Does competition increase educational inequality? A new study offers a surprising answer.

When I read this paper on Saturday, it genuinely made me stop and think. Nathalie Aerts, Thijs Bol and Eddie Brummelman started from a theory that has become increasingly influential over the past few years. According to the Social Class–Academic Context Mismatch theory, competitive school environments should disadvantage students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. That was… Read More Does competition increase educational inequality? A new study offers a surprising answer.

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Funny on Sunday: “…it doesn’t sound good” #birds #bees

When I saw this cartoon on Facebook, I just had to smile! Check here for more Funny on Sunday. (and if you’re wondering what song I have been humming since I saw this cartoon, scroll down!)  

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The Multimodal Learning Confusion

A Substack post that suddenly seemed to appear everywhere in my feed led me to an interesting systematic review recently published in Review of Education. The authors did something that, surprisingly, had never been done before. They searched for experimental evidence supporting the Pedagogy of Multiliteracies, a framework that has become highly influential in some… Read More The Multimodal Learning Confusion

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How should parents be included in teacher education?

Few people would disagree that strong partnerships between schools and families matter. Research has consistently linked family–teacher collaboration to better academic outcomes, improved wellbeing, and stronger relationships between schools and communities. Yet many beginning teachers report feeling underprepared to work with families. That is especially true when working with multilingual families or families of children… Read More How should parents be included in teacher education?

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Do We Actually Learn Better From Mistakes?

Learning from mistakes is a topic that has come up several times on this blog. A new study in the Journal of Educational Psychology once again shows that the answer is more nuanced than a simple yes-or-no. What did you expect? But keep reading, because the practical implications are more interesting than you might think.… Read More Do We Actually Learn Better From Mistakes?

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Follow-up: Rising Perfectionism and Declining School Performance? They Are Not Necessarily Contradictory

After my previous blog about the rise in perfectionism, I received the same question several times: how does that fit with the declining school performance we are seeing in many countries? If young people are becoming increasingly perfectionistic, shouldn’t they actually be performing better? It sounds logical, but it is based on a misunderstanding. Perfectionism… Read More Follow-up: Rising Perfectionism and Declining School Performance? They Are Not Necessarily Contradictory

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Could Rising Perfectionism Be Another Piece of the Youth Mental Health Puzzle?

Why are more and more young people struggling with mental health issues? It is a question that recurs regularly in the media, in policy discussions, in research, and on this blog. My message so far has been that the answer is rarely simple or straightforward. Social media, sleep deprivation, academic pressure, economic uncertainty, changing expectations,… Read More Could Rising Perfectionism Be Another Piece of the Youth Mental Health Puzzle?

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Are Teachers Still Satisfied with Their Jobs? A Surprising Look at 16 Years of TALIS Data

Anyone who has followed the conversation about education over the past few years, months, or even weeks could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. The list of reasons to complain is long: teacher shortages, increasing workloads, administrative burdens, hard-to-fill vacancies, concerns about the profession’s public image, and, a few years ago, the impact of COVID. So… Read More Are Teachers Still Satisfied with Their Jobs? A Surprising Look at 16 Years of TALIS Data

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What Two New Studies Teach Us About Educational Inequality

I have written about educational inequality many times over the years. That is hardly surprising. Differences between students remain one of the most-discussed topics in education policy, and I will gladly admit that it is also close to my heart. At the same time, it is one of the most difficult issues to talk about.… Read More What Two New Studies Teach Us About Educational Inequality

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Funny on Sunday: The Best Chemistry… Ceiling?!?

Found this and more funny signs on Larry Cuban’s blog. Check here for more Funny on Sunday.

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