Inside Education - a podcast for educators interested in teaching

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's episode, we delve into the history of Irish education in the 1800s to learn about an ambitious attempt to educate teachers by co-locating theory and practice. We look at the rise and fall of model schools as a means of teacher training. My guest is retired primary school teacher and principal, Dr. Joe Doyle who recently published Model Schools - Model Teachers? A nineteenth-century Irish teacher-training initiative. Among the topics we cover are: Being prompted to study the topic by William Murphy, a fellow member of Dúchas – the Tullaherin Heritage Society that produces a journal titled In the Shadow of the Steeple. Being bowled over by the amount of information that was available to access in the National Archives of Ireland. He chose history as his academic subject when he studied for the Bachelor of Education degree in the early 1990s (a truncated course awarded to those who had the National Teacher (NT) qualification before the B.Ed. degree was introduced). His first scholarly foray into history and education was an account of education in the Thomastown area in the nineteenth century. Having expressed interest in pursuing his studies in the history of education, he was invited to meet with the late Professor John Coolahan, previously a guest on episode 10 and episode 253 to discuss the matter. His initial interest was in Kilkenny schools which had landlord patronage in the 1800s. However, Professor Coolahan persuaded him to pursue what he saw as a more fruitful topic, about cooperation in Kilkenny school management between 1831 and 1870. Winning a millennium scholarship in St. Patrick’s College where he was advised by Professor James Kelly on the topic of model schools. What model schools in Ireland were (built in the 1840s, 1850s and 1860s). They consisted of 19 District Model Schools, 7 Minor Model Schools and 3 others: the central model school, West Dublin, and Inchicore. The central model school was a fully fledged institution for preparing teachers but a wider network was needed to achieve the aim of preparing sufficient teachers for the entire national school system. They combined teacher education with education of young schoolchildren. The Kildare Place Society received Government grant aid from 1811 on the basis that one of their principles was that they were there for people of all religions. They provided short courses for practising teachers, who would previously had had minimal preparation for their roles. The Kildare Place Society was promoting the (quite rigid) Monitorial system developed by Joseph Lancaster. Training took place for implementing that system and for organisation and keeping school records. This was a system whereby one teacher, assisted by capable pupils, could supervise up to 500 children. Hedge schools mostly taught the three Rs and did not have Irish although some variations may have been present. He refers to Brennan’s Schools of Kildare and Leighlin. Here is a link to a talk by Dr. Antonia McManus on hedge schools in Ireland and here is a link to a book she wrote on the topic. The difference between district model schools and minor model schools (the latter did not have student teachers in residence there). The retention rate of teachers who were prepared in model schools was around 30%. The pay was poor and many of the students used it as a way of getting a good intermediate education and went on to work in the civil service or in a bank. More presybyterians and Anglican teachers than Roman Catholic teachers were prepared. He acknowledges the work of Emmet Larkin in understanding the Catholic Church in the nineteenth century. Archbishop Paul Cullen initially focused on sorting out problems among Roman Catholic clergy in the Dublin Diocese before becoming interested in the model schools. He was opposed to the model schools because they were non-denominational. From 1863, any Catholic trained in a model school would not be employed in a national school under Catholic management. Some information about the Powis commission is available on pages 22-23 of this doctoral thesis. How preparation of Catholic and Protestant teachers became segregated in Ireland. A description of a typical day for student teachers in a model school. Sources of information for the history of Irish education: Annual Reports (include a section on model schools), Government inquiries late 1830s on the practical working of the National System), 1854 (substantial report), 1870 (Powis Commission – 10 volumes; report and minutes of evidence and statistical part). ED1 reports – initial applications for setting up national schools). ED2 reports (registers – dealings of Board of Education with individual schools – a lot of detail when things go wrong); ED9 reports (specific reports that arose between the school and the Board of Education); ED3 files used to report on model schools. All in the National Archives. Minutes of commissioners’ of national education and kept in the manuscript room of the National library. The minutes generally are a bit formulaic. Some national schools still have their own records. The experience of working as a research student supervised by Professor John Coolahan. Irish Education: Its history and structure by John Coolahan. The Irish Education Experiment by Donald Akenson. Joe’s book is titled Model schools – model teachers? A nineteenth-century Irish teacher-training initiative. The dust jacket of the book was designed by Terry Bannon and it was printed by Naas Printing.  

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's podcast I speak to Professor Sonia Cabell who is an associate professor of Reading Education in the School of Teacher Education and the Florida Center for Reading Research at Florida State University. She was a keynote speaker at the Literacy Association of Ireland conference on 9 November 2024. Among the topics we discussed are the following: How Marcia Invernizzi, co-author of Words their Way introduced her to the idea of doing a doctorate. Laura Justice was her dissertation adviser. She became interested in preventing reading difficulties through interventions in the pre-school to second grade years. More teachers today are consulting original research on literacy than twenty or twenty-five years ago. “If you know better, then you do better.” Teacher education programmes frequently don’t teach student teachers how to consume research. An important trait for teachers to develop is to be curious about what the evidence says about “this” practice and being open to what the evidence says as reported in trusted journals that translate the research well. She recommends The Reading Teacher and The Reading League Journal as sources of accessible reliable information for teachers. She likes Scholastic’s The Science of Reading in Practice series. Don’t make one person a guru. Listen to different voices and compare them. Jeanne Chall refers to the transition of “learning to read to reading to learn” as a stage of development and not as a way to intervene (in the teaching of reading). A good eight-year-old reader would be decoding fluently (their grasp of the alphabetic code continues to increase) so they can focus their attention on what the text means and they should be continuing to develop fluency in their oral reading. Scarborough’s Reading Rope. Strands of language comprehension: Background knowledge, perceptive and expressive vocabulary, verbal reasoning (inferential thinking and abstract thinking), language structures (syntax), and literacy knowledge (understanding different kinds of genres). John Guthrie’s work on Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction. James S. Kim of Harvard University and his (Model of Reading Engagement) MORE assessment. The inextricable link between knowledge and oral language skills and can be built together in young children. In the interactive read-aloud context you are exposing children to the formal language of books, which is critical because of the formal language structure of books (syntax and vocabulary). How to Teach Your Baby to Read By Glenn Doman. Self productivity by Cunha and Heckman. It’s not just where you start in pre-school that counts but the rate of skill growth in oral language and decoding and subsequent writing; skills beget skills in early literacy. “Our ability to read becomes really stable, really early.” “There is power in setting the stage and setting the stage early.” She would like to see all teachers, including early years teachers, getting the respect and professionalism they deserve Her realisation of the importance of oral language. The “strive for five” framework, developed with Tricia Zucker. How do we help teachers have conversations with students that are meaningful and that expand students’ language in ways. Teacher asks an open-ended question (turn 1) Student responds Teacher can scaffold upwards and provide more challenge through another question or scaffolds downwards, and use an either/or question or similar. This third step is the most critical turn in the sequence. Student responds Teacher wraps it up Revoicing Phrase “Strive for Five” was coined by David Dickinson When implementing the CHAT programme (Children and Teachers together led by Laura Justice) When teachers tried to become conversationally responsive partners, teachers could change some aspects of their language use but the things that were more difficult to change were some of the most important aspects that needed to change. The Learning Language and Loving It program from The Hanen Center. Pre-K on My Way from Scholastic. When you give children and teachers something to talk about, you can build their language more easily. Science lends itself to disciplinary language and to meaningful ideas. Promotion of comprehension is all in children’s oral language skills. Both knowledge and comprehension strategies are important. Monitoring comprehension is also important. It is important for parents to read to children and to talk about what they’re reading and viewing things together. We learn language through warm and responsive relationship. This applies in the home and in school (especially in the early grades). Dr. Bob Pianta has studied this area. He created the classroom assessment scoring system. The interactions must be combined with explicit literacy teaching. How mothers’ impact on literacy has been studied more than the impact of fathers. Criteria she uses when selecting texts to read aloud in school: Begin with your purpose (e.g. building knowledge and language). Why she likes The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. How she carries out her (mostly quantitative) research: randomised control trials (Core knowledge language arts programme Tricia Zucker from the University of Texas), observational studies, and survey research. How she organises a randomised control trial in education. Her research is funded by the Institute of Education Sciences. Other sources of funding in the United States include the National Institutes of Health and the National Science foundation. Who educational research is for and how it helps. Research in early years literacy today needs to go beyond what works to why it works and who it works for. A researcher shouldn’t be trying to prove themselves right but to prove themselves wrong. Shayne Piasta, Ohio State University suggests having a journal of null effects. Writing is central to what she does. She feels like she has not worked for a day until she has pushed forward a manuscript for publication. If it’s about finding time to write, it will never happen! She is a writer as part of what she does and she builds around that. She stacks meetings and schedules no meetings before noon. She was influenced by the work of Linnea Ehri and Susan Neuman. This article about the impact of a content rich literacy curriculum is now available freely online.

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. This week on the podcast I speak again to Dr. Siobhán Keenan Fitzgerald whose book Listen: How Child and Student Voice Can Change the World has just been published by Routledge. Among the topics we discussed are: Among the topics were discussed were: Connecting to a network of Changemaker schools Getting interested in outdoor education inspired by a colleague who did Forest school training. Travelling as part of the Erasmus+ programme. Learning about peer mediation and the Student Council in Donabate Educate Together National School. The process of becoming recognised as a changemaker school. Studying for a doctorate on public speaking in primary school (focusing on self-efficacy and vocabulary development). She used the work of Albert Bandura. The paucity of research on public speaking in primary schools. The connection between children expressing their voices and public speaking Children have opportunities to practise public speaking in team sports settings, in church and in school-related events (e.g. science fair). How teachers already recognise student voice in their classrooms (e.g. taking children’s interests and likes into account, in discussions, circle-time activities, rotating class-captain roles, and in choosing pedagogies to promote learning). How Siobhán’s school developed the role of play leader, that rotates weekly. Play leaders keep an eye out for younger children, to bring out equipment at break times and ensure it is distributed fairly, push younger children on the swings, and helping children sort out issues themselves without involving adults. That which is most personal is most universal – why storytelling is a form of public speaking. Matthew Dicks and his ideas of “homework for life” and how this might help children find their personal voice. Limits on children expressing their voice. Creating a safe space for children speaking in public and involving students in co-creating the rules around it. Who the book Listen: How child and student voice can change the world is written for. How those who get to speak publicly tend to be the privileged in society Shy or reluctant speakers may need additional scaffolding to be encouraged to speak in public. This may include children with speech and language delays or difficulties, children with other additional needs and children for whom English is not their first language. What she learned from writing the book:  finding two extra hours in each day between 6 and 8 a.m. Teachers who want to write a book: If not you, then who? If not now, then when? Reach out! The Comfort Crisis, a book by Michael Easter was mentioned. She mentioned podcasts she likes including The Rethinking Education podcast by James Mannion; The Teach Middle East podcast with Christina Morris; and the Lead the Way podcast with Ann Byrne was mentioned. School 21 in London Her YouTube Channel.

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's programme I am delighted to be joined by Dr. Patrick Burke from Dublin City University's School of Language, Literacy and Early Childhood Education. Among the topics discussed were: Differences between the primary school he attended and the school where he began his teaching career. How he became interested in the teaching of literacy. Being awarded a fellowship to study at Frostburg State University in 2013-2014. Working in the Children’s Literature Centre at Frostburg State-wide bans on children’s books in the United States. Choosing literature for children (Quirkiness, visuals of picture books, morals (not moralising) and thoughts on the importance of writing quality in children’s literature. Science of reading about how you research reading and the components and guidance that come from that. Why the science of reading can inform some, not all, of our decisions about teaching reading. The influence of the science of reading on initial teacher education. The importance of basing decision on research evidence (where it is available). How teachers develop their professional knowledge: the difference between mandated webinars and those chosen by teachers; allowing for diversity and pluralism in the professional development in-service teachers engage in; social media and professional development; individual versus collaborative approaches to professional development. Ways to accredit continuous professional development for teachers. Curriculum integration is influenced by factors such as the subject you’re integrating, whether you start with the subject or with a question. The pre-cursor question concerns what we want children to learn and whether some form of integration will benefit that. Depending on the answer to that question, curriculum integration may or may not be a good thing. Publications: https://ncca.ie/media/6370/conceptualising-curriculum-integration.pdf (Report) and the annexes summarising studies are here: https://ncca.ie/media/6368/annex-1-conceptualising-curriculum-integration.pdf and https://ncca.ie/media/6369/annex-2-weaving-the-literature-on-integration-pedagogy-and-assessment.pdf. Find out more about the negotiated curriculum in this article and about Beane’s work in the NCCA report. Balancing a disciplinary approach with a curriculum approach. Patrick’s doctoral dissertation about disciplinary writing. The overall message of the dissertation is “Literacy integration is important but not easily achieved…if you want to do it well.” He mentions the work of Sam Wineburg and the credibility of online content. The importance of partnerships between schools, teachers and teacher educators in conducting and implementing education research. This raises questions around where research is done and who it’s done for and how teachers are involved in it The importance of conducting and sharing small-scale action research done by teachers in their classrooms. Student teachers need to be introduced to diverse forms of educational research in their undergraduate education. A (rare) randomised controlled trial conducted in primary education in Ireland on the topic of Minecraft and spatial awareness. Being a DCU Co-Principal Investigator (with Dr Eithne Kennedy) for the exploratory Erasmus+ funded Artificial Intelligence in Literacy (AILIT) project. Scholarly engagement with social media and traditional media. Gert Biesta’s purposes of education: Qualification, socialisation, subjectification. Learning about kindness in teacher-student relationships from Dr. William Bingman Nell Duke is his go-to expert on literacy education. His profile page in DCU: https://www.dcu.ie/languageliteracyandearlychildhoodeducation/people/dr-patrick-burke.

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's podcast my guest is Perry Share, who is Head of Student Success at Atlantic Technological University. Among the topics we discuss are: The impact of taking a module with Hilary Tovey on rural sociology and a module with Brian Torode and Barbara Bradby on language, discourse and French theory. Perry’s belief that artificial intelligence is a catalyst that helps us better understand and question contemporary practices around teaching, learning and assessment. Artificial intelligence forces us to ask questions like "What does it mean to assess students?" "How can we teach in ways that are engaging and productive for students?" In education, the arts and the humanities, we take text as a representation of what is in students’ heads and tend to make assumptions about the knowledge, understanding or learning held by the student. The foundation is taken out of this when we don’t know where the text comes from. Problems are outlined with the take-home assignment, oral assessments and standard written exams but the “unsolvable” problems may constitute a productive space for educators. The likes of ChatGPT can be used effectively in fields where you have knowledge. An area of concern in higher education is in relation to fields where people are just beginning to acquire knowledge and understanding. In addition, artificial intelligence threatens opportunities to learn on internships in professional placements. Perhaps the role of “learned” knowledge becomes increasingly important for novices in a field whereas in recent years the importance of critical thinking has been lauded. It is likely that resources will need to shift from activities we currently value to new – yet-to-be-determined – resources at secondary and higher education levels. What prompt engineering is. Ethan Mollick’s book Co-Intelligence.  Examples of good and not-so-good prompts. How Perry is using ChatGPT in his own work: summarising large documents; combining documents; Brainstorming; Outlining a proposed structure of a document or presentation. It has been used for computer programming and other tasks. Data protection implications may need to be considered in relation to some uses. In the future it may be used to grade and provide feedback for public exams. Various kinds of data on the results would be available almost immediately. Decline in language learning in many countries due to the dominance of English and due to the availability of translation tools. The days of the academic essay may be numbered. Simulations may be a future direction of assessment in professional settings but these too are not without complications. Can we avoid interacting with artificial intelligence? Impact on equity in education. If students can teach themselves, where does that leave the teacher? There is a job of imagination for teachers to start thinking about how they will work alongside artificial intelligence. The impact of artificial intelligence on what (and who) we can trust. People Perry respects on the topic of artificial intelligence: Anna Mills, a lecturer in academic writing in the United States; Charles Knight who works for Advance HE; Maha Bali at the America University of Cairo on critical artificial intelligence (environmental, commercial and ethical impacts). The purpose of school. Daryl Nation Raewyn Connell’s book The Good University. Perry's own expanding list of resources on artificial intelligence is available here.

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. The format of this podcast differs a bit from the usual one in that I am joined by my colleague in Marino Institute of Education, Dr. Gene Mehigan to discuss a book that influenced him on his journey as a teacher and teacher educator. The Book is The Master by Bryan MacMahon, published by Poolbeg Press in 1992. Among the topics we discuss are the following: How a book about teaching in Rural Ireland from the 1930s to the 1970s could speak to a teacher in a DEIS band 1 school in Darndale in the 1980s and 1990s. The consequences of poverty on children in schools. The “stain” of large classes (and their impact on children with language difficulties in particular). The importance of reading How Bryan MacMahon encouraged children to collect words (red notebook) and Gene Mehigan’s variation of it (jar on teacher’s desk). Stages in a reading lesson as outlined by Bryan MacMahon (who noted that they are not rigid and may need modern modification): Arousal of interest (day before) Introduction (before lesson begins to heighten interest in the text) Examination of matter expressed in the text (Comprehension) Examination of matter implied in the text (Comprehension) Write difficult words on blackboard (Tier 1, 2 and 3 words today) Teacher models reading Children read aloud or silently Isolate phrases for composition usage Informed organic chat (in style of everyday conversation) Dramatisation of the text (Reader’s theatre today) Committal to rote “not to be scorned on special occasions” Why a teacher needs to back down in a confrontational situation with a pupil Characteristics of a good teacher; Dedication Sense of humour Clear penetration in the timbre of the teacher’s speaking voice A love of learning Versatility of approach to a lesson A congenial monotony (that can be departed from) Occasional informal language Good blackboard use and being able to sketch Act in harmony with the traditions and culture of the school area Bringing the extraordinary into your teaching. The teacher’s job is to help each child find their special gift. Bryan MacMahon: “I realised that each child had a gift, and that the ‘leading out’ of that gift was the proper goal of teaching. To me a great teacher was simply a great person teaching.” Thoughts on a school library, access to books and encouraging children to read. Trying to entice children to read by tidying books. Buddy reading – to help beginning or reluctant readers but also helping older children consolidate their interest it reading. Helping a teacher narrow down who in a class might have dyslexia How Brian MacMahon practised an early version of “home-school liaison” Contemporary resonances – children from Germany fostered by local families during World War II. How Bryan MacMahon recruited children to look after other children who were vulnerable in some way Resonances with Johathan Haidt’s book The Coddling of the American Mind (preparing the child for the road and not the road for the child). How learning tables enthusiastically helped a pupil later excel as an emigrant “A school is nothing if it is not a place of laughter and song.” Sources of creativity in education The importance of a teacher being a philomath.

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. In this episode I interview Hugh Catts from the Florida State University about reading comprehension, dyslexia and more. People interviewed on previous Inside Education podcasts are mentioned in this episode: Jerome Kagan, Daniel T. Willingham and Tim Shanahan. Among the topics raised on the podcast are: How his interest in educational research grew from problems members of his family, including himself, had in learning to read. The benefits of having knowledge of phonetics and linguistics in studying reading difficulties His thoughts on whether someone with reading difficulties can teach reading well How he became interested in comprehension Why thinking about comprehension as a skill is unhelpful in teaching reading Comprehension is a complex set of behaviours or cognitive processes that is more like listening. It is the interaction between the reader and the text they’re reading to construct meaning between what is written in the text and what the reader already knows about the topic. Comprehension needs to be taught within the context of the subject matter we want the reader to understand. Quote from Daniel Willingham: “Memory is the residue of thought.” “Comprehension is essentially changing your understanding of the topic based upon the text.” “The more you learn about a topic, the more interested you are in learning more about the topic because you feel comfortable with it.” The “simple view of reading” claims that reading comprehension is a two-stage process where you decode/recognise the word and thereby turn print into language; this is followed by turning the meaning of words into the larger meaning of the text. Decoding can be learned over a number of years whereas the language comprehension part is learned over a lifetime. The view has advantages and disadvantages. We’re missing a good curriculum “in some cases by focusing in early reading on reading rather than focusing on subject matters to where you can gain the knowledge at the same time as you’re gaining knowledge about reading.” Questions teachers can ask to help develop children’s comprehension. (E.g. what are you thinking about? How does this relate to what you already know? What experiences have you had that are related to this? Assessing comprehension. It’s not easy to measure! “You cannot reduce comprehension down to a single score because it’s not a single thing.” Comprehension should be tested within texts on the subject matter upon which children have been provided with instruction. Benefits and shortcomings of cloze procedure to test comprehension Evaluating psychologist Jerome Kagan’s stance on dyslexia. Comparing the neurological basis of dyslexia with someone who has little musical ability. There is no consistent brain-based marker for dyslexia. The difference between someone who has dyslexia and who does not have dyslexia is evident in how much you struggle to read when provided with quality instruction. How dyslexia and comprehension difficulties could co-occur or could occur independently Consequences of having dyslexia The causes of dyslexia are multi-factorial, some relate to risk and some to resilience The probability that a child might have reading problems can be determined before a child has reading problems. Dyslexia cannot be diagnosed until the end of first class/beginning of second class. Intensive, systematic, supportive and scaffolded instruction from an early stage can help students who are at risk of having dyslexia. Having dyslexia is not a categorical phenomenon – it exists on a continuum. How he finds time to write. He likes the work of Daniel T. Willingham, Tim Shanahan, and Natalie Wexler  

On this week's podcast I speak to Professor Etta Hollins from the University of Missouri-Kansas City about teacher education and the role of the teacher. Among the topics we discussed are: Why observation is key to good teaching practice and learning to teach The need to be observing, documenting and analysing classroom practice from early in a student teacher’s course How the influence of theorists like Jerome Bruner and John Dewey can be seen in classroom practice Directed observation – how the subject you're studying narrows your focus of observation She gives an example of how a student teacher might learn to teach with reference to learning to teach aspects of early literacy. She illustrates her point with reference to the book Brown Bear Brown Bear by Bill Martin and Eric Carle. As the teacher educator, she engages in epistemic practices (practices related to knowledge) with student teachers including focused inquiry (studying something specific that you’re going to be able to observe or apply). Knowing when it’s time to redesign a teacher education programme. How to solicit feedback on a teacher education programme’s impact and outcomes. (Do peers trust graduates’ knowledge? How do school leaders evaluate performance of our graduates?) Using generic versus subject-specific instruments to evaluate student teachers’ teaching. A student is ready to graduate from their teacher education programme when they can consistently apply academic knowledge to practice and make adjustments as needed for differences among children and get the learning outcomes that are expected for the child’s age, grade and subject matter. How students can progressively demonstrate their development of teacher knowledge throughout their programme. Why she believes assessing students in particular contexts does not mean that their competence is confined to those contexts: responding to students is a habit of mind that can be transferred to wherever you are teaching. She draws a parallel between how teachers respond to children in classrooms and how she responds to teacher educators when reviewing teacher education programmes. Why teachers need not just academic knowledge but to be aware of why they’re teaching. Teachers need a bigger purpose for their work. How children responded to her as a middle-school history teacher “Every teacher, whether they do it intentionally or not, influences children’s perception, their relationships, their values and who they become.” How extreme events such as school shootings can be traced to children being isolated, excluded by their peers in school. A teacher’s role is to help every child find a place of comfort in the school, learn to build relationships with peers, and help peers become more accepting of difference. Bank Street in New York is an example of how teachers can help transform schools and communities serving students from socially and economically backgrounds. Schools founded by John Dewey. At the centre of such schools was the study of children. He conceptualised how learning takes place and he had a conception of diversity. The spirit has been maintained because of a sense of clarity and commitment to John Dewey’s principles. The Lab school in Chicago was founded by John Dewey and takes children from low-income environments. Culture influences cognition, values and practices. She compares how children learn to think with how they learn a language from caregivers. She gives an example of how student teachers trusted their own experience over theory. She gave them an experience to help them understand difference. She is inspired by the awesome responsibility of being a professional educator.

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney On this podcast I spoke to Professor Mark Windschitl from the University of Washington about teaching science and especially the science of climate change. As usual with these podcasts we covered a wide range of topics, including the following: What core practices are in teacher education (e.g. teachers need to elicit ideas students already have about the topic being taught). Why, although important, there is much more to teaching than core practices, such as developing respectful and trusting relationships with students. As teachers gain experience, they add nuance and flexibility to the core practices. What ambitious science teaching is: willingness to constantly improve one’s practice, to take risks to improve their practice and to base changes on students’ response to their teaching. The need for a teacher pursuing ambitious science teaching to understand topics (e.g. the greenhouse effect) in great depth, with flexibility, and connected to children’s everyday lives. The biggest ideas in biology that can be taught in a second-level school setting (e.g. how ecosystems function in the world). Trees extend their roots out to other trees and can cause chemical changes in other trees. Selecting candidates for teaching science and engaging in ambitious science teaching How the impact of testing in schools shapes the curriculum. The importance of academically productive discourse in the classroom about science ideas. Productive talk in a classroom is a process of sense-making and meaning making. The need for teachers to have models of ambitious science teaching that is relevant to the setting in which they teach. How to teach children the science of climate change without elevating eco-anxiety. Why solutions need to be threaded into the teaching of climate change The importance of understanding the greenhouse effect and why understanding that is not enough (the need to know about ecosystems, the oceans, the cryosphere – the frozen parts of the earth, and tipping points) The scale of climate change phenomena The idea of “carbon footprint” was introduced by a petroleum company (BP) What schools can do to mitigate the effects of climate change (e.g. making Prom night – the Debs – greener) Plastics pollution is different to climate change but both are connected in many students’ minds Students being exposed to sceptical points of view in some areas. Although such perspectives need to be managed carefully, sceptical views might not be as big a problem as we would expect. It may help to focus on the science of the greenhouse effect. The challenge of beef production as part of the climate change discussion The difficulty of conveying the scale of climate change Finding and evaluating climate change data – the challenge of media literacy. Among the known reputable outlets he identifies are: NASA, NOAA, WHO, and the UN. The importance of having a reason when sharing data about climate change. Assessing students’ knowledge of climate change How he became interested in education research How he conducts his research to find out how novice teachers become “well-started beginners” Helping novice teachers use agency to move beyond reproducing someone else’s teaching How he finds time to write – bringing a notebook with him when going out for a stroll and doing 14 versions of an article before it’s ready for publication Who research in education is for and how does it influence practice in education? Is it through instructional coaches? School leaders? Having children do well-structured work in small groups (that is equitable and rigorous) in class, at least part of the time, is hugely beneficial for their learning. Productive academic discourse in science is difficult to find in classrooms in the Unites States. Another research question is why technology failed to deliver for education during COVID Why schools and the communities around them should have porous boundaries The value of a teacher sharing (a) the kind of science they’re interested in (b) something about their family and (c) a hobby they have with their class in order to decrease the psychological difference between the teacher and their students. He refers to the book Teaching and its predicaments by David Cohen.

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this podcast I discussed social and emotional learning with Professor Sara Rimm-Kaufman from the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development. Among the topics discussed were: What social and emotional learning is The implicit and explicit process of learning social and emotional skills How children can learn empathy Her book for teachers: SEL from the Start From listening to respectful communication to respecting others’ perspectives Where social emotional learning fits in the regular school curriculum What service learning is and examples of it in practice Three possible categories of service learning solutions: Educate others, change a policy or take direct action. The relationship between service learning and project-based learning How Sara Rimm-Kaufman and her colleagues (including Tracy Harkins and Eileen Merritt) developed Connect Science, a scheme that uses the service learning approach to combine social emotional learning and academic content Applying service learning in different curriculum subject areas The notion of “fidelity of implementation” in education research (and an “intent to treat” analysis) The theme that characterises her research interests: the centrality of social emotional learning (e.g. for racial equity) and the widespread practices in school that have never been studied but would benefit from research into their effectiveness or lack of effectiveness The source of her research interests Her early research on primates and working with Professor Jerry Kagan to subsequently working in schools with children in first grade. Why she likes conducting research in schools, despite the challenges such research brings Relational trust – what it is and why it is important among the adults in a school Who has responsibility for building relational trust among the adult community in a school? Building relational trust with and among children in a school The relation between a teacher’s beliefs and their practice – a bidirectional process. She loves the work of Dan Willingham, a former guest on this podcast.

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. In this episode I speak to Professor Art Baroody from the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign about matters related to counting and early mathematical development. Professor Baroody shares insights from his extensive research in children's early mathematical learning with anecdotes from his life and work. Among the topics we discuss are: The word “count” is ambiguous; he prefers the terms verbal counting and object counting. Along with subitising, these are foundational for children’s sense of number. The rote portion of numbers (up to 12 in English) and the rule-governed portion of numbers (13 onwards in English) Being able to meaningfully count objects means understanding the cardinality principle How a teacher can assess a child’s competence in object counting. The “hidden stars” game. The importance of subitising (easily recognising, without counting, the number in a set). If a child can subitise small sets of objects and connect it to their verbal counting knowledge, the child can get insights into the structure of the count sequence and into our number system. The importance of children understanding the “increasing magnitude” principle of numbers. Subitising and learning addition and subtraction concepts The value of playing dice games. The successor principle: Each step in the counting sequence means you added one more. A child who starts out behind in kindergarten, typically gets further behind as school goes on, indicating the importance of informal mathematical knowledge for school readiness. Three components of a hypothetical learning trajectory: a goal, a learning progression, instructional activities that help children move from one level to the next. The relevance of a hypothetical learning trajectory for a teacher’s work: questions and instruction need to be developmentally appropriate for children. What number comes after 9? Whether you need to start at 1 or can answer this directly depends on your current level of understanding numbers. How schools typically target instruction at a level that is too low or too high for students. There are many published learning progressions and hypothetical learning trajectories available to teachers now, especially in number, arithmetic and counting development. A child’s mathematical power, routine expertise (learning something by rote – hard to apply it to a new problem and easy to forget) and adaptive expertise (learning something with understanding) Mathematical power comes from understanding, engaging in mathematical inquiry, to reason mathematically, to solve problems, having an interest in mathematics and using it. In short, conceptual understanding, mathematical thinking skills, and a positive disposition towards mathematics Example of applying knowledge to finding the area of a parallelogram Why memorising mathematics by rote is crazy. All children, even those with learning disabilities, can develop mathematical power up to lower secondary school level, if properly taught. Teaching mathematics by rote is cheating children. Things that can be discovered are the additive commutativity principle (3+5 = 5+3) Children are capable of much more than we give them credit for. Why getting children to learn off tables of number facts is cheating children. The importance of seeing patterns and relationships in the number tables – make it a thinking exercise and make mathematics learning fun. Working with his mentor Herb Ginsburg The use of manipulatives in teaching mathematics, even to college-level students. The value of children inventing procedures themselves. To understand fraction multiplication, the analogy of multiplication as repeated addition does not suffice. You need a more powerful analogy. A “groups of” analogy is more helpful. And it helps you understand why multiplication doesn’t always make something bigger. How to make sense of fraction division. How he conducts his research (Case study; random controlled trials) Substitution errors in reading John Holt’s books John Dewey’s book, Experience and Education  Why parents and teachers need to be patient The power of examples and non-examples when teaching mathematics.

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. In this episode I speak to Professor David T. Hansen from Teachers' College, Columbia University about the philosophy of education and the practice of teaching. Among the topics we discuss are the following: What it means to see teaching as an art, as a political activity and as a moral endeavour. Direct lessons about morality/values/ethics versus the continuous enactment of moral values. What hand-raising and turn-taking reveals about classroom culture and establishing dialogue among students (teachers and their students coming closer and closer apart and further and further together). Teaching as a profession? Teaching as vocation, calling, practice, craft? The attraction of teaching for people who want to live a meaningful life. Reworking his original book, The Call to Teach in 2021 as Reimagining the Call to Teach in response to (a) Accountability movement in the United States, linked to No Child Left Behind; and (b) Having learned more about the practice of teaching. How the implementation of No Child Left Behind in the United States was tone-deaf to classroom life. Huge resources benefited private testing companies rather than professional development for teachers. A poetics of teaching: What poetics means (comes from Aristotle trying to figure out why drama on a stage has the kind of effects it has on the spectators long after the play has ended). In this article, Hansen tries to understand the impact of teaching. Recognising the poetics of teaching; teaching is a rhythmic practice where poetics can be found alongside its drudgery/frustration/failure. How we all fail regularly in teaching but we rarely discuss it. What he means when he says that anyone interviewing a teacher for a job wants to know if the teacher loves life. Finding meaningfulness in teaching Programmes for veteran teachers to rejuvenate, reinspire, renew and refresh themselves. One example of such a programme is a “descriptive review” of a child. The importance of working on craft with initial student candidates; more can be done on the art of teaching – draw out a sense of their own humanity, possibly through story, poetry, film or a painting. How teaching is saturated with “why” questions – invitations to philosophy. Philosophy as theory and as an art of living (wisdom tradition) Cosmopolitanism: being reflectively loyal and reflectively open Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke. Plato and John Dewey.  

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. Theme tune composed by David Vesey. On this episode of Inside Education, engineer Patricia Scanlon of Soapbox Labs discusses how improving how well software can recognise children's voices can support how teachers teach, assess and give feedback on reading and enhance equity in the classroom. Among the topics discussed are: How children’s voices differ to adult voices How voice recognition software has been found to be biased in favour of some populations over others How she became interested in applying speech recognition technology to education after watching her daughter experience the limits of educational software when she was learning to read and do mathematics Applying speech recognition technology to teaching reading – the software acts like a helpful adult who “listens” to and “assesses” the child’s reading. The software is used in dyslexia screeners, reading practice products, fluency assessment products, speech therapy. Use of the software at home and in classrooms The use of rapid naming as one of a suite of tasks in a screening tool that aims to predict dyslexia in pre-literate children, thus making earlier intervention possible The promise of voice recognition software for making school more inclusive for children of all abilities Applying the voice recognition software to languages other than English How practising reading can be formatively assessed using voice recognition software Feedback to encourage the student, to correct a child’s pronunciation of a sound, or to identify errors for the teacher Why Soapbox Labs’s niche is with children’s voice recognition software How they worked alongside teachers to develop the software Collecting data and looking at data privacy Future plans for developing the software

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney Theme tune composed by David Vesey On this week's podcast I speak to cognitive scientist, Professor Daniel T Willingham from the University of Virginia. We discuss learning to read, learning styles, multiple intelligences, education research and more. The full range of topics includes: Applying the science of learning in school and at home Paradigms of cognitive psychology (reasonable assumptions) How cognitive science replaced behaviourism How cognitive science might inform the teaching of different subjects across the curriculum The relationship between basic science and applied science for teachers Why an opportunity exists for teacher organisations to review science and provide periodic updates for teachers to critique ideas (such as say, grit). Initial teacher education should provide a grounding in the science of learning and subsequently teachers’ knowledge needs to be updated as the science evolves (and why the onus for such updating should not be on individual teachers) Among the few reliable publications for teachers he'd recommend are American Educator, and Phi Delta Kappan. Evaluating the relative importance of technical competence (decoding) and motivation in learning to read. The difference between reading a book and listening to an audio book (How prosody helps comprehension in audio books and how regressions help us in comprehending text) and why textbooks are different. Can audiobooks help a child who is having difficulties learning to decode? Criticism of the learning styles theory of the mind – there’s no scientific basis to pedagogies based on learning styles. Why style differs to memory and ability and the importance of meaning in learning. Learning styles may offer a different ways for a teacher to think about topics they’re going to teach. The construct of mental ability and multiple intelligences. Is intelligence one single construct or is it several independent constructs? Can critical thinking be taught? Can being a good critical thinker in one domain help you think critically in other domains? The importance of seeing the same underlying structure in various guises when practising critical thinking. How he evaluates the value or potential contribution of a research article in education. Contradictions in educational research – parallels with COVID-19 research. Why professional organisations need to tease out research implications for teachers. Why he reads very broadly in education. Daniel Willingham’s “2002-style” website. He’s on Facebook and Twitter @dtwillingham. His most recent books are Why don’t students like school (2nd out now) and Outsmart your brain (August 2022).

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. Theme tune by David Vesey. On podcast 420, I welcome back Stanford University School of Education Professor William (Bill) Damon who was one of the first guests on this year's schedule to discuss his new book, A round of golf with my father: The new psychology of exploring your past to make peace with your present. Among the topics  we discuss on this bonus episode are the following: Different interpretations of what a life story is Life Studies by Robert Lowell Your intention for telling a life story What a life review is and why it can be done at any stage of life How William Damon adapted Robert Butler’s life review idea for his purpose. How to go about doing a life review Talk to people who remember your past Records (school and others, ancestry searches) Memory search Putting it all together – focusing on what gave you satisfaction and fulfillment Why he never met his father How school records have changed since the 1950s. How his father’s character developed over time, possibly through the demands and experiences of military service in World War II. What he learned about his own character from doing the life review Why character is a movie and not a snapshot Why he believes that psychological theories such as some of Freud’s work and the “big five personality traits” are wrong How he went about making a personal story interesting for an audience beyond his immediate circle of family and friends How a life review can help you find a purpose in your life How someone not looking for a purpose can find one His mother’s role in his life review His definition of purpose His memories of being taught by some of the pioneering psychologists of the twentieth century, including Erik Erikson and Jerome Kagan who was a guest on Inside Education a few years ago: Podcast 1 and Podcast 2  and who passed away in May 2021. Some of his earlier books: Some do care (with his wife, Anne Colby), Noble Purpose, The Moral Child and Greater Expectations. Why he called the book A Round of Golf with my Father when he never met his father!  

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney On this week's podcast I speak to Deirdre Hodson who works in the European Commission’s department for Education, Youth, Sports and Culture in Brussels. She provides a European Union policy perspective on technology and sustainability in education. Among the topics we discuss are: How she came to work in the area of digital education policy and her studies in the area Ben Williamson Neil Selwyn How her studies contributed to her work as a policymaker How the pandemic is likely to impact on policy and practice The need for schools to have digital strategies The importance of the school as a whole being the unit of change and of hearing the student voice The difference between emergency remote teaching and online learning How countries reaped the benefits of investment in digital resources in education during the pandemic Asking what we can learn from remote teaching and learning as a result of the pandemic Broadening the education infrastructure to include collaboration with libraries and museums The origin, purpose and launch of the SELFIE diagnostic/planning tool she was involved in developing How SELFIE has been used and a new SELFIE tool for teachers to be launched in October 2021. Report on Artificial Intelligence in Education Examples of interesting practices in digital education across Europe An account of a visit to a school in Finland and the phenomenon-based learning and to one in Austria Sustainability, digital technologies, accessibility and inclusion Risks and threats of technology alongside opportunities (e.g. data protection; student and teacher agency) Differences between aspects of a teacher’s job that are routine (e.g. marking) and those that are human (e.g. coaching and mentoring) Neil Selwyn Should robots replace teachers? Challenges of not being able to hold the regular Leaving Certificate examinations in 2020. The value of learning languages Erasmus and E-Twinning: Léargas Neil Selwyn’s book Distrusting Educational Technology: Critical Questions for Changing Times

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. In this podcast I explore the topic of education and autism by speaking to a classroom teacher, Graham Manning from Cork, and a university researcher, Professor Steffie van der Steen from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Among the topics we discuss are: How Graham became coordinator of classes for autistic students in school The organisation with which Graham undertook training on helping students develop good sleeping habits. How Steffie became interested in researching autism and the education of students with autism in the Netherlands. The Salamanca Statement on special needs education: Graham’s class arrangements from a student’s perspective Different needs of autistic students from primary to secondary school Graham’s problem with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Inclusive Education in New Brunswick and that province's views on inclusion versus segregation Excellence in practice: visiting homes of students who apply for the special class and managing transitions from primary to secondary school and from secondary to third level. Graham referred to a quote widely attributed to Dr. Stephen Shore that “when you meet one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.” Steffie’s research findings that are relevant for teachers: assessing young children on science concepts (Marble task and air pressure task); four categories of teachers’ needs in relation to teaching students with special needs: cooperation, academic tools, social aspects, reassurance for insecure newly qualified teachers; her hypothesis about the need to ask students both higher- and lower- order questions. Students learned from years of experience with students with autism and getting to know them. Lessons teachers can take from her experience of assessing young students with special education needs: variation in questions and hands-on tasks. Classroom interactions in Graham’s class for autistic students (Building relationships, subject planning, spending time outdoors, making meals together in the “home room,” creating a safe space) Steffie’s research (with her doctoral student, Lisette de Jonge-Hoekstra) on the relationship between children’s speech and their gestures when working on a task (including “gesture-speech mismatch) Steffie on animal-assisted therapy for students with autism Graham on why there are insufficient special classes in post-primary schools Steffie recommends: https://scholar.google.com/. Graham recommends The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida.  

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. This week my guest on the podcast is expert on assessment, feedback and academic integrity, Professor Phillip Dawson from Deakin University. Among the topics we discuss on the podcast are the following: How academic integrity is learned throughout our lives – and how even Peppa Pig has been known to flout academic integrity. What a secondary school teacher needs to know about academic integrity – values and technical skills Academic integrity travels with us: Medical students who have more academic integrity problems have more professional integrity problems as doctors Acknowledging student work that is original Scalable feedback practices at feedbackforlearning.org. Text matching software (e.g. Turn-it-in) can help provide feedback at scale. Recognising patterns in errors legitimately made by students on a module Estimated instances of cheating among university students, by “outsourcing” their work, range from 6% to 16% When the student signals that an assignment is tough, the temptation to cheat appears, literally. Intellectual streaking and intellectual candour (Margaret Bearman and Elizabeth Molloy. The importance of faculty sharing their own experiences of receiving feedback with students. Contract cheating and blackmail. Lesley Sefcik and Jon Yorke. University faculty are more likely to spot contract cheating when they are looking out for it. Initial suspicion versus investigation of contract cheating Resources to combat contract cheating from the Australian Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency. Cheating and Assessment Project The difference between referencing blunders and contract cheating Where students are more/less likely to cheat: types of work, disciplines The work of Tracey Bretag and colleagues Designing assessments to minimise the likelihood of contract cheating Authentic assessments Benefits of few, enforceable authentic restrictions Review of authentic assessments by Villarroel et al (2020) Article on authentic assessment and authentic feedback by Dawson, Carless and Lee (2021). Assessment rubrics Article by Dawson Article 1 and Article 2 on assessment by James Popham: and Analytical, holistic and co-constructed rubrics Alfie Kohn podcast Winstone and Bowd (2020): the need to disentangle assessment and feedback in higher education Pitt & Norton (2017) Student Responses to feedback Sustainable assessment and evaluative judgment One person who inspires Phillip is his boss, David Boud: https://www.deakin.edu.au/about-deakin/people/david-boud. One of David Boud’s articles on sustainable assessment.

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's podcast I speak to Professor Gregory Cajete from Santa Clara Pueblo and the University of New Mexico about indigenous education and what contemporary western education can learn from such rich traditions. Among the topics we discuss are: Belonging to the Tewa tribe and what is particular about that tribe. Numbers in different tribes such as the Navajo, Cherokee, the Hopi and the Tewa. Being the first member of his family to attend public school Previously native Americans would have attended federal boarding schools (created by Pratt), with a basic academic curriculum Professor Cajete refers to “Charles Pratt” but this may be a mistaken reference to Richard Henry Pratt, to whom the expression “Kill the Indian, save the man” was attributed. Tribal College Union established in the 1970s (36 colleges – like first and second year of colleges; giving 2-year degrees) Defining indigenous education: Distinction between native American students attending US public schools (including the Bureau of Indian affair schools and religious denominational schools) – education as assimilation versus traditional indigenous education including stories, history, customs and language of the people. Relationality as the basis of indigenous education – developing a relationship to the place in which we live In indigenous education people ask the question, “how am I related to this?” versus the predominant “western” question “What is this?” Currently attempts are being made to introduce native American language, culture and traditions into US public schools Epistemology (how we come to know what we know) of indigenous education involves storytelling, ceremony, participation in community, rhythm and dance. Axiology (what is the focus of/what has value in?) of indigenous education is about establishing a balanced relationship with your environment, including human and other-than-human entities; a place-based world view (based on where you live). Logic of indigenous education is ecological and is one of balanced interdependence. It is part of an understanding that everything you do impacts everything around you. The Lakota people say “We are all related.” The “intractable conflict” between indigenous education and public school education in the United States Why the curriculum focused on subject-matter is object-focused and parts-oriented whereas native education is ecological, sustainable and holistic. Shortcomings of the subject-based curriculum include that it doesn’t teach for relationality or about the ecological mandate, the pre-requisite for sustainability; these are “specialised fields” whereas in indigenous education, you learn these from the day you’re born and reinforced consistently throughout one’s lifetime. Consequently you acquire a life-centred focus. Many native artists are entrepreneurial while maintaining a traditional viewpoint. An economic focus is on benefiting the community, not just oneself. Gary Nabhan is not native American but he writes about native forms of agriculture. Enrique Salmón too has written on this topic. Books Greg Cajete has written: Look to the Mountain Igniting the Sparkle: An Indigenous Science Education Model. Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence  Spirit of the Game. Indigenous Community: Rekindling the teachings of the seventh fire. Native Minds Rising: Exploring Transformative Indigenous Education Sacred Journeys: Personal visions of indigenous transformation Values that underpin indigenous education O. Wilson’s biophilic sensibility – caring and empathy for each other, caring and empathy for the natural world and caring and empathy for your soul The indigenous stages of developmental learning; finding the essence of your soul. Question: What does it mean to become a full human being? Chant: One must first find one’s face (you identity), one must then find one’s heart, finally one must find one’s foundation (what you stand on) in the context of relationship, responsibility, respect and resonance, with one’s self, one’s community, one’s place, then with one’s world, within the context of your relationship with the cosmos.

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's episode I interview my long-time colleague and fellow vice-president of Marino Institute of Education on the topics of literacy and disadvantage and more. Among the topics we discuss during the podcast are the following: What constitutes a struggling reader Identifying a struggling reader in a class setting Why it is important to move on from focusing on individual sounds and words to help students become fluent readers. The article referred to in the programme can be downloaded here: Effects of Fluency Oriented Instruction on Motivation for Reading of Struggling Readers Fluency oriented instruction and the work of Stephen Stahl, Kathleen Heubach and Bonnie Cramond. The value of repeatedly reading the same text Why fluency oriented instruction is particularly important around first class The value of teachers and parents reading to children, modelling the reading process Why choral reading is helpful in developing fluency – communicatively choral reading Echo reading, antiphonal reading, Why motivation may be the most important factor in learning to read Louise Rosenblatt and the efferent/aesthetic continuum. Story of “Jason” a non-reader who loved Buddy Holly songs How teachers believe that fluency comes after mastery of more cognitive skills of reading and that motivation is important for beginning readers Conducting research in schools serving disadvantaged areas in Dublin Looking at motivation for reading: Self-efficacy for reading Orientation towards reading Perceived difficulty of reading The value for teachers of knowing the science of reading. Read Daniel Willingham’s The Reading Mind Our brains are not wired for reading (alphabet principle; decoding) How parents can promote motivation among children – reading to children and reading with children What it means for a child to be alliterate The role of education in a disadvantaged setting The “network gap” that children in disadvantaged settings experience The extent to which education can ameliorate disadvantage The value of teachers collaborating, especially in a disadvantaged setting (and in planting allotments and solving crossword puzzles and in teacher education too) Role of a principal in a disadvantaged school Derek Sivers’s book notes Ken Robinson Science of reading podcast and blogs (http://textproject.org/teacher-educators/science-of-reading/, https://understandingreading.home.blog/) Timothy Shanahan blog. Autobiographies: John Major, Arnold Schwarzenegger & André Agassi Derek Sivers's book notes and podcast interview