Category: Trends

Is the mental health crisis amongst young people an elite problem? A longer read on a complex theme!

I already raised this on my blog before: when we talk about the increase in mental health problems among young people, these seem to be rising mainly among children from more advantaged backgrounds. At the same time, it remains true, as it has for decades, that young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are on average… Read More Is the mental health crisis amongst young people an elite problem? A longer read on a complex theme!

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When youth services fail, schools become the safety net

Students with hearing or visual impairments were once seen as a challenge for inclusive education. In many ways, they still sometimes can be. But over time, schools have built up expertise, support structures and experience. In many systems, this is no longer where the greatest tensions lie. The group that increasingly defines the challenge looks… Read More When youth services fail, schools become the safety net

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AI broke our exams. Are oral exams the fix? Hold your horses…

There is something irresistible about solutions that feel both old and new at the same time. Oral exams, for example. Centuries old, once the norm, then largely abandoned, and now suddenly back in the spotlight. Not out of nostalgia, but out of necessity. Since the rise of generative AI, a familiar reflex keeps popping up:… Read More AI broke our exams. Are oral exams the fix? Hold your horses…

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Does Individualism Make Children More Anxious? What a Global Study Really Shows

There is something irresistible about large international studies. Seventy countries. Three decades. Thousands of data points. The kind of research that immediately gives the impression that we are getting closer to answering a big question. In this case, what does cultural change do to the mental health of children and young people? Does a more… Read More Does Individualism Make Children More Anxious? What a Global Study Really Shows

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Everyone Uses Everyone in the Manosphere

I have been a fan of Louis Theroux for a long time, and of his brother as well. Since his early documentaries, he has had a rare way of working: friendly, almost naïve in appearance, yet remarkably persistent. He asks questions that sound simple, but are often difficult to avoid answering. So when his new… Read More Everyone Uses Everyone in the Manosphere

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AI fatigue: I’m Getting a Little Tired of AI

Artificial intelligence is everywhere. That will not surprise anyone. Large language models such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini or Claude have quickly become part of our daily digital landscape. Students use them. Teachers use them. Policymakers use them. And those who don’t sometimes feel a subtle pressure to at least give them a try. I… Read More AI fatigue: I’m Getting a Little Tired of AI

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Since the pandemic, some pupils seem to find it harder to sustain their attention

It is a remark I have heard more than once over the past few years from teachers, or seen appearing in Teacher Tapp results. Not as a grand theory or dramatic analysis, but simply as an observation from the classroom: “Since Covid, it seems as if some pupils have more difficulty paying attention.”“It takes longer… Read More Since the pandemic, some pupils seem to find it harder to sustain their attention

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What a Nest Thermostat Says About Digital Dependence

yA few months ago, my smart thermostat stopped working. Not with a dramatic error message, but quietly. The app no longer behaved the way it used to. Several functions simply disappeared. Let me tell you a story about technological sovereignty and digital dependence. The reason was simple and uncomfortable: the company behind it decided to… Read More What a Nest Thermostat Says About Digital Dependence

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After the warnings: when AI in education can work (possibly)

In a previous post, I discussed the recent Brookings report A New Direction for Students in an AI World. Its central conclusion was uncomfortable but clear: at present, the risks of AI for students outweigh its promises. Not because AI is inherently harmful, but because many current applications undermine essential learning processes for development. Protection,… Read More After the warnings: when AI in education can work (possibly)

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Demography Is Not a Culture War: What Falling Birth Rates Reveal About Politics, Policy and Education

The world is changing demographically, and faster than we are used to. In the United States, across Europe and in many other regions, birth rates are falling sharply. They are now below the level at which one generation automatically replaces itself. That may sound technical, but the consequences are anything but abstract. What stands out… Read More Demography Is Not a Culture War: What Falling Birth Rates Reveal About Politics, Policy and Education

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