Stewart Riddle

If you find yourself close to Stirling (UK) on 19 Jan 2026, come along to this free research event on curricular justice in a complex world!

www.tickettailor.com/events/facul...

Anyone know a maths teacher who is looking for some part-time teaching in Term 4, Years 7 - 9? Please get in touch (principal@omniacademies.qld.edu.au)!

The Relation-Centred Education Network Conference is going to be at the Gold Coast next year (15–17 June 2026). This is a really great, dare I say 'relational' conference! Call for papers now open =)

rcen.wildapricot.org/event-6323716

AI Is a Mass-Delusion Event Three years in, one of AI’s enduring impacts is to make people feel like they’re losing it.

'What if ... we pollute the internet and the planet, reorient our economy and leverage ourselves, outsource big chunks of our minds ... and fight endlessly over a technology that never comes close to delivering on its grandest promises?'

www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

A World of Misery, From 200 Miles Up

On one of the most unbelievable satellite images I've ever seen, showing hundreds of Palestinians surrounding aid trucks north of Rafah.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/w...

This is why Israel won’t allow international media into #Gaza.

This is Beit Hanoun. It was a thriving city of 67,000 people.

Nothing is left - the result of the Israeli state attempting to exterminate Palestinian society.

The war crime of the 21st century. #Genocide

(🎥 Gaza Notice)

"No starvation in Gaza, says Israel", according to The Age

Alderaan never even existed", says Darth Vader

Totally responsible headline, The Age

Despite $22bn promise, Adani has paid zero corporate tax in Australia and experts think it won’t ever pay a cent Adani’s Australian assets regularly report annual losses despite strong revenue, in part due to big related-party payments

Adani was given free reign by both major parties to open up dangerous thermal coal mining in the Galilee basin.

They got grants, they got royalty holidays, they got favours and public money, and in return, Australians get nothing.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Maybe if everyone did more of the former, we would have less of the latter.

Now with working link!

aare.edu.au/news/express...

I've enjoyed my 8 years on the team (5 as Associate Editor and 3 as Editor-in-Chief), but now it's time for some other folk to take the reins.

Happy to chat if you have any questions 😊

Who wants to take over running The Australian Educational Researcher from me at the end of the year? It's a great journal, with a wonderful team, which publishes high-quality education research.

Info here: aare.edu.au/.../expressi...

Israeli strikes on Gaza schools used as civilian shelters part of deliberate strategy, say sources Exclusive: More schools identified as targets after controls on IDF action against Hamas operatives at civilian sites loosened

'According to latest UN assessments, 95% of Gaza’s schools have sustained some level of damage to their buildings. Approximately 400 schools were classified as having suffered a “direct hit”.'

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Why NZ is embracing a controversial school system rejected by Australia New Zealand is opening a series of charter schools and giving them "considerable flexibility" when it comes to the curriculum, but education scholars point to the US as they warn against the policy.

Charter schools seem like a good idea at first glance, but they have mixed outcomes and come at a cost to a vibrant, public education system. I share some of my concerns in this piece, which looks at the current push in NZ for charter schools.

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05...

It's so important to make spaces for conversations like these, and I'm humbled to be invited to share my thoughts with folks who care deeply about our democracy and young people's futures.

SCEAA Conference 2025 SCEAA and James Cook University invite individuals with a keen interest democratic citizenship education to SCEAA's 2025 Conference Place, Democratic Participation, and the Futures of Citizenship Educ...

Really looking forward to being part of the SCEAA Conference on 'Place, Democratic Participation, and the Futures of Citizenship Education at JCU Townsville next month (27/28 June).

www.sceaa.org.au/conference20...

Labor settled the ‘funding wars’ just before the election. Here are 4 big issues schools still face Now Labor has been returned for a second term, what should its priorities be for schools?

School funding might be sorted, but there is still lots to be done to make schools liveable for teachers and students. Here be my thoughts on the matter.

theconversation.com/labor-settle...

Just because you went to school doesn't make you an expert on teaching Reinstate trust in the teaching profession. That might just be the perfect place to start in fixing the teacher shortage.

'Anyone who thinks we can standardise our way to an education system that will prepare our young people for the turbulent times they’re going to navigate, hasn’t been paying attention for at least 20 years.'

Truths being told here by @nicolemockler.bsky.social

blog.aare.edu.au/just-because...

New paper on teachers as double agents with Michelle McCarthy and Andrew Hickey.

Open access: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Schooling now in a crisis: Inky darkness, crippling anxieties, overreactions, love, care and glorious beauty Schooling in a crisis? How do conduct “education research” in these times? Education is a part our lives - but it's not separate.

The focus on schools as knowledge-distribution machines ignores the complexity of their care work and community importance, especially during times of (increasingly common) crisis.

blog.aare.edu.au/schooling-no...

The trickle-down theory of schooling • Dean Ashenden An organisation set up to distribute academic research to teachers gets off on the wrong foot, and stays there

"Students learn all kinds of other things in the classroom and everywhere else at school. They learn about themselves, the world, how the world treats them, and how they can and should treat others. Students are, in other words, co-producers of learning."

insidestory.org.au/the-trickle-...

NSW has finally struck a school funding deal. What does this mean for schools and students? The results of the reforms will not be felt for some time. Underfunded schools will continue to be underfunded for years to come.

Here are my thoughts on the 'full and fair' funding announcement today for NSW schools. They just have to wait another 10 years!

theconversation.com/nsw-has-fina...

FULL SHOW: checking your poo, understanding democracy + an interest rate cut - triple j Interest rates have dropped for the first time since 2020. It might not feel important, but it’ll affect what you pay in rent, the cost of buying a home, and even who the next Prime Minister is...  A...

Going to confess to a total fanboy moment...

After listening to triple j for 30 years, I was beyond excited to be invited onto the Hack program to talk about the importance of civics and democratic engagement.

The piece is 20 minutes into the show: www.abc.net.au/triplej/prog...

Call for 'immediate' curriculum overhaul after 'shocking' civics results National test results show just 28 per cent of Year 10 students are proficient in civics.

We need to help young people to become critical and creative citizens. Things aren’t going great.

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02...

Ta!

Here be the link: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Love ending the week with a new paper! This one is a collaboration with Charlie Thomson and Andrew Hickey on hip-hop pedagogy and affinity groups, drawn from Charlie's really interesting doctoral study.

Why It's Time to Fight Back Against the Dystopian Tech-Trump Oligarchy Those who watched silently as reactionary tech bosses seized power in the US must now wake up and fight back, argues Johan Farkas and Aurelien Mondon

'This is the age of reactionary tech oligarchy.'

bylinetimes.com/2025/01/26/t...

Dear English teaching pals,

Come and teach future English teachers with me!

usq.nga.net.au/cp/index.cfm...

Really pleased to see Part II of the 'New Perspectives on Curriculum and Democracy' special issue out in the world!

link.springer.com/journal/4129...