterson.'Books of Belonging' is a new video series that seeks to bring people together around the combination of big ideas and comfort we find in picture books.
Posted by Harvard Graduate School of Education on Monday, March 23, 2020
Today the famed anthropologist Arjun Appadurai joins me to talk about the current pandemic and its impacts on globalization and education. We were supposed to speak in March at a Live Event during the annual conference of the Comparative and International Education Society in Miami, but like most things in life, the pandemic got in the way.
In our conversation, Arjun thinks through the pandemic using some of the ideas for which he’s most known, including the “scapes” of globalization. He also talks about his newest book published last year entitled, Failure, which was co-written with Neta Alexander.
Stay tuned until the end of our conversation where Arjun gives us a peek into some of his newest thinking on ideas not-yet-published! Arjun Appadurai is a Professor at New York University, and at the Hertie School in Berlin. He is a member of the UNESCO Futures of Education commission.
There’s an urban legend that Winston Churchill, near the end of World War II, once said “never let a good crisis go to waste.” President Obama’s chief of staff, Rahman Emanuel, certainly said similar words in 2009 after the Global Financial Crisis. Is the crisis in education today caused by the coronavirus an opportunity to make lasting and positive change? How can we be sure not to waste this moment by returning to normal?
Yong Zhao joins me to talk about educational change in the time of COVID-19. He argues that we must change the “yes, but” attitude to a “yes, and” collaborative approach. We must be innovative and work together to redesign education systems into something new. He’s hoping to see more self-directed learning emerge out of this crisis as well as a shift towards the humanities and philosophy.
Yong Zhao is a Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of Kansas. His newest book is entitled Teaching Students to Become Self-Determined Learners (ASCD, 2020).
Most children are now out of school because of the pandemic. How should we think about teaching and learning during the crisis? How can we ensure the basic needs of students continue to be met out of school? And can digital learning teach the whole child?
My guest today is Armand Doucet, one of the world’s foremost pracademics and teachers in education for the Digital Age. He has recently co-written a report with Deborah Netolicky, Koen Timmers, and Francis Jim Tuscano entitled Thinking about pedagogy in an unfolding pandemic: an independent report on approaches to distance learning during Covid 19 School Closures.
I spoke with Armand from his home where he was taking care of his son while speaking with me.
Today I speak with Claire Maxwell about school internationalization. Together with Laura Engel and Miri Yemini, Claire has recently co-edited a new book entitled The Machinery of School Internationalisation in Action. Beyond the Established Boundaries.
In our conversation, we discuss internationalization in terms of elite education, privatization, and racism. We even discuss the implications of the coronavirus on internationalization.
Claire Maxwell is a professor of sociology at the University of Copenhagen. Her current work focuses on the family and working lives of globally mobile professionals, understanding identity, and desires around mobility and education strategies. She also looks at how notions of ‘elite education’ are being articulated, experienced and re-negotiated across different cities across the world.
Today I talk with Prachi Srivastava about educational planning in a time of coronavirus. Over 1.5 billion children are out of school. What does that mean for educational delivery and assessment? And are there issues of equity we need to consider?
Prachi Srivastava is an Associate Professor specializing in education and international development at Western University in Canada. In our conversation, we talk about what the global south can teach the global north when it comes to planning in emergencies.
Blaise Pascal, the 17th Century French mathematician and physicist, once wrote “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” As people and governments around the world are wondering whether or not to self-isolate to stop the spread of covid-19, Pascal’s adage has become more pertinent than ever.
As we grapple with our new world, I wanted to bring you a special episode of FreshEd. With me is Yaneer Bar-Yam, a physicist, systems scientist, and founding president of the New England Complex Systems Institute. Yaneer has spearheaded endcoronavirus.org, which aims to minimize the impact of Covid-19 by providing useful data and guidelines for action.
In our conversation, Yaneer discusses what different countries are doing in response to the virus and talks specifically about children and whether or not they should be in school.
Citation: Bar-Yam, Yaneer, interview with Will Brehm, FreshEd, 192, podcast audio, March 17, 2020. https://www.freshedpodcast.com/bar-yam/
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