When writing about transformation in higher education (HE) in South Africa, it is quite popular to mention the fall of apartheid, and perhaps also 1994, as a starting point for significant change. I, myself, have made this mistake (see Bernard, 2015). However, the recent #FeesMustFall protests highlighted that many approaches to transformation…

Trauma-informed teaching and learning has gained a great deal of prominence in higher education over the past three years. Typical approaches to trauma-informed work often start with a generalized set of ideas and principles that are then applied to very individualized and contexts. In this article, written as a dialogue between two educational…

In March 2020, schools and universities were abruptly shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Just as abruptly as they shut down, they were moved to fully online instruction. It was and continues to be an adjustment from classrooms with bodies to online classrooms without bodies, and now in-person classrooms with distanced masked bodies, or some…

In this article, Richard Hill addresses the topic of China supposedly undermining Australia's national security and way of life, and causing ructions on university campuses. He writes that Chinese infiltration, or so it seems, is everywhere, from excessive housing investments and land buy-ups to dodgy dinner dates with ALP officials; and from…

In this forum, practitioners reflect on their experiences as they respond to the following question: How can we use literacy to advocate for environmental issues? Three educators across elementary, middle school, and college settings describe using multiple literacies to conduct inquiries and create a deeper awareness of sustainability and shared…

In this article we attempt to envision what utopian higher education could be given the realities that currently shape students' experiences. Postsecondary education is fraught with admissions that favor those with social, cultural, and economic capital; with course enrollment, class size, and instructor accessibility governed by bureaucratic…

The COVID-19 global pandemic necessitated a rapid transition to remote learning (synchronous or asynchronous) for higher education institutions. This paper documents lived experiences of this occurrence from the perspectives of a graduate student, an instructional designer, and a professor. There is discussion of strategies that facilitated a…

In this personal account of living through the coronavirus pandemic as a US graduate student, I reflect on the major events and themes that defined the time: the hasty closure of university campuses, the clumsy transition to remote learning, the economic consequences, the controversial reopening of campuses, and finally, my hopes for US higher…

Karen Gross is an author, educator and advisor on diverse issues along the educational pipeline. Her current research focuses on student success and the impact of trauma on learning, psychosocial development and health. Sadly, the issues on which she focuses have taken center stage with the coronavirus pandemic and the literally thousands of…

In this theoretical essay, I argue that the current incidences of backlash to diversity are best understood as a dynamic of complicated, historic and intertwined desires for racial diversity and white entitlement to property. I frame this argument in the theories of critical race theory and settler colonialism, each of which provide necessary but…

In today's financially strained higher education landscape, the student services infrastructure is often supported by fewer staff, less money, less experience, and less knowledge. Gone are the days when higher education staff professionals acquired the necessary education pieces, apprenticed in positions, and waited patiently for promotions. Most…

Gameful pedagogy is "an approach that takes inspiration from well-designed games to create learning environments that support student motivation" (Holman, 2018, p. 1). According to Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), students are intrinsically motivated when their basic psychological needs for autonomy (the need to make…

Is it my job to get to know each student "as a person"? This is the focus of Chory and Offstein's (2016) thoughtful essay. This article examines the many ways that changes in education over recent decades have affected core assumptions around the relationships faculty are expected to have with students. Chory and Offstein (2016) explore…

The United States is undergoing a transformation from a national, analog, industrial economy to a global, digital, information economy. The result is profound, accelerating, and unremitting change--demographic, economic, technological and global--which is disrupting the lives of many Americans. The result is that Americans will need upskilling and…

The author was able to hear Stanley Fish speak at the annual meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities in January 2004. Fish, a literary critic, had become dean of arts and sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)--a position he has now vacated. Fish has published widely, usually upholding the ideals of our…