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Michele Schweisfurth

Michele Schweisfurth

@mschweisfurth.bsky.social

190 followers 84 following 8 posts

Comparative educationist embracing the complexities of classroom practice. Critical optimist. Real ale geek.

Education 47%

Political science 36%

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Michele Schweisfurth @mschweisfurth.bsky.social · Dec 4

I was never on Twitter and so I am still getting used to having followers who I don't know personally. Hello! If anyone wants to know my general perspective on pedagogy internationally, here is a link to a recent keynote at the British Educational Research Association: www.bera.ac.uk/media/keynot...

KEYNOTE: BERA Keynote Lecture Pedagogy in International Perspective: what have we learnt?

Michele Schweisfurth @mschweisfurth.bsky.social · Sep 7

Have you read the Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell?

Reposted by Christine Kooi, Michele Schweisfurth

Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · Aug 27

“Wisdom has very little, if anything, to do with data; in fact, the consensus among scholars is that wisdom is the skill of navigating situations wherein information is limited or imperfect… [It’s] the skill of making sound decisions in a world where good outcomes are uncertain + highly contextual.”

Reposted by Michele Schweisfurth

Alison Phipps አሊሰን @alisonphipps.bsky.social · Aug 14

Well worth a read. Much to ponder as Babel builds its skyscraper and hubris rules

www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

Will the Humanities Survive Artificial Intelligence?

Maybe not as we’ve known them. But, in the ruins of the old curriculum, something vital is stirring.

www.newyorker.com

Alison Phipps አሊሰን @alisonphipps.bsky.social · Jul 27

An open letter has been launched today (27/7/25) for members of the UK academic community (academics and other university staff) to sign, to press the UK Home Office to facilitate safe passage out of Gaza for 40+ students with offers for UK universities.

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Open letter from UK university staff: Request for biometric deferral and safe evacuation of incoming Palestinian students and scholars from Gaza to UK Universities

More than 40 students currently trapped in Gaza with full scholarships to UK Universities are asking for a safe route to come and study. We, the academic community hoping to welcome these scholars, ca...

docs.google.com

Reposted by Michele Schweisfurth

UofG GLACIER Network @uofg-glacier.bsky.social · May 27

In April, we hosted our first ever Postgraduate Research Forum on the theme 'Context Matters'.

We were blown away by the engagement and warm responses. Watch below for a snapshot of the atmosphere on the day.

👏 Thanks to all who made it such a great day 👏

#GLACIERnetwork
#GLACIERpgrforum

Looking back on the GLACIER Network PGR Forum 2025

YouTube video by UofG Education

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Michele Schweisfurth

CenTCS @centcs.bsky.social · May 10

📣 We have two PhD projects related to the mission and vision of #CenTCS, funded by @uofgsocsci.bsky.social Application information can be found on the links below and are due by June 6, 2025 for a starting date of October, 2025. Funded PhD projects are typically completed in three years 🧵 1/3

Reposted by Michele Schweisfurth

Matthew A.M. Thomas @mthomaseddev.bsky.social · Apr 1

🎉 Our Handbook of METHOD in Comparative & International Education was officially launched last week at #CIES2025!

🙏 HUGE thanks to everyone in attendance and especially to authors who offered bite-sized insights on their chapters! #CIEMethod

@mschweisfurth.bsky.social @robinshields.bsky.social

Reposted by Michele Schweisfurth

UofG GLACIER Network @uofg-glacier.bsky.social · Jan 14

🌍 GLACIER Seminar Series 2025 🌍
Difficult decisions in comparative & international educational research: Practices, dilemmas, & strategies

📅 Weds, 15:30–16:30
📍 St. Andrew's Bld., Rm 234
📢 In-person (sorry virtual friends!)
🔗 Details: tinyurl.com/4z48b6pw
#GLACIERSeminars2025 #GlasgowIntCompEd

University of Glasgow - Schools - School of Education - Research - ELP - Events - GLACIER Seminar SeriesSearch iconClose menu iconMenu icon bar 1Menu icon bar 2Menu icon bar 3

Michele Schweisfurth @mschweisfurth.bsky.social · Feb 5

Thanks for.the endorsement @goodallannamary.bsky.social. These are certainly not the only or biggest polarisations at the moment, but important all the same...

AnnaMary Goodall @goodallannamary.bsky.social · Feb 5

Attention comparativists! Hot off the press, @mschweisfurth.bsky.social's fantastic new monograph 'Polarised Logics of Pedagogy: Crises, Contexts and Classrooms in the Global South' is not to be missed. Check out our Oxford Studies in Comparative Edu series, too! www.routledge.com/9781032438290

Reposted by Michele Schweisfurth

AnnaMary Goodall @goodallannamary.bsky.social · Feb 5

Attention comparativists! Hot off the press, @mschweisfurth.bsky.social's fantastic new monograph 'Polarised Logics of Pedagogy: Crises, Contexts and Classrooms in the Global South' is not to be missed. Check out our Oxford Studies in Comparative Edu series, too! www.routledge.com/9781032438290

Reposted by Michele Schweisfurth

Lizzi O. Milligan @lizziom.bsky.social · Feb 3

Details of the 2025 @ukfiet.bsky.social conference are out with some brilliant sounding sub-themes and great people on the committee. Take a look #educationalresearch and #comparativeeducation folk:

www.ukfiet.org/conference/u...

UKFIET Conference 2025

More information coming soon…

Reposted by Nick Bailey, Jago Dodson, Caroline Brown , and 3 more Nick Bailey, Jago Dodson, Caroline Brown, Nicola McEwen, Michele Schweisfurth, Annette Hastings

Urban Studies & Social Policy @uofgussp.bsky.social · Feb 3

🚨 We're hiring! 🚨

Senior Lecturer/Professor in Social and Public Policy.

Lead cutting-edge research, deliver research-led teaching, and engage with external stakeholders.

📅 Apply by: 3rd March 2025

🔗 Apply here: tinyurl.com/4ew5xk2s

#AcademicJobs #SocialPolicy #HigherEdJobs

a yellow sign that says we 're hiring

ALT: a yellow sign that says we 're hiring

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Caroline Brown, Michele Schweisfurth, Annette Hastings

Urban Studies & Social Policy @uofgussp.bsky.social · Feb 3

📢 We're hiring!

Lecturer in Social and Public Policy.

Conduct world-class research, teach on leading programmes, and shape the future of social policy!

📅 Apply by: 3rd March 2025

🔗 Apply here: tinyurl.com/2p8rfxjb

#AcademicJobs #SocialPolicy #HigherEdJobs

a sign that says we 're hiring in orange on a white background

ALT: a sign that says we 're hiring in orange on a white background

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Nick Bailey, Caroline Brown, Michele Schweisfurth , and 1 more Nick Bailey, Caroline Brown, Michele Schweisfurth, Annette Hastings

Urban Studies & Social Policy @uofgussp.bsky.social · Feb 3

🚨 We're hiring! 🚨

Senior Lecturer/Professor in Planning.

Lead impactful research, teach in accredited planning programs, and engage with external stakeholders.

📅 Apply by: 3rd March 2025

🔗 Apply here: tinyurl.com/y9aac8zp

#AcademicJobs #Planning #HigherEdJobs

a yellow sign that says we 're hiring

ALT: a yellow sign that says we 're hiring

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Michele Schweisfurth

MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · Jan 20

‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.’ — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

On #MLKDay, we honor his legacy by choosing love over hate, justice over injustice, and hope over fear.

Michele Schweisfurth @mschweisfurth.bsky.social · Jan 8

Our GLACIER webinar series on the education research-policy relationship is now available on line at m.youtube.com/watch?v=V52M.... Great expert talks from Stephanie Allais, Gita Steiner-Khamsi and Kwame Akyeampong.

Why policy is not just collective hallucination GLACIER international webinar series

Glasgow Network for Comparative and International Education Research (GLACIER) presents: Professor Stephanie Allais, University of the Witswatersrand, will lead this webinar which reflects on three decades of work at the policy/research interface in various aspects of post-school education and training, mainly in South Africa but also in other African countries. The central conundrum, when looking at vocational education and youth unemployment, and in searching for solutions in skills training, is why governments, donors, and development agencies continue to push policies and interventions that have clearly failed, or, at best, have no evidence of success, and further, that can be pulled apart conceptually. Competence-based training and occupational standards as mechanisms for workplace-relevance; quality assurance regimes as ways to improve quality; qualifications frameworks as silver bullets for mobility, articulation, quality; are included in the policies under consideration, as well as many skills interventions for youth employment. To do things differently, we have to understand not just why the policy interventions fail, but why they continue to be pushed despite lack of evidence in their favour, and lack of clear conceptual rationale. Policy, like theory, is a simplification of the world, abstracted from the messiness of the real world. Policy makers operate in a complex world with so many moving points beyond their control. Perhaps this leads to operating as if policy IS the real world, or focusing only on developing policy and not thinking about what implementation means. Unfortunately, at this point it becomes a self-contained world and we can’t learn. This is not only a challenge for policy makers, but also for researchers. Many policy evaluations and academic studies remain at the level of collecting little pieces of data that don’t feed into a coherent view of the phenomenon under investigation, and their influence is therefore fragmented rather than developmental. The reverse is also true: many policy evaluations and academic studies fall into the reverse trap—remaining in love with themselves as an abstraction from the world, impervious to data. The challenge is improving the interface between theory, policy, and data, to learn and build robust knowledge about change. Biography: Stephanie Matseleng Allais is Research Chair of Skills Development and Professor of Education at the Centre for Researching Education and Labour, University of the Witwatersrand, where she researches international education and development, focused on education/ work relationships. Her books include Knowledge, Curriculum, and Preparation for Work (Brill/SENSE) with Yael Shalem, and Selling Education Out: National Qualifications Frameworks and the abandonment of Knowledge (Sense). She is an editor of the Journal of Vocational Education and Training, and on the editorial boards of various other journals. Previously, she was a fellow at the Centre for Educational Sociology at the University of Edinburgh, and a researcher at the International Labour Organization.

eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

Reposted by Michele Schweisfurth

Orkney Library & Archive @orkneylibrary.bsky.social · Dec 20

Just after 2pm today in #Orkney. Early sunset as we approach the #WinterSolstice. 🌅

The sun setting in the distance. Orkney Library and Archive in the foreground with trees and the balls in silhouette

Reposted by Michele Schweisfurth

University of Glasgow @uofglasgow.bsky.social · Dec 19

UofG has been announced as the host of Scotland’s new Centre for Teaching Excellence.

This will help teachers develop their practice, drawing on research undertaken by our School of Education @uofgsocsci.bsky.social on educational improvement and innovation.

Read more ➡️ gla.ac/4iFh8Yl

The St Andrew’s Building, with blossom on the trees. Blue and white banners read School of Education and Welcome @UofGEducation

Reposted by Michele Schweisfurth

SF Said @whatsfsaid.bsky.social · Dec 17

READING FOR PLEASURE is the most important lesson children can be taught. Reading is a master skill that unlocks so many other skills. So help them find the love of reading; it'll have a bigger positive impact on their life chances than any other factor! #literacy
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

What kind of society would willingly traumatise its children in the name of education? | John Harris

As claims about practices in two flagship London academies are investigated, it’s time to stop and think about what schools are really for, says Guardian columnist John Harris

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Michele Schweisfurth

nissem.bsky.social @nissem.bsky.social · Dec 17

larrycuban.wordpress.com/2024/12/17/t...

Teachers or Researchers: Whose Judgments about Classroom Practice Matter the Most?

After many years teaching high school social studies and then university graduate students, I documented the history of teaching. In this research and writing, I have struggled with a dilemma pecul…

larrycuban.wordpress.com

Michele Schweisfurth @mschweisfurth.bsky.social · Dec 6

Final reminder: join us for Kwame Akyeampong's webinar next week!

"Translating Educational Research into Policy: Prospects and Challenges"

Prof Kwame Akyeampong (Open University)

🗓️ Tuesday, 10 December, 3-4pm GMT

🔗 tinyurl.com/Akyeampong

#GlasgowIntCompEd

Translating education research into policy – the Ghana Education Evidence and Data Lab at Online

Tickets are now available for Translating education research into policy – the Ghana Education Evidence and Data Lab at Online, Online on Tue 10 Dec 2024. Click the link for further information and to secure your tickets now!

Michele Schweisfurth @mschweisfurth.bsky.social · Dec 4

I admire people who post on politics but I am finding it all a bit overwhelming and depressing at the moment - I would need to post all day or not at all. I have been known to repost by accident though

Michele Schweisfurth @mschweisfurth.bsky.social · Dec 4

...I expect to use Bluesky mainly professionally but I may also weigh in on music (especially Glasgow's great live music scene), films and real ale

Reposted by Michele Schweisfurth

UofG GLACIER Network @uofg-glacier.bsky.social · Dec 3

"Translating Educational Research into Policy: Prospects and Challenges" ...

Prof Kwame Akyeampong (Open University) will offer the final webinar in our 3-part 2024 UofG GLACIER Network International Webinar Series.

🗓️ Tuesday, 10 December, 3-4pm GMT

🔗 tinyurl.com/Akyeampong

#GlasgowIntCompEd

Translating education research into policy – the Ghana Education Evidence and Data Lab at Online

Tickets are now available for Translating education research into policy – the Ghana Education Evidence and Data Lab at Online, Online on Tue 10 Dec 2024. Click the link for further information and to secure your tickets now!

Reposted by Clifford Stott, Michele Schweisfurth

Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · Nov 29

“The polls are saying it, the governor of the Bank of England is saying it. And when immigration levels are four times higher now than when we were in the EU, the issue that served as the Brexiters’ trump card lies in shreds”

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Brexit makes no sense in a world dominated by Trump. Britain’s place is back in the EU | Jonathan Freedland

From defence to trade, the incoming US president is upending the old order – and standing apart from our neighbours leaves us dangerously exposed, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Michele Schweisfurth, Ioanna Palaiologou

Rafael Mitchell @rafaelmitchell.bsky.social · Nov 29

Prestigious award for doctoral researchers working on education in LMICs - Deadline January 2025

www.edt.org/research-and...

Tim Morris Award

Education Development Trust's Tim Morris Award offers £2,000 financial support to a PhD student in the field of general education to support field research in a low- or low-middle income country.

Michele Schweisfurth @mschweisfurth.bsky.social · Nov 26

Thanks for the mention @lizziom.bsky.social

Reposted by Michele Schweisfurth

Lizzi O. Milligan @lizziom.bsky.social · Nov 26

And if this is your sort of thing, I also really recommend @mschweisfurth.bsky.social's paper on disaster didacticism and the so-called 'learning crisis'

#educationalresearch

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Disaster didacticism: Pedagogical interventions and the ‘learning crisis’

This essay offers a critical perspective on the prevailing language of ‘learning crisis’ and on the solutions widely promoted by international organis…

www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by Michele Schweisfurth

Lizzi O. Milligan @lizziom.bsky.social · Nov 26

Paper 4 from JustEd focuses on the Peruvian data. Maria Balarin and Mafer Rodriguez conceptualise 'shallow pedagogies' as a way to understand how justice is(n't) embedded in secondary education:

bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/gsc/view/jou...

bristoluniversitypressdigital.com