By Zhu Hua, FAcSS, Professor of Educational Linguistics & Director of the Mosaic Group for Research on Multilingualism, School of Education, University of Birmingham “Seeing cultural competence as a responsibility of those providing health and education programmes is certainly a step in the right direction.” Public Health England’s recent report, Beyond the data: Understanding the … Continue reading “Culturally competent? What does the pandemic tell us?”
Category: Society
Carers and COVID-19: Hunger and mental health
By Dr Matthew Bennett, Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham “We’ve been clapping for carers throughout the pandemic. The profile of carers has risen. Yet a number of them are silently facing unthinkable hardships.” Did you clap for our carers? Despite their recently raised profile, our … Continue reading “Carers and COVID-19: Hunger and mental health”
How long will we comply with COVID lockdown? 3 tests for legitimate rules
By Dr Claire Mcloughlin & Professor David Hudson International Development Department, University of Birmingham “People are more likely to comply with rules that don’t benefit them if they have some basis in shared values and beliefs and fairness.” Across the world, citizens are facing extraordinary limits on their livelihoods and freedom of association. But as … Continue reading “How long will we comply with COVID lockdown? 3 tests for legitimate rules”
Leadership – Reflections on a Crisis
By Steve Gulati, Director of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Programme School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham “There are decades when nothing happens. And there are weeks when decades happen” – Vladimir Lenin If ever the importance and significance of leadership needed underlining, COVID-19 provides definitive evidence. Economic and political measures that were so recently unthinkable … Continue reading “Leadership – Reflections on a Crisis”
Escape the room, take the facts!
By Chris Roche, Senior Research Partner of the Developmental Leadership Program School of Government, University of Birmingham Back in June 2019, the DLP team participated in a team-building exercise in Birmingham – an escape room in which the team had to escape the Lab. After we had successfully saved the world, we wondered if we … Continue reading “Escape the room, take the facts!”
Governing Renewable Natural Resources: How can governance improve the environment and people’s lives in the Global South?
By Professor Fiona Nunan, International Development Department School of Government, University of Birmingham Governance matters for natural resources because it affects how they are used and managed and who gets to benefit. In low-income countries, governance often aims to improve people’s lives as well as the environment, but achieving these ‘win-win’ outcomes has proved elusive. … Continue reading “Governing Renewable Natural Resources: How can governance improve the environment and people’s lives in the Global South?”
Generation Equality: The changing experience of women
By Professor Jane Martin, Director of Domus Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Histories of Education, Executive Editor of Educational Review School of Education, University of Birmingham On the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action for the empowerment of girls and women everywhere, the theme for International Women’s Day for 2020 is … Continue reading “Generation Equality: The changing experience of women”
Social Work Leadership – New Decade, New Agenda
By Simon Haworth, Professor Robin Miller and Dr Jason Schaub School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham We often hear of social work’s mistakes, crises and failings. It is therefore easy to forget its strengths and examples of good, even great, practice. Leadership, or certainly lack of it, can be at the heart of the … Continue reading “Social Work Leadership – New Decade, New Agenda”
Character and Emotions on Social Media
By Aidan Thompson, Director of Strategic Initiatives The Jubilee Centre for Character & Virtues, University of Birmingham Engaging meaningfully on social media platforms can mean keeping up to date with former friends and colleagues, throwing yourself into discussions and debates with strangers, filtering through endless memes, or watching videos of current affairs, sports, and politics. … Continue reading “Character and Emotions on Social Media”
The Future of ‘Citizenship Policy’ in the UK
Co-authored by Tendayi Bloom, Katherine Tonkiss, Agnes Czajka, Eleni Andreouli, Devyani Prabhat, Cynthia Orchard, Nira Yuval-Davis, Kelly Staples and Georgie Wemyss As the Windrush scandal has shown, when a person is unable to show evidence of their citizenship, the results can be devastating. In August 2019, the think tank British Future launched an independent inquiry … Continue reading “The Future of ‘Citizenship Policy’ in the UK”