NEWS

In the first article, we explored what it means to be educated in an emancipatory sense, arguing that understanding, rather than performance, compliance, or motivation alone, is what enables independence, judgement, and agency. Building on those foundations, this article turns its attention to what that looks like in practice, examining critical education, performance cultures, and the everyday design choices that either support or undermine emancipatory learning. Becoming Critically Educated To become critically educated is not simply to acquire a critical attitude, nor to adopt a particular political position. Rather, it reflects a form of educational maturity, the capacity to understand how knowledge, systems, and practices operate, and to exercise judgement within them. In this sense, critical education involves seeing systems rather than isolated tasks, understanding causes rather than merely outcomes, and recognising the assumptions and limitations that underpin knowledge cla

Education for Emancipation: What It Means to Be Educated (Part 2)

Beyond grades and outcomes, education shapes how learners understand the world. This article explores what it really means to be educated.

Student in uniform writes on a whiteboard, guided by a teacher in a classroom. Bright light from windows, engaged learning atmosphere.

Education for Emancipation: What It Means to Be Educated (Part 1)

This article invites readers to rethink what it means to be educated, offering an opportunity to reflect on what being educated truly involves.

Top Tips for Teachers in the New Year: What I Wish I’d Known Before I Started Teaching

Teacher engaging with students in a lively group discussion, fostering a positive start to the new academic year. Joseph Tyler (Doctoral Researcher) Top Tips for Teachers in the New Year Introduction: A New Year Is a Design Opportunity As a new year begins, teachers are often encouraged to “try something new”. New strategies. New tools. New initiatives. Yet after more than two decades in education, I’ve come to believe that improvement in teaching rarely comes from novelty. I

A teacher supports a learner through questioning, illustrating the relationship between teaching actions and the learning process.

Teaching Is Not Learning: Why the Distinction Matters for Educational Practice

Teaching is something we do; learning is something that happens. The danger in education is not that teaching lacks effort or care, but that learning is too often assumed rather than examined. A lesson can be calm, well structured, and confidently delivered, yet still leave learners unchanged. When we focus only on teaching performance, we risk mistaking activity for impact. Learning, by contrast, is visible not in what is covered, but in what learners can explain, apply, and