Leo McCann

The redundancies and deletion of specific academic sub-disciplines at Leicester were appalling. The university was widely condemned for it. But the VC then gets rewarded by a Labour government? This cannot be right. thesociologicalreview.org/reviews/shap...

Shaping for Mediocrity by Gibson Burrell et al

Was the University of Leicester the test bed for the current waves of redundancies, asks Steven Brown reviewing Shaping for Mediocrity by Gibson Burrell and friends.

thesociologicalreview.org

Reposted by Martin Paul Eve, Leo McCann

Vivek Thuppil @vthuppil.bsky.social · 5d

A "Labour" government awarded honours to a person who pushed through devastating redundancies of @ucu.org.uk members at his university, including redundancies that were found to be illegal at tribunal.

This is a slap in the face for the labour movement.

www.timeshighereducation.com/news/academi...

Academics made redundant by Leicester ‘unfairly dismissed’

Three business school researchers who lost their jobs after their research was seen as not meeting strategic priorities win employment case

www.timeshighereducation.com

Leo McCann @leomc76.bsky.social · 9d

Universities in UK have basically abandoned mature students. Universities seem to have no vision or effort to create short courses etc that serve local communities. This is a potential opportunity but management shows no interest in it.

Reposted by Richard Shaw, Samantha Brennan, Leo McCann , and 2 more Richard Shaw, Samantha Brennan, Leo McCann, Paul Nightingale, Mary Margaret McCabe

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 10d

'Record numbers of Swedish retirees are enrolling in a university run “by pensioners for pensioners” amid increased loneliness and a growing appetite for learning and in-person interactions.' 1/2

‘Keeps your mind alert’: older Swedes reap the benefits of learning for pleasure

Retirees with ‘fantastic hunger for education’ taking part in university organised events in record numbers

www.theguardian.com

Leo McCann @leomc76.bsky.social · 15d

www.chronicle.com/article/were... Does academic tenure still exist in the States? I was under the impression it was quite widespread, but I guess I'm wrong?

‘We’re Being DOGE-ed’: Sweeping Buyout Plan Rattles the New School’s Faculty

Leaders say cuts are necessary to close a $48-million budget hole.

www.chronicle.com

Reposted by Mark Rubin, Leo McCann

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 18d

'An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the Russell Group university “does not have appropriate arrangements in place” for managing workplace stress and was unable to demonstrate that it is managing the risks associated with excessive workloads.' 1/2

Birmingham reprimanded over its management of work-related stress

Investigation by Health and Safety Executive found institution ‘does not have appropriate arrangements in place’ to manage burnout among staff

www.timeshighereducation.com

Reposted by Leo McCann

Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · 24d

"What is emerging about Nigel Farage is not a single stupid comment or heated moment. Former classmates are describing a pattern of behaviour. Not just a bully, but a racist bully of the ugliest kind, directing hatred at black and Jewish pupils as a kind of sport."
bylinetimes.com/2025/12/10/n...

'If Nigel Farage's Racism Is Forgotten It Will Give Him Permission for Far Worse'

When someone tells you who they are, over and over again, it is wise to listen, argues Clive Lewis MP

bylinetimes.com

Reposted by Leo McCann

Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 25d

"I am up front, embarrassingly earnest probably, about the fact that I believe what we’re doing is very serious, and why I think that the use of LLMs is incompatible with that pursuit."

you too can give an O Captain speech and then have a great class! against-a-i.com/first-day-sp...

Reposted by Leo McCann

Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 26d

Who wants to live in a world where we let the computers do all the reading? We write for a human readers not chips and algorithms. Football fans wouldn't put up with matches replaced with simulations, so why does the "republic of letters" for want of a better world have to put up with it?

Leo McCann @leomc76.bsky.social · 29d

I don't think even Maslow himself ever got there. And it seems he didn't even build the thing!

psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-...

APA PsycNet

psycnet.apa.org

Leo McCann @leomc76.bsky.social · Dec 3

It also seems to assume academics are getting everything wrong and failing their students. I really don't agree with this.

Leo McCann @leomc76.bsky.social · Dec 3

Thanks for sharing. But this seemed a bit of a rambling article without a clear answer. I agree on some level that it makes little sense as a strategy for universities to continue criticizing other actors. But then this piece provides no suggestions about what we academics can and should do.

Reposted by Leo McCann

steve the skeptic @policyskeptic.bsky.social · Dec 3

www.hsj.co.uk/workforce/im...

Improving performance means investing in managers

A new report argues that professionalising NHS management is essential for delivering the government's 10-Year Health Plan, as public satisfaction hits record lows and workforce strain intensifies across the service

www.hsj.co.uk

Reposted by Leo McCann

Michał Wieczorek @michalwieczorek.bsky.social · Dec 3

What do The Matrix and educational AI have in common? Unfortunately way too much, as they promote very narrow ideas of what education should be.

Instead, Alberto Romele and I highlight better sci-fi inspirations in this new paper in Educational Theory:

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

How to Imagine Educational AI: The Filling of a Pail or the Lighting of a Fire?

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (e.g., machine learning, generative AI) have led to increased interest in its application in educational settings. AI companies hope to revolutionize teachi...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Leo McCann

Steven Beschloss @stevenbeschloss.bsky.social · Dec 2

I wrote this five days after Trump was inaugurated, the day after Pete Hegseth was confirmed by 50 Republican stooges. The prompt was aptly titled: "Will American Soldiers Refuse to Obey Illegal Orders?" www.americaamerica.news/p/will-ameri...

Leo McCann @leomc76.bsky.social · Dec 2

New paper in 'Accounting History': "'Because the kills all count the same': Accounting for death in the Vietnam War."

The paper explores a specific artefact of 'war managerialism'. (If it's behind a paywall, please get in contact and I can share).
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Reposted by Leo McCann, Kathleen Kennedy

Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · Nov 27

Maybe they should consider changing the name of the party..

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Labour ditches day-one protection from unfair dismissal in U-turn

The right will now be introduced after six months, in a breach of Labour's election manifesto.

www.bbc.co.uk

Leo McCann @leomc76.bsky.social · Nov 26

You can try Newswatch. This sort of 'rolling news', or 'we are providing live footage so that the viewer can experience the events themselves' is often complained about on there, often rightly I think.

Leo McCann @leomc76.bsky.social · Nov 25

Healthcare clearly needs professional and ethical managers. Some argue that NHS managers should be regulated like clinicians, via a professional register. We argue, in this piece for BMJ Leader, that such a view is unrealistic.
Comments welcome! @bmj.com

bmjleader.bmj.com/content/earl...

Placing the cart before the horse: proposals to regulate NHS managers

Doubts about the performance, value and conduct of healthcare managers continue to stir public debate. In the UK, the denigration of NHS managers as an unproductive, bureaucratic overhead is a longsta...

bmjleader.bmj.com

Reposted by Leo McCann

steve the skeptic @policyskeptic.bsky.social · Nov 25

The NHS is very poor at training its managers to consistent standards. But the only big policy response is not to improve training but to regulate managers. This is the wrong way to fix NHS management: bmjleader.bmj.com/content/earl...

Placing the cart before the horse: proposals to regulate NHS managers

bmjleader.bmj.com

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Cas Mudde, Ben H. Ansell , and 73 more Jonathan Portes, Cas Mudde, Ben H. Ansell, Richard S.J. Tol, Dorothy Bishop, David M. Farrell, Will Jennings, Stefan Rahmstorf, David N. Thomas, Gavin A. Schmidt, Patrick A. Jansen, John Horgan, Steve Peers, Andrew Scott, Colin Murray, Mark D. White, Huw Price, Rosemary A. Joyce, Elizabeth Stokoe, Dirk Pilat, Charles West, Martijn W. Hesselink, Chris Hanretty, Simon Wren‐Lewis, Alison Phipps, Greg Woolf, Mary Corcoran, Anand Menon, Michelle Everson, Jo Barraket, Rebecca Tushnet, Ben Worthy, David R. Miller, Robert Wolfe, Gary D. Rawnsley, Aileen McHarg, Jacob T. Levy, Simon Glendinning, Scott A. Imberman, Julie Cupples, Lyndsey Stonebridge, Stephen Ryan, Samantha Brennan, Jonathan Birch, Anne Norton, Hubert Zimmermann, Leo McCann, Timothy Burke, Manuel Puppis, Graeme Warren, David Bartram, Lisa Diedrich, Brian Doucet, Ann Bartow, Stuart White, Pauline Stafford, Clayton Littlejohn, Rense Corten, Greg Linden, Jack Stilgoe, Lukas Graf, Jon Dean, Klaus Oschema, Christina Pagel, Daxton R. Stewart, Rune Møller Stahl, Olivier Mannoni, Camille Lefebvre, Aviel Roshwald, Colin Talbot, Tarik Abou‐Chadi, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Jeroen Van Bouwel, David Spurrett, François Guesnet, Speranţa Dumitru

Rutger Bregman @rutgerbregman.com · Nov 25

I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.

They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1

Leo McCann @leomc76.bsky.social · Nov 24

It's a great sequel, but I honestly think the first movie is far better. Arnie as the good killer robot is kind of naff. I much prefer the vulnerability and intensity of Reese. Soundtrack and general mood is cooler in my view. But this seems an unpopular view!

Reposted by Leo McCann

Grumpy Philosopher @stevecooke.org · Nov 24

Posters have appeared around the building. They suggest that geography, geology, & environment staff might be a bit angry at proposed redundancies, reorganisations & closures. Rightly so.

Poster reading "Because nothing says we care about the environment more than firing the staff that research it..."

Leo McCann @leomc76.bsky.social · Nov 21

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Very interesting and timely paper by Tine Molendijk in @wesjnl.bsky.social. Great to see the concept of moral injury being given more sociological and contextual depth.

A Contextual Model of Moral Injury: Redefining Trauma in Frontline Professions through Ethics and Context - Tine Molendijk, 2025

To date, the interrelations between mental health and ethical challenges in frontline professions, such as the military, police and health care, have remained u...

journals.sagepub.com

The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · Nov 21

Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.

Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq

Reposted by Leo McCann

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · Nov 21

'The union said management had "agreed to halt all planned compulsory redundancies for academic staff until at least July 2026".'

Strikes suspended in Lancaster University staff job cuts row

The university is trying to save £30m amid rising costs and a fall in international student numbers.

www.bbc.co.uk

Leo McCann @leomc76.bsky.social · Nov 19

"Multiple lanyards". Nice. These hang from the doorknobs in our house as does our son's football coaching related trinkets. They are like other random stuff in the house, like a plastic bag of plastic bags, or old letters on the staircase.

Leo McCann @leomc76.bsky.social · Nov 18

Retailers also marketing 'AI laptops' and 'AI phones'. It's ludicrous and boring.

Leo McCann @leomc76.bsky.social · Nov 16

Palatino Linotype. It sounds like a brand of bathroom tiles, but it looks good.

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