Those of us in the business of teaching and researching education think – and talk – a lot about ‘experience’. For example, capturing the ‘lived experiences’ of participants is a key aim of interpretivist forms of research. But what do we mean by ‘experience’? It depends on who you ask. There are in fact key…

November is academic writing month, and here I am writing. In the Peak District, where I live and do my writing work, it’s chilly and misty. At the end of the day, I’ll take my Labrador, Jussi, for a run around on the moor to wind down. The fog can make it spooky up there,…

The Tory leadership contender, Kemi Badenoch, has recently made some ‘stigmatising’ and confused remarks concerning autistic people. This is just the latest chapter in what has become an ongoing spectacle of socio-cultural posturing within what the media often calls the “culture wars.” Not content with vilifying asylum seekers and trans people, Badenoch is now targeting…

Sheffield Hallam University has trained teachers for well over 100 years. We began back in 1905 as the Sheffield City Training College at our Collegiate Campus site under the guidance of Reverend Valentine Ward Pearson, the founding Principal. Our intake was approximately 150 students. We were already at the forefront of teacher training college development…

This is the final of three blog posts about the Whose Rainbow? Project, which explored what the rainbow means to LGBT+ staff and students in higher education. If you’re interested and want to find out more about the project – and about Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in universities more broadly – we will be launching…

In the Whose Rainbow? project we have been asking LGBT+ staff, students, and self-declared ‘allies’, about their experiences of higher education. One major finding from our interviews was the vast amount of additional, often uncompensated, labour required of LGBT+ staff and students. This ranged from personal efforts to be correctly recognized in their identity to…

In recent months, rainbow lanyards have become a focal point in a broader cultural debate. These symbols, primarily associated with support for the LGBT+ community, have been thrust into the spotlight, their meaning and appropriateness questioned by political figures and institutions, including bans in both the Scottish Parliament and UK Civil Service. Since 2021, I…

To be kind is a basic maxim for how we conduct our personal lives. It may seem unusual to use the lens of kindness on institutions, such as in higher education. My research with my colleague Olalekan Adekola has done exactly that. We have argued for a ‘kindness’ approach to improve the learning and social…

A general election has been called for July. An election is always a time for change, often bringing new ministers into new roles and, with them, shifting priorities and policies. As we look ahead to the next government coming into office, and await the publication of party manifestos, we’ve been considering what we’d like to…

The value of primary physical education (PE) has been a ‘hot topic’ for decades, awash with Government interest, policy and funding. Primary PE has received investment in excess of £2.5 billion since London hosted the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012, making it the most additionally funded subject in the curriculum, yet PE still remains undervalued…