EDDi XLVIII
August 2021: Rebooted and Refreshed
A note from EDDi’s Founders:
Dear subscribers
If you have just returned from your break, we hope you are rested, rejuvenated and ready for the term ahead.
As we get close to our 50th edition, and as we celebrate our second anniversary, it seems timely to reflect and ponder how we can continue to improve EDDi to best serve our community.
We started EDDi in August 2019. Over the last two years, we’ve published several hundred digests, articles, and extended essays. We’ve ventured into topics untouched by mainstream media — including one such piece this week, on Bitcoin in schools — and we’ve welcomed guest contributors from around the world, offering a home for a range of diverse voices and opinions.
It’s been great. And we’ve been delighted with the support and growth of the EDDi community.
But, as for all of us, we’ve suffered the gravitational pull of Covid. It’s been a distraction. We’ve noticed some ‘mission creep’. Sure, the articles we’ve written about Covid have been popular and important. But, they were never what EDDi was about.
We started EDDi to occupy the space between peer-reviewed academic writing and more casual blogs. EDDi’s purpose is to publish research-informed articles and digests of academic papers. We think this space is underserved. As an educator, you are busy. But you are also curious and engaged. You want to know what the research is saying, but you don’t have time to plough through piles of academic reports or research papers.
That’s where EDDi belongs.
So, that’s what EDDi will (again) offer going forward.
Each month, we’ll send out a longer digest. The core focus of each edition will be our signature summaries of academic articles - in about 1,000 words we’ll digest educational research which has inspired us and which, we hope, you’ll find interesting. There’ll be opinion pieces and a few new features (see below), but we’ll be refocussing on our academic digests.
‘EDDi Extra’ will become the home for more topical pieces. These will be shorter articles or occasional standalone extended reads. We are also adding two new features:
Postgraduate Tips
Thinking Sociologically
These two EDDi Extra bonuses will focus a little more on the aspiring academics amongst you. Nothing too heavy, just a slight leaning towards theory and postgraduate study practices.
EDDi Extra will hit your Inbox between the main EDDi digests, which will be monthly.
We will also be increasing the number of articles available in audio form (courtesy of Jason Lasky).
All of this should save you time and attention. Moving to monthly newsletters will increase the signal/noise ratio of what you receive from us, and therefore, make it more worth your time to read each month — and to dip into or delete the EDDi Extras topic dependent.
Oh, and this (lengthy) introduction aside, we’ll try to keep the opening text punchy and tight.
So, with signal/noise in mind, the articles for this edition are below.
As ever, happy reading (or listening).
Dr Denry Machin & Dr Stephen Whitehead
The Founders of EDDi
EDDi XLVIII
This week’s EDDi is a bumper edition.
Our lead article (Dr Stephen Whitehead) asks whether we are seeing the end of globalisation and what this means for international education:
This piece is also available in audio form (with thanks to Jason Lasky).
We also have three traditional academic digests:
Elite Private Schools & Privilege: Missionaries or mercenaries?
The last of these pieces is a special guest contribution by Matthew Lee, Deputy Headteacher and Head of Inclusion at the International Community School Amman, Jordan. The piece is offered in partnership with the Outstanding Schools Middle East 2021 Conference where Matthew will be speaking.
The Outstanding Schools Middle East 2021 Conference will showcase regional and international best practice and provide a platform for thought-provoking and inspiring conversations around key themes, from Teaching and Learning, and Wellbeing and Inclusion, to School Leadership and Professional Learning.
As a conference partner, EDDi is delighted to offer readers a 15% discount on conference tickets (use the code EDDi5OS at checkout).
In addition (we did say it was a bumper edition!), we also have three other guest contributions:
The Native English Speaking Teacher (Ollie Escott)
Should Schools Accept Bitcoin? (Dr Patrick Lee)
Leaders in Succession: Rotation in International School Administration (Dr Patrick Lee)
Each of these offers a unique angle and fresh perspective on international education - they are all worthy of your eyeballs.
We hope you enjoy the edition. Watch this space for the EDDi Extras and we’ll see you in a month for another full EDDi.
EDDi