FreshEd

By FreshEd with Will BrehmEducation

FreshEd episodes

January 25 FreshEd #411 – UNESCO's Fight for the Right to Education (Stefania Giannini)
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To kick off the year, Stefania Giannini joins me to talk about the past, present and future of international education. We discuss the challenges facing the rule-based international order and what that means for education. We unpack the global teacher shortage and the reality of some countries spending more on debt servicing than on education.
Stefania Giannini is the Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO and served as the Italian Minister of Education, Universities and Research between 2014 and 2016. We spoke just before the International Day of Education on January 24 and focused our conversation on UNESCO’s new report “The Right To Education: Past, Present, and Future Directions”.
https://freshedpodcast.com/giannini/
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33 min
January 18 FreshEd #214 – Less is more (Jason Hickel)
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Today we explore the idea of degrowth.
With me is Jason Hickel, an economic anthropologist, author, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in the United Kingdom. He is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the International Inequalities Institute at the London School of Economics, and Senior Lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London. He recently published a book entitled Less is More: How Degrowth will Save the World. The book is a must read for anyone who wants to know how we can stop ecological break down and enable human flourishing.
freshedpodcast.com/jasonhickel/
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32 min
January 11 FreshEd #330 – Aboriginal Voices in Education Research (Nikki Moodie)
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Today we explore aboriginal voices in education research in Australia. Australians will soon vote in a referendum about whether to change their Constitution to allow for the creation of an advisory body made up of First Nations peoples. This body would to provide advice to the Parliament and the government on matters that impact indigenous communities. This is called The Voice.
Nikki Moodie is an Associate Professor and Program Director of the Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity at the University of Melbourne. Together with Kevin Lowe, Roselyn Dixon, and Karen Trimmer, she has recently co-edited the volume Assessing the Evidence in Indigenous Education Research: Implications for Policy and Practice.
freshedpodcast.com/moodie
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31 min
January 04 FreshEd #378 - Globalization and Educational Futures (Fazal Rizvi)
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Today Fazal Rizvi joins me to talk about his forthcoming book entitled Globalization and Educational Futures. Fazal revisits the rise of the popular discourses of globalization, examines many its discontents, and suggests nonetheless that it is too hasty to imagine its total demise.
Fazal Rizvi is Emeritus Professor in Global Studies of Education at the University of Melbourne, and Emeritus Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Citation: Rizvi, Fazal with Will Brehm, FreshEd, 378, podcast audio, December 2, 2024. https://freshedpodcast.com/378-rizvi/
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32 min
December 28, 2025 FreshEd #410 – 2025 in Review (Susan Robertson & Mario Novelli)
As we near the end of 2025, it’s time to take stock of the year. What were the big events this year and how might they impact the field of comparative education? What new ideas emerged? And where is our field headed in 2026? Continuing this FreshEd tradition, Susan Robertson and Mario Novelli join me for the last episode of the year.
Mario Novelli is professor in the political economy of education at the University of Sussex. Susan Robertson is a professor of education at Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge as well as at the University of Manchester. They co-edit the journal Globalisation, Societies and Education.
freshedpodcast.com/2025inreview
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44 min
December 21, 2025 FreshEd #409 – Education ‘among the people’ in China (Baiwen Peng)
Today we unpack the Chinese term minjian and conceptualize it for the field of comparative education. My guest is Baiwen Peng.
Baiwen Peng is a doctoral student in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota. His new article is “Minjian: exploring education ‘among the people’ in China,” which was published in Comparative Education.
freshedpodcast.com/peng/
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31 min
December 14, 2025 FreshEd #408 – From the Former Soviet Union to Canada (Niyozov, Bahry & Antony-Newman)
Today we unpack the education experiences of students from the former Soviet Union who have migrated to Canada. My guests are Sarfaroz Niyozov, Stephen Bahry and Max Antony-Newman. For the past few years, they have been working on a research project that has explored the experiences of the high school children with post-Soviet backgrounds in the Greater Toronto Area. The research project strives to improve the education experiences of this under-researched, often misunderstood group of Canadian youth, their parents, and communities who come from the countries of the former Soviet Union.
Sarfaroz Niyozov is an Associate Professor in Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, where Stephen Bahry is a sessional lecturer. Max Antony-Newman is a lecturer in education at the university of Glasgow. Various articles from their research project will soon published. You can follow the link to their project website to find them.
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36 min
December 07, 2025 FreshEd #407 – Education for Societal Transformation (Frank Adamson and Carol Anne Spreen)
Before we start today’s show, I’d like to welcome our newest FreshEd Members, Amy Stambach and Tian Renxiang. Thank you for your support.
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Today we unpack education alternatives to reimagine education for just futures. My guests are Frank Adamson and Carol Anne Spreen.
Frank Adamson is associate professor of education leadership and policy studies at California State University, Sacramento. Carol Anne Spreen is a professor of international education at New York University. They were on the co-editorial team of the NORRAG Special Issue entitled “Education for Societal Transformation: Alternatives for a Just Future” and members of The Alternative Project, which I should mention I was a part of at its inception.
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37 min
November 30, 2025 FreshEd #318 – Producing Global Learning Metrics (Clara Fontdevila)
Today we explore the production of global learning metrics inside the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. My guest is Clara Fontdevila, a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Education at the University of Glasgow.
Clara’s newest article is entitled “The politics of good enough data. Developments, dilemmas, and deadlocks in the production of global learning metrics,” which was published in the International Journal of Educational Development.
Today’s episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the School of Education at the University of Glasgow. Thanks to Matthew Thomas for organizing the event.
Citation: Fontdevila, Clara, interview with Will Brehm, FreshEd, 318, podcast audio, April 24, 2023.https://freshedpodcast.com/fontdevila/
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29 min
November 23, 2025 FreshEd #262 – Climate Education beyond COP26 (Christina Kwauk & Radhika Iyengar)
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Today we take stock of climate education, its past and its future. With me are Christina Kwauk and Radhika Iyengar, who have recently co-edited the book, Curriculum and Learning for Climate Action: Toward an SDG 4.7 Roadmap for Systems Change. They argue that COP26 has been disappointing in terms of education and climate action, and encourage everyone to focus on local action and change.
Christina Kwauk is the Research Director at Unbounded Associates and a non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institute. Radhika Iyengar is Director of Education at the Center for Sustainable Development, Earth Institute, Columbia University.
Citation: Kwauk, Christina, and Iyengar, Radhika interview with Will Brehm, FreshEd, 262, podcast audio, November 15, 2021. https://freshedpodcast.com/kwauk-iyengar/
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36 min