Freshed

As we end this year, I’d like to thank all the listeners of FreshEd. We are nothing without you. And we need your support to keep us ad-free in 2022. If you have the means to do so, please consider donating to FreshEd by visiting freshedpodcast.com/donate. This is the last show for 2021, so as is the FreshEd tradition, Susan Robertson and Mario Novelli join me to review the year. Our conversation covers a lot of ground. We talk about Covid-19, the role of the State, decolonization, climate change, and pay tribute to two FreshEd guests who passed away this year. It’s been a challenging year for many but there are signs for hope. Susan Robertson is a professor of education in the Faculty of Education at the university of Cambridge. Mario Novelli is Professor in the Political Economy of Education at the University of Sussex. They are co-editors of the journal Globalisation, Societies, and Education. Resources, transcript and more: freshedpodcast.com/2021inreview/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Fa

In October, we aired our first focus on Afghanistan, looking at the thousands of Afghans stranded after the UK withdrew from the country. Today, we look at the situation from the perspective of the United States. With me is Susanne Jalbert, who served as the Chief of Party on the USAID Promote: Women in Government Project. She details the stories and struggles of trying to evacuate the thousands of people connected to this USAID project. Susanne Jalbert currently serves as Senior Advisor for the Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Afghanistan Regional Business Unit at Chemonics, which implements many USAID-funded projects. Donate to support the evacuation effort: https://gofund.me/386973af Resources, transcript and more: freshedpodcast.com/jalbert/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Today we talk about accelerated education as an effective way to bring children who dropped out back into school. There have been many attempts at accelerated education. In this episode we focus on Speed School. Josh Muskin is Senior Director and Education Team Leader at Geneva Global, which has been supporting Speed Schools in Ethiopia and Uganda. Resources, transcript and more: freshedpodcast.com/muskin/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Earlier this month, UNESCO held a high-level segment of its Global Education Meeting aimed at galvanizing political commitment towards mobilizing additional investment in education. The goal was to encourage countries to develop strong domestic systems to fund education. My guest today is Borhene Chakroun, Director for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems at UNESCO. He has been working with UNESCO to spearhead the effort to bring conversations about financing education to the highest levels of the international community. Resources, transcript and more: https://freshedpodcast.com/chakroun/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Today we think through the concept of power within the internationalization of higher education. My guest is Jenny Lee, professor at the Center for the Study of Higher Education and College of Education Dean's Fellow for Internationalization at the University of Arizona. Jenny Lee has a new edited collection entitled U.S. Power in International Higher Education, which was published by Rutgers University Press earlier this year. Resources, transcript and more: https://freshedpodcast.com/lee-2/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Today we take stock of climate education, its past and its future. With me are Christina Kwauk and Radhika Iyengar, who have recently co-edited the book, "Curriculum and Learning for Climate Action: Toward an SDG 4.7 Roadmap for Systems Change." They argue that COP26 has been disappointing in terms of education and climate action, and encourage everyone to focus on local action and change. Christina Kwauk is the Research Director at Unbounded Associates and a non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institute. Radhika Iyengar is Director of Education at the Center for Sustainable Development, Earth Institute, Columbia University. Resources, transcript and more: freshedpodcast.com/kwauk-Iyengar -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Today we talk about UNESCO’s new report from the international commission on the Futures of Education. The report is entitled “Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education.” It launches on Wednesday, November 10. With me to discuss the report is António Nóvoa, who was the Chair of the research-drafting committee of the International Commission. He is also a Professor at the Institute of Education of the University of Lisbon and currently serves as the Portuguese Ambassador to UNESCO. You can find more information about the Futures of education report here: https://freshedpodcast.com/novoa -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Today Steve Carney joins me to talk about his new co-written book with Ulla Ambrosius Madsen entitled “Education in Radical Uncertainty: Transgression in Theory and Method.” The book offers a major critique of the field of comparative education and asks us to dwell in experience rather than make value judgements. This is a powerful book in both form and content and demands to be read by anyone working in the field of comparative and international education. Steve Carney is a Professor of Educational Studies at Roskilde University, Denmark. freshedpodcast.com/carney/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Today we talk about the 45 million people in the USA who owe $1.7 trillion in student debt. My guest is Elizabeth Tandy Shermer, an Associate Professor of History at Loyola University Chicago. Elizabeth shows in her new book that the student debt crisis today can be traced back to the New Deal. She details the changing political fault lines when it comes to federally funding higher education. Elizabeth Tandy Shermer’s new book is Indentured Students: How Government-Guaranteed Loans Left Generations Drowning in College Debt. freshedpodcast.com/shermer/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Today we talk about confronting settler colonialism in higher education. My guest is Leigh Patel, Professor of Urban Education at the University of Pittsburgh, and President of Education for Liberation. In her new book, No Study Without Struggle, Leigh shows how the ability to study has always involved some form of struggle by groups historically marginalised in the USA. Her book is a love letter to study groups around the world. https://freshedpodcast.com/patel2/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

When foreign militaries withdrew from Afghanistan on August 31, hundreds if not thousands of researchers and civil society members were left behind. In the UK, many of these people were prioritized for evacuation under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, known as ARAP, but they never got out. What has happened to those who were left behind? Today Brad Blitz joins me to talk about his work on the Afghan Solidarity Coalition. Brad details this unfolding human tragedy as well as reflects on his own work on migration and forced displacement. He questions the meaning of equal university partnerships when one side does not protect the other, and encourages listeners to donate to the International Civil Society Action Network, which is trying to evacuate thousands of Afghans who are currently in danger. You can donate here: https://icanpeacework.org/2021/09/15/help-at-risk-afghans-with-your-donation/ Brad Blitz is a professor of international politics and policy and head of the Education, Practice and

Today we explore what it means to decolonize education. My guests are Riyad Shahjahan, Annabelle Estera, and Kirsten Edwards. Together with Kristen Surla, they conducted a literature review of 207 articles about the topic. They show that the very idea of decolonizing takes on diverse meanings and subsequently is put into practice in different ways. They argue there is no one way or best practice to decolonize curriculum or pedagogy. They also detail some of the challenges of actualizing decolonization. Riyad Shahjahan is an associate professor of higher, adult, and lifelong Education at Michigan State University. Annabelle Estera is an Advisor and Instructor in Graduate Education at Endicott College. Kirsten Edwards is an Associate Professor in educational policy studies at Florida International University. Their new co-written article is “‘Decolonizing’ curriculum and pedagogy: A comparative review across disciplines and global higher education contexts” published in the Review of Educational Research. ht

Today we talk about how to teach about and beyond September 11th. My guest, Ameena Ghaffar-Kucher, says 9/11 is often taught in American schools as a one day event, focused on loss and mourning, heroes and first responders. Together with a global team, Ameena has launched the Teaching Beyond September 11th curriculum to change the narrative. Ameena Ghaffar Kucher is a Senior Lecturer in the Literacy, Culture, and International Education division at the Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania and the director of the international educational development program. She also hosts the podcast, The Parent Scoop, which she started with her family during the Covid-19 lockdown. https://freshedpodcast.com/ghaffar-kucher/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Today we celebrate the life and work of Paulo Freire, who was born on September 19, 1921. Freire has had an enormous impact on education around the world, from his concept of freedom and praxis to this understanding of oppression and liberation. I’m sure many listeners have read his famous book “Pedagogy of the Oppressed.” With me today is Alma Flor Ada who knew Freire and was deeply influenced by his work and friendship. Alma is Professor Emerita at the University of San Francisco and author of children’s books, poetry, and novels. https://freshedpodcast.com/ada/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Today we take a critical look at the idea of competency-based education. Not only is the term hard to define but also it has various political agendas depending on which organization is promoting it. With me are Kathreyn Anderson-Levitt, a Professor Emerita of Anthropology at the University of Michigan–Dearborn and Meg Gardinier, who teaches at the School for International Training’s (SIT) Doctorate in Global Education Program. They’ve recently co-edited a special issue of Comparative Education entitled “Contextualising Global Flows of Competency-based Education." https://freshedpodcast.com/Anderson-Levitt-Gardinier/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Today Mari Casellato joins me to talk about her FreshEd Flux episode, which aired last week. I recommend you listen to her Flux episode before listening to this interview. It’ll make a lot more sense! In our conversation today, we talk about the history of environmental education and how it is different from education for sustainable development. Mari details youth conferences in Brazil in more detail and explains how they impacted her. She also talks about the way she approaches audio story telling from a collective standpoint. Mari Casellato recently graduated with her master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. https://freshedpodcast.com/casellato/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate

Today we air the third episode of Flux, a FreshEd series where graduate students turn their research interests into narrative-based podcasts. This episode is by Mari Casellato, a recent graduate of Teachers College, Columbia University. Mari takes us on a journey through time, revealing the potential of youth participation in environmental education in Brazil (and beyond). You might be thinking Brazil – where the Amazon was on fire just last year and the current Bolsonaro government has been routinely criticized for doing too little to prepare for the climate crisis. But back in the 1990s and early 2000s, Brazil spearheaded this idea of environmental education, which brought together a diversity of voices through national conferences and was seen as a political act. Mari was personally involved in this history. freshedpodcast.com/flux-casellato -- Today’s episode was created, written, produced, and edited by Mari Casellato. Johannah Fahey was the executive producer and Brett Lashua and Will Brehm were t

Next week we will air another episode of Flux, our series where graduate students turn their research interests into narrative-based podcasts. In fact, it’ll be the last episode of Flux for the year before we launch the application period for the next round of fellows. Next week’s episode will be about environmental education in Brazil. Environmental education is different from education for sustainable development, the common phrasing used by UNESCO and others today. So, in preparation for the Flux episode, I’m going to replay an interview about education for sustainable development. It’ll be good background for next week’s episode. -- Climate change and its effects aren’t some future possibilities waiting to happen unless we take action today. No. The effect of climate change is already occurring. Today. Right now. Around the world, people have been displaced, fell ill, or died because of the globe’s changing climate. These effects are uneven: Some countries and classes of people are more affected by gl

Today I’m going to play an old episode that has taken on new meaning now that we’ve aired Yardain Amron’s Flux episode, “Education is not the silver bullet.” If you don’t remember or haven’t listened, Yardain brought together multiple stories of student activism in India and Puerto Rico to paint a picture of how the privatization and marketization of higher education is a violent act. Back in 2017, I interviewed David Harvey, the Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the City University of New York. In that episode, our 100th, Harvey gave a Marxist interpretation of higher education. He touched on student debt, living through contradictions of capitalism, and resistance movements internal to our neoliberal system. Much of what he said provides excellent background to Yardain’s episode. It’s also nice to think that Yardain is studying Geography and Harvey is a Rockstar in the field. They make for an excellent pair of FreshEd episodes. So here it is, David Harvey on Freshed from December 2017. https:

Today Yardain Amron joins me to talk about his FreshEd Flux episode, which aired last week. I recommend you listen to his Flux episode before listening to this interview. It’ll make a lot more sense! https://freshedpodcast.com/flux-amron/ In our conversation today, we talk about his process of creating podcasts and telling stories. He says he dwells on contradictions that often go unnoticed. Yardain also talks about the connections and tensions between his approach to storytelling as a journalist and his approach to academics as a master’s student. He worked through some of these tensions developing his Flux episode, which brought together many different stories into a coherent narrative connected to theory. Yardain Amron is a freelance journalist and master’s student at the University of British Colombia. www.freshedpodcast.com/amron/ -- Get in touch! Twitter: @FreshEdpodcast Facebook: FreshEd Email: info@freshedpodcast.com Support FreshEd: www.freshedpodcast.com/donate