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Personal Reflection

Transforming the BSc Education Student Experience at Cardiff University

Transforming the BSc Education Student Experience at Cardiff University

Posted on 21 July 2025 by Dr Kevin Smith

How do you transform the student experience? This post reflects on the collective effort behind Cardiff’s BSc Education programme—how collaboration, care, and curricular coherence reshaped teaching, learning, and community from the inside out.

Coddling White Ignorance: Pedagogical Grace and Racial Justice in Teacher Education

Posted on 4 February 2021 by Dr Kevin Smith

How can educators confront white ignorance without abandoning grace? In this powerful reflection, Dr Kevin Talbert considers how teacher education must move beyond comforting white innocence toward a practice of truth-telling, accountability and love that fosters genuine transformation.

From “Not Racist” to Anti-Racist: Building Curricula for Justice

From “Not Racist” to Anti-Racist: Building Curricula for Justice

Posted on 3 June 2020 by Dr Kevin Smith

Being “not racist” isn’t enough. This post explores what it means to be anti-racist in education—how teachers can move from awareness to action, and from intention to transformation. Drawing on critical pedagogy and first-hand experience, it highlights why anti-racist teaching is essential to dismantling systems of inequality and cultivating critical hope.

When Pupils Protest: Lessons in Voice, Power, and the Lived Curriculum

Posted on 16 October 2019 by Dr Kevin Smith

What happens when students turn theory into action? This post tells the story of a classroom discussion that led to a full-scale pupil protest—and what it revealed about power, agency and the possibilities of critical pedagogy. It’s a reflection on voice, justice and the kind of learning that can’t be contained by a textbook.

From the Front Step: Schools, Suicide Prevention, and the Search for Belonging

From the Front Step: Schools, Suicide Prevention, and the Search for Belonging

Posted on 9 September 2019 by Dr Kevin Smith

How can schools become places where every pupil feels seen, valued and supported? Combining personal reflection with research on pupil well-being in Wales, this post explores the urgent need for school-wide approaches to suicide prevention. It calls on educators to recognise warning signs, challenge stigma and create environments where no young person feels alone on the front step.

Talking About Race: Why Language and Clarity Matter

Talking About Race: Why Language and Clarity Matter

Posted on 15 August 2019 by Dr Kevin Smith

When we talk about race, the words we choose matter. This post responds to a recent online debate by clarifying the differences between race, racism, prejudice and discrimination. Grounded in Critical Race Theory, it explores how language can either obscure or expose systems of power—and why precision is essential if we are to move from reaction to real understanding.