Education policy is family policy: what can work against school absenteeism?

School attendance is once again high on the agenda. Rates of absenteeism are on the rise in several countries, and the COVID-19 pandemic is often seen as an accelerator of this trend, partly because it disrupted routines and changed perceptions of school attendance. We have long known that frequent absence is linked to lower academic… Read More Education policy is family policy: what can work against school absenteeism?

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What Do Students Think About Team Teaching?

Co-teaching and team teaching are a bit of a personal frustration of mine. They are popular topics, yet there is relatively little research on them worldwide. Fortunately, that is starting to change in Flanders. In 2025, I wrote about a study on the possible impact of team teaching on student learning. Based on the publication… Read More What Do Students Think About Team Teaching?

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A 3×3 Framework for Thinking About Education

Yesterday I had the opportunity to open an education conference with a keynote that was slightly different from my usual talks. Instead of starting with a body of research, I began with a question that has been occupying me for quite some time: how do we actually think about education? We have different frameworks. We… Read More A 3×3 Framework for Thinking About Education

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Funny on Sunday: Back to the Future Auditions – SNL

The classic movie could have been very different… Check here for more Funny on Sunday.

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Why Teachers’ Emotions Matter for Student Learning

In 2021, I wrote about a study by Uta Klusmann and colleagues showing that teacher well-being matters not only for teachers themselves but also for what happens in the classroom. Now, largely the same research group published a new study, confirming this picture on a larger, more international scale. The researchers used data from 679… Read More Why Teachers’ Emotions Matter for Student Learning

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How Important Is Context in Educational Research?

“Yes, but the context is different.” It is a response I hear regularly and one I sometimes use myself when discussing research from another country. A study from England? Different context. A study from the United States? Different context. I sometimes hesitate to discuss research from China or Japan for the same reason. But before… Read More How Important Is Context in Educational Research?

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Does Motivation Depend More on Structure Than Autonomy?

If you follow the educational literature on motivation, you might easily come away with the impression that motivation primarily arises when students experience autonomy. Give them choices. Let them set their own goals. Provide space for their own interests. That idea has had a great deal of influence over the past decades, even though Ryan… Read More Does Motivation Depend More on Structure Than Autonomy?

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Learning from mistakes changes with age

We all make mistakes. No, really. When we calculate something, write an email, or have a conversation with someone. You might think you know the right answer, only to find out you were wrong after all. But what actually happens after we make a mistake? And does that change as we get older and perhaps… Read More Learning from mistakes changes with age

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Another AI article retracted from a top journal. But this time, the story is different.

No new research in this post, but rather another retraction involving AI. We already had that large meta-analysis that did not meet quality standards, but this time the story is different. The article in question appeared in Teaching and Teacher Education, one of the most prestigious journals in educational science. The title alone reveals that… Read More Another AI article retracted from a top journal. But this time, the story is different.

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Are Social Media Really the Problem? A New Study Adds More Nuance

With all the attention currently focused on AI, we should not forget the previous debate. The relationship between social media and mental health remains one of those topics where the temperature of the debate is often higher than the available evidence. On one side are those who see social media as a major cause of… Read More Are Social Media Really the Problem? A New Study Adds More Nuance

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