Velda Elliott
@veldaelliott.bsky.social
Associate Prof English and Literacy Education
Reposted by Velda Elliott
I can hardly bear it. Guaranteed my permanently angry father is nodding along furiously in his £240,000 house
For context the 'Middle England' referred to here is the 0.5% of households living in homes worth more than £2 million
December 1, 2025 at 11:43 AM
I can hardly bear it. Guaranteed my permanently angry father is nodding along furiously in his £240,000 house
Inside the Factory is such a good thing. You've never seen 2 children as entranced as when Paddy McGuinness explain how sausage rolls are made.
October 26, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Inside the Factory is such a good thing. You've never seen 2 children as entranced as when Paddy McGuinness explain how sausage rolls are made.
Reposted by Velda Elliott
To be clear: deportations to increase cultural homogeneity is the text book definition of ethnic cleansing. Demands that come even close to this are so far outside any democratic norm and the rule of law. What has happened to a country when this is not condemned in the strongest possible terms?
October 21, 2025 at 10:47 AM
To be clear: deportations to increase cultural homogeneity is the text book definition of ethnic cleansing. Demands that come even close to this are so far outside any democratic norm and the rule of law. What has happened to a country when this is not condemned in the strongest possible terms?
Also I don't know why Hague doesn't understand the purely ceremonial role of Chancellor....
Not once have I seen an explanation for why teenagers must hear things that upset them in virtue of the unspecified speech-acts being upsetting, nor have I ever seen an explanation for why teenagers will be forbidden to express displeasure with upsetting things.
October 16, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Also I don't know why Hague doesn't understand the purely ceremonial role of Chancellor....
Reposted by Velda Elliott
I saw every political party leader in the UK on the news talking about the attack on the Jewish community in Manchester except the one political party leader who is Jewish and from Manchester.
Maybe I missed something?
Maybe I missed something?
October 6, 2025 at 11:28 AM
I saw every political party leader in the UK on the news talking about the attack on the Jewish community in Manchester except the one political party leader who is Jewish and from Manchester.
Maybe I missed something?
Maybe I missed something?
Reposted by Velda Elliott
The Greens requested an interview on the Laura Kuenssberg Show with Zack Polanski when he was elected leader, but were denied, with a promise to interview him during Green conference instead.
This was then scrapped citing the Manchester synagogue attack. Polanski is both Jewish and from Manchester
This was then scrapped citing the Manchester synagogue attack. Polanski is both Jewish and from Manchester
BBC Laura Kuenssberg Show Accused of Anti-Green Bias After Cancelling Zack Polanski Interview
The new Green Party leader was the only major party leader not to have been granted a conference interview on the flagship BBC show
bylinetimes.com
October 6, 2025 at 10:38 AM
The Greens requested an interview on the Laura Kuenssberg Show with Zack Polanski when he was elected leader, but were denied, with a promise to interview him during Green conference instead.
This was then scrapped citing the Manchester synagogue attack. Polanski is both Jewish and from Manchester
This was then scrapped citing the Manchester synagogue attack. Polanski is both Jewish and from Manchester
Reposted by Velda Elliott
The mistake most make about the climate crisis, is in thinking that anthropogenic climate change, is the crisis. No, the climate crisis is that the science clearly describes the danger of ACC, but our whole system, acts as if this danger is not real. That is the crisis.
3/9
3/9
October 6, 2025 at 12:08 PM
The mistake most make about the climate crisis, is in thinking that anthropogenic climate change, is the crisis. No, the climate crisis is that the science clearly describes the danger of ACC, but our whole system, acts as if this danger is not real. That is the crisis.
3/9
3/9
Reposted by Velda Elliott
Reposted by Velda Elliott
One of the unexpected things I've learned from my advocacy for trans people is how malignant parts of the State can be, how it can misuse data for positively evil purposes. It's taught me people can't be safe with a digital ID card and so I've signed this. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...
Petition: Do not introduce Digital ID cards
We demand that the UK Government immediately commits to not introducing a digital ID cards. There are reports that this is being looked at.
petition.parliament.uk
September 26, 2025 at 6:20 AM
One of the unexpected things I've learned from my advocacy for trans people is how malignant parts of the State can be, how it can misuse data for positively evil purposes. It's taught me people can't be safe with a digital ID card and so I've signed this. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...
Reposted by Velda Elliott
'Tylenol' is known in the civilised world as Paracetamol
2.4 million children born in Sweden between 1995 and 2019. Studied 186,000 children whose mothers were treated with paracetamol during pregnancy.
news.ki.se/no-link-betw...
2.4 million children born in Sweden between 1995 and 2019. Studied 186,000 children whose mothers were treated with paracetamol during pregnancy.
news.ki.se/no-link-betw...
No link between paracetamol use during pregnancy and autism or ADHD in children
In the largest epidemiologic study to date of the risk of giving birth to a child with autism, ADHD or intellectual disability following acetaminophen use during pregnancy, researchers found no associ...
news.ki.se
September 22, 2025 at 9:05 AM
'Tylenol' is known in the civilised world as Paracetamol
2.4 million children born in Sweden between 1995 and 2019. Studied 186,000 children whose mothers were treated with paracetamol during pregnancy.
news.ki.se/no-link-betw...
2.4 million children born in Sweden between 1995 and 2019. Studied 186,000 children whose mothers were treated with paracetamol during pregnancy.
news.ki.se/no-link-betw...
Reposted by Velda Elliott
Hey a thing I really don’t want to get lost here is that while Tylenol doesn’t cause autism, IT’S FINE TO BE AUTISTIC. Let’s not grant them the premise that autism should be eradicated in our way to correct the science, okay? Okay.
September 22, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Hey a thing I really don’t want to get lost here is that while Tylenol doesn’t cause autism, IT’S FINE TO BE AUTISTIC. Let’s not grant them the premise that autism should be eradicated in our way to correct the science, okay? Okay.
Reposted by Velda Elliott
Will Oxford disclose how much it paid (or did not pay) for this?
Surely a sweetheart deal (has research money thrown in!) so OpenAI can plaster Oxford over its marketing and raid other unis’ fees, library budgets to throw into the sector’s massive inference funding chasm.
Surely a sweetheart deal (has research money thrown in!) so OpenAI can plaster Oxford over its marketing and raid other unis’ fees, library budgets to throw into the sector’s massive inference funding chasm.
NEW: Oxford will be the first UK university to give all staff and students free ChatGPT Edu access, from this academic year.
ChatGPT Edu is built for education, with enhanced privacy and security.
ChatGPT Edu is built for education, with enhanced privacy and security.
September 22, 2025 at 7:06 AM
Will Oxford disclose how much it paid (or did not pay) for this?
Surely a sweetheart deal (has research money thrown in!) so OpenAI can plaster Oxford over its marketing and raid other unis’ fees, library budgets to throw into the sector’s massive inference funding chasm.
Surely a sweetheart deal (has research money thrown in!) so OpenAI can plaster Oxford over its marketing and raid other unis’ fees, library budgets to throw into the sector’s massive inference funding chasm.
Reposted by Velda Elliott
Simply astonishing. Maybe Lecturer A should not have to mark over 100 essays in a two-week window in the first place? Invest in qualified staff and reduce impossible workloads FFS www.kcl.ac.uk/about/strate...
September 17, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Simply astonishing. Maybe Lecturer A should not have to mark over 100 essays in a two-week window in the first place? Invest in qualified staff and reduce impossible workloads FFS www.kcl.ac.uk/about/strate...
Reposted by Velda Elliott
‘when the METR team looked at the employees’ actual work output, they found that the developers had completed tasks 20 percent slower when using AI than when working without it. “No one expected that outcome…We didn’t even really consider a slowdown as a possibility.”’
Lololol
Lololol
If there is any field in which the rise of AI is already said to be rendering humans obsolete—in which the dawn of superintelligence is already upon us—it is coding. This makes the results of a recent study genuinely astonishing. www.theatlantic.com/economy/arch...
Just How Bad Would an AI Bubble Be?
The entire U.S. economy is being propped up by the promise of productivity gains that seem very far from materializing.
www.theatlantic.com
September 10, 2025 at 12:34 PM
‘when the METR team looked at the employees’ actual work output, they found that the developers had completed tasks 20 percent slower when using AI than when working without it. “No one expected that outcome…We didn’t even really consider a slowdown as a possibility.”’
Lololol
Lololol
Reposted by Velda Elliott
New open access article! Racist epithets in the classroom: Unpacking attitudes to the N-word in teaching English
TLDR: White students and teachers should not say/ read the n-word aloud
(But please do click on the link anyway!)
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
TLDR: White students and teachers should not say/ read the n-word aloud
(But please do click on the link anyway!)
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Racist epithets in the classroom: Unpacking attitudes to the N‐word in teaching English
Since 2020, there has been a growing discussion around the representation of Black lives in the curriculum, and their representation in the classroom. There is a need to examine the ways in which tex...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 16, 2025 at 12:45 PM
New open access article! Racist epithets in the classroom: Unpacking attitudes to the N-word in teaching English
TLDR: White students and teachers should not say/ read the n-word aloud
(But please do click on the link anyway!)
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
TLDR: White students and teachers should not say/ read the n-word aloud
(But please do click on the link anyway!)
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
New open access article! Racist epithets in the classroom: Unpacking attitudes to the N-word in teaching English
TLDR: White students and teachers should not say/ read the n-word aloud
(But please do click on the link anyway!)
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
TLDR: White students and teachers should not say/ read the n-word aloud
(But please do click on the link anyway!)
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Racist epithets in the classroom: Unpacking attitudes to the N‐word in teaching English
Since 2020, there has been a growing discussion around the representation of Black lives in the curriculum, and their representation in the classroom. There is a need to examine the ways in which tex...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 16, 2025 at 12:45 PM
New open access article! Racist epithets in the classroom: Unpacking attitudes to the N-word in teaching English
TLDR: White students and teachers should not say/ read the n-word aloud
(But please do click on the link anyway!)
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
TLDR: White students and teachers should not say/ read the n-word aloud
(But please do click on the link anyway!)
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Child number 1, about to be 8. Loves humor, graphic novels, is reading things like What If? by Randall Monroe and FAQ About the Universe by Jorge Cham. Looking for similar type things, pretty much any topic. Any suggestions?
July 16, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Child number 1, about to be 8. Loves humor, graphic novels, is reading things like What If? by Randall Monroe and FAQ About the Universe by Jorge Cham. Looking for similar type things, pretty much any topic. Any suggestions?
Reposted by Velda Elliott
we are not going to burn down the entire knowledge economy because we developed AGI
we are going to burn down the entire knowledge economy because the dipshits in charge think they invented AGI and they’re going to replace real knowledge with hallucinations
stupid cyberpunk wins again
we are going to burn down the entire knowledge economy because the dipshits in charge think they invented AGI and they’re going to replace real knowledge with hallucinations
stupid cyberpunk wins again
What do you think is more likely, that Musk’s Nazi robot has made new discoveries in materials science or that Musk can’t tell when he’s being told scientific-sounding gibberish?
July 11, 2025 at 2:37 AM
we are not going to burn down the entire knowledge economy because we developed AGI
we are going to burn down the entire knowledge economy because the dipshits in charge think they invented AGI and they’re going to replace real knowledge with hallucinations
stupid cyberpunk wins again
we are going to burn down the entire knowledge economy because the dipshits in charge think they invented AGI and they’re going to replace real knowledge with hallucinations
stupid cyberpunk wins again
Reposted by Velda Elliott
Incontrovertible evidence, now, of *police* investigating families supporting their kids with gender affirming healthcare in the UK. For trying to do the best for your child, following best practice in most of the world, here you get a visit from the police.
Thank you, Wes Streeting.
Thank you, Wes Streeting.
July 11, 2025 at 6:46 AM
Incontrovertible evidence, now, of *police* investigating families supporting their kids with gender affirming healthcare in the UK. For trying to do the best for your child, following best practice in most of the world, here you get a visit from the police.
Thank you, Wes Streeting.
Thank you, Wes Streeting.
Reposted by Velda Elliott
There is no "ethical AI" but people in education are unwilling to admit this (that I've found). You cannot "ethically" use a tool that 1) exists only bc of staggering amts of theft & consent violations, & 2) has people talking about reopening nuclear power plants SOLELY for its use. #EduSky
July 9, 2025 at 1:50 AM
There is no "ethical AI" but people in education are unwilling to admit this (that I've found). You cannot "ethically" use a tool that 1) exists only bc of staggering amts of theft & consent violations, & 2) has people talking about reopening nuclear power plants SOLELY for its use. #EduSky
Reposted by Velda Elliott
Curious that he mentions the City of London (population ~8500) but not Torridge in Devon (population ~68000) where the figure for his chosen stat is 6.3%.
July 1, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Curious that he mentions the City of London (population ~8500) but not Torridge in Devon (population ~68000) where the figure for his chosen stat is 6.3%.
Reposted by Velda Elliott
Really excellent thread from @apf102.bsky.social via @damsoned.bsky.social. This not only emphasises the issues with use of AI but also how the learning = memory narrative has warped education into an exercise in recall. Where is the *critical thinking*? #EduSky
So Oak's new AI lesson planner has really got me thinking. Who exactly is it aimed at? My guess is that the most likely people to use it are new teachers and those with limited subject knowledge on a topic. So how well does it do the job if that's you? I thought I'd try it out...
June 26, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Really excellent thread from @apf102.bsky.social via @damsoned.bsky.social. This not only emphasises the issues with use of AI but also how the learning = memory narrative has warped education into an exercise in recall. Where is the *critical thinking*? #EduSky
Reposted by Velda Elliott
Currently working with a school on their Clean Air campaign to reduce air pollution around school. Before I write a story, are there any books out there (KS1/KS2) that cover this topic in a not terrifying, not judging way? #kidlituk #cleanairday2025
June 21, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Currently working with a school on their Clean Air campaign to reduce air pollution around school. Before I write a story, are there any books out there (KS1/KS2) that cover this topic in a not terrifying, not judging way? #kidlituk #cleanairday2025
Reposted by Velda Elliott
"In a lot of my work, there’s always a moment where someone says, ‘this wouldn't happen’. Usually those are the moments that actually did happen in my life."
NEW #BfK interview @darrenchetty.bsky.social talks to Jason Reynolds @faberbooks.bsky.social
booksforkeeps.co.uk/article/twen...
NEW #BfK interview @darrenchetty.bsky.social talks to Jason Reynolds @faberbooks.bsky.social
booksforkeeps.co.uk/article/twen...
June 15, 2025 at 4:15 PM
"In a lot of my work, there’s always a moment where someone says, ‘this wouldn't happen’. Usually those are the moments that actually did happen in my life."
NEW #BfK interview @darrenchetty.bsky.social talks to Jason Reynolds @faberbooks.bsky.social
booksforkeeps.co.uk/article/twen...
NEW #BfK interview @darrenchetty.bsky.social talks to Jason Reynolds @faberbooks.bsky.social
booksforkeeps.co.uk/article/twen...
Reposted by Velda Elliott
It seems facile to say, but many of us are supportive of trans rights explicitly because of our serious feminist commitments.
Trans rights are human rights. Women's rights are human rights. And reproductive rights are a fundamental part of those human rights. These fights are inseparable.
Trans rights are human rights. Women's rights are human rights. And reproductive rights are a fundamental part of those human rights. These fights are inseparable.
Rebecca Paul MP — who at the Women and Equalities Committee last week spoke so much about women's rights (in order to undermine trans people's) — is now speaking in Parliament against the decriminalisation of abortion.
You couldn't make it up. These people are not feminists.
You couldn't make it up. These people are not feminists.
June 17, 2025 at 5:42 PM
It seems facile to say, but many of us are supportive of trans rights explicitly because of our serious feminist commitments.
Trans rights are human rights. Women's rights are human rights. And reproductive rights are a fundamental part of those human rights. These fights are inseparable.
Trans rights are human rights. Women's rights are human rights. And reproductive rights are a fundamental part of those human rights. These fights are inseparable.