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). 

Inside Education - a podcast for educators interested in teaching

Inside Education 421, Cognitive Scientist Daniel T Willingham on Reading, Critical Thinking and More (16-10-21)

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!  

Inside Education 420, Case Study of a Life Review with Bill Damon (3-7-21)

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. 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 

Inside Education 419, Deirdre Hodson on Technology and Sustainability (22-6-21)

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.  

Inside Education 418, Autism and Education - Research and Practice (29-5-21)

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. 

Inside Education 417, Assessment, Feedback & Academic Integrity (25-4-21)

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. 

Inside Education, 416, Sustainability - Learning from Indigenous Education (18-4-21)

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 

Podcast 415, Gene Mehigan on Literacy & Disadvantage (9-4-21)

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's podcast I am joined by Professor Stefan Ward from Central Washington University who is currently a Fulbright Scholar in Dublin City University Institute of Education. Among the topics we discuss are: His interest in positive youth development How he became involved in Project Fun Direction and why it is important for young girls What is physical literacy and how is it developed? Physical education in schools in the United States Why games such as Dodge Ball and relay races need to be removed from PE class Specialist physical educators in the United States The Irish physical education curriculum What an effective PE lesson looks like (Moderate to vigorous activity; differentiated instruction; choice; reflection time) Assessment in PE (physical, cognitive, affective) Teaching physical education with minimal equipment (including planning for activities that require minimal equipment such as hiking, soccer). Skill themes in primary and post-primary PE classes Reducing risk of physical injury in PE class Modifying games Teaching physical education in all weathers or with limited facilities Generic and sport-specific strategies for differentiating a physical education lesson, such as tennis: cooperative practice, modify game to make goal easier, award points for attempts, use different equipment – e.g. foam ball, different racquet, give choices for students to be successful at different levels. Duties associated with his university role in the United States Shape America Positive Youth Development – self-determination theory (relatedness, competence and autonomy) Bringing Student PE teachers to volunteer in sports camps abroad in Guam and in Ireland Selecting candidates for a physical education teaching programme Impactful teacher: Tom Martinek Missy Parker Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Book: Youth Development and Physical Activity 

Inside Education 414, Stefan Ward on Physical Education & Positive Youth Development (29-3-21)

Presented and produced by  Seán Delaney. In this episode my guest is Emeritus Professor John Hattie from the University of Melbourne. Among many other contributions to education, he has developed the idea of visible learning. Among the topics we discuss in the podcast are the following: What Professor Hattie means by visible learning How children don’t have the language to talk about their learning Students learning from each other The importance of asking students two questions: What does it mean to be a good learner in this class? What do you do when you don’t know what to do? Impact of a student’s age on making learning visible Three ways of making learning visible: student voice, student artefacts, test scores. He is interested in triangulating across these three sources, in how the teacher interprets that information, and how the teacher decides where to go next with a student’s learning. The same information from a student’s perspective is also important. The love of learning follows, rather than precedes, learning. Every curriculum subject has three parts (i) content, skills (knowing that…), (ii) relationships (knowing how…) and (iii) Transfer. Understanding all three parts is important. Typically 90% of learning is focused on content/skills. John Hattie believes it’s the balance across all three that matters. However, you can’t rush to the deep parts too quickly. His views on learning styles The missing piece of teacher education – looking at students’ learning Research he did to develop the concept of “visible learning” Changing the research question on teaching from “What works?” to “What works best?” Why how teachers think matters more than what teachers do Many teachers deny their expertise When students do a test, the teacher should ask “What did I teach well and what did I not teach well?” What did I learn about which students gained from the teaching and which didn’t? What did I learn about how much I taught? Answering those questions helps teachers decide “where to” next. Ask students to predict how they’ll do in a test? From age 8 on, they’re good at answering this question. His research on feedback. Its impact on students can be variable, even from one day to the next. What is important to look at is the feedback that is received by students (is it heard, understood and actionable?) Why children after age 8 don’t like talking about their errors or what they don’t know…and why they might be more likely to do it through technology The need to learn in groups The value of asking a student how someone got something wrong If you’re not getting things wrong, the work’s too easy Why he dislikes a constructivist approach to teaching and its cousins (problem-based learning, and discovery learning). It’s all about timing and being deliberate. He refers a few times to the card game Canasta. The lack of support available to newly qualified teachers. Evaluative thinking (diagnosis, intervention, implementation, evaluate) as the essence of the teaching profession The difference between teacher as facilitator and teacher as activator (i.e. active listeners, active in the process about how students are going about their learning, intervening at the right time) and why he prefers the latter. Why students need experts. Homework and student achievement. The nature of the homework matters. We can’t assume that students know how to learn. He mentions other researchers in the podcast including: Gert Biesta, Shirley Clarke, Guy Claxton, and Graham Nuthall. 

Podcast 413 John Hattie on Visible Learning and More (22-3-21)

On this week's podcast I address the topic of academic integrity, a concern at all levels of the education system. My guest is Professor Diane Pecorari from the City University of Hong Kong, who is an expert in this area. Among the topics we discuss on the episode are the following: Intertextuality – borrowing from earlier texts Plagiarism involves deception Plagiarism inside and outside education settings Accidental “plagiarism” and the need to differentiate it from deliberate deception Advocating a pedagogical response to plagiarism (punishing versus coaching and supporting) How widespread plagiarism is in higher education settings Causes of plagiarism Students may feel inadequate to a task facing them because of the expansion of access to university education and increasingly educating students through a language that is not their own leading to plagiarism Preventing plagiarism – rules, detection mechanisms, penalties; admitting students with proficiency in the language of instruction and with sufficient academic preparation for studying the subject they’re going to study; giving students the skills they need to use quotations and to develop their voices as writers. Text-matching software such as Turnitin and Urkund. Risk of false positives and false negatives. Deterring plagiarism through penalties Patch writing (coined by Rebecca Howard) as a particular kind of plagiarism Essay mills and contract cheating – challenges to detect. Risk of students being blackmailed or ripped off. Predatory publishing and predatory conferences: no quality control mechanisms and whose sole purpose is to make a profit. Avoid them by looking for journals in which authors you respect publish, look at who is on the editorial board, consider the proportionality of any fee that is requested and consider the time taken to have an article published. Use this website to identify reputable journals. How her interest in this area was sparked English for Academic Purposes versus English as an additional language Content of an English for Academic Purposes course Hot topics in research on English for Academic Purposes What schools are for Academic Tribes and Territories by Tony Becher and Paul R. Trowler. Methodical, patient clear teachers are what we all need. 

Podcast 412, Academic Integrity: Plagiarism, Predatory Publishing and Contract Cheating (6-3-21)

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. In this episode I speak to two experts on curriculum integration from Brock University in Ontario, Canada, Professor Susan Drake and Dr. Joanne Reid. Among the topics we discuss are the following: Multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary connections among subjects SAMPLE TOPICS FOR INTEGRATION: War, water, homelessness, food waste in the cafeteria, traffic patterns in a school, sustainability, patterns, change, conflict, trace origin of everyday item (Coffee, chocolate etc.), medieval fair. Finnish requirement that students do a phenomenon-based learning unit each year based around transversal competencies (21st century) Project-based learning examples Students present their work to an authentic audience Finding themes for integration (look out your window!) Project-based learning on Edutopia Buck Institute and Project-based learning Benefits of integration: more fun, students are engaged, fewer behaviour problems, social and emotional development, wellbeing, relevance, focus on whole person. Teachers who collaborate are more energised and creative OECD Report: Curriculum Overload: A Way Forward. Student achievement and integrated curricula Obstacles to integration: textbooks, timetabling, subject-specific responsibilities, Origin of Integrated teaching and its relation to constructivism which is relevant, interactive, real-world, choice, inquiry-based. The Eight Year Study with Ralph Tyler, Hilda Taba and others. It was written up by Aikin. Balancing integration and disciplinary integrity Cross-curricular and teaching to the big ideas compared to integrated curriculum Explanation of their curriculum framework: KDB: Know, Do, Be Twenty-first century competencies: Communication (reading, writing, oral communication, listening, media literacy), critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, global competency, design thinking, digital skills, data literacy, financial literacy. How they conduct research on integrated curriculum Gordon Vars and research on integrated curriculum. Bluewater study What happened when standards/accountability model arrived in schools in the 1990s. How the pandemic has impacted on assessment Assessment and integration. Benefits of students seeing the value of their work in the wider world (having an audience outside the classroom). Finding out more about integrated curriculum and its history. John Dewey and William Heard Kilpatrick and The Project Method. James Beane. Twenty-first century life skills High Tech High Getting started with integration : Genius Hour. More here. Student-led teaching How integrated curriculum is for students of all ages. bell hooks Inside the Black Box by Paul Black and Dylan William In addition, Susan and Joanne compiled a list of resources with additional information about curriculum integration: Drake, S. M. & Reid, J. L. (2020). How education can shape a new story in a post-pandemic world. Brock Education, 29(2), 6-12  Drake, S. M. & Reid, J. L. (2020). 21st Century competencies in light of the history of integrated curriculum. In “Rethinking what has been rethought consistently over the millennia: A global perspective on the future of education”. Frontiers in Education Journal, 5(122), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2020.00122 Drake, S.M. & Reid, J.L. (in press). Integrated curriculum In J. Flinders & P, Hiebowitsh (Eds.) Routledge Encyclopedia of Education. New York: Routledge Drake, S.M. & Reid, J. L. (2018). Integrated curriculum as an effective way to teach 21st Century capabilities. Asia Pacific Journal of Educational Research, 1(1), https://doi.org/10.0000/APJER.2018.1.1.031 Drake, S.M. & Reid, J. L. (2018). Integrated curriculum for the 21st Century. In J. Miller, M. Binder, S. Crowell, K. Nigh and B. Novak (Eds). International handbook in holistic education (pp.118-128) New York: Routledge. Drake, S.M. & Reid, J. L. (2017). Interdisciplinary assessment in the 21st Century.                   file:///Users/sdrake/Desktop/IEJEE_57fa80bd928bb_last_article_57fa813187fad.pdfIn Steve Pec (Ed). Scholarship of teaching and learning Part 3 (pp. 1-8) Stuyvesant Falls, NY: Rapid Intellect Group. http://www.rapidintellect.com/AE/ec5771v14.pdf Savage, M. & Drake, S. (2016). Living transdisciplinarity: Teachers’ experiences with the International Baccalaurete Primary years Programme. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education. (19), 1-19, file:///Users/sdrake/Desktop/IEJEE_57fa80bd928bb_last_article_57fa813187fad.pdf Drake, S.M. & Savage, M. (2016). Negotiating accountability and integrated curriculum in a global context. International Journal of Learning, Teaching, and Educational Research, 15, 6. http://www.ijlter.org/index.php/ijlter/article/view/639 Drake, S.M. (2015).  Designing across the curriculum for “sustainable well-being”: A 21st Century approach. In F. Deer, T. Falkenberg, B. McMillan & L. Simms (Eds.). Sustainable Well-Being: Concepts, Issues, and Educational Practice (pp. 57-77). Winnipeg, MB: EWSB Press. http://www.eswb-press.org/uploads/1/2/8/9/12899389/sustainable_well-being_2014.pdf.  Drake. S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving curriculum and classroom assessment Engaging students for the 21st century. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press. Drake S & Burns R. (2004). Meeting standards with integrated curriculum. Alexandria, VA:ASCD. Susan says “it is the easiest "how to" book” and Joanne agrees. It is almost like a manual. Very good even if it seems old now. Project-based learning – sites for ideas https://www.pblworks.org/what-is-pbl https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/blog/project-based-learning/ https://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning https://iearn.org  (collaborative international projects)  

Podcast411, Curriculum Integration (19-12-20)

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's podcast Education Historian Dr. Thomas Walsh applies a historical perspective to analyse cotemporary policy and practice in curriculum, early childhood education and more. Among the topics we discuss are: The career trajectory that brought him to working in the Education Department of Maynooth University. Working in the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education Influence of nationalism and Catholicism on the curriculum of the 1920s The Commission on Manual and Practical Instruction and its influence on the 1900 curriculum Removing subjects to focus on the Irish language in the 1920s Becoming interested in the study of curriculum and curriculum change over most of a century Influence of John Coolahan on Tom’s work How a historical perspective on curriculum enriches our understanding of curriculum today The Stanley Letter from 1831. The importance of context in curriculum development Policy as text and policy as discourse (Ball). Curriculum implementation – dance between policy and practice Influences on curriculum change in Ireland – timing and context affect the influences Immigrant, internationally educated teachers and controlling who can become a teacher Migrant Teacher Project and Turn to Teaching Project (Maynooth) Team teaching: when it happens; what needs to happen for it to be successful? Planning for team teaching. Policy and practice in relation to team teaching Resources for team teaching (PDST and Maynooth websites) Early Childhood Education in Ireland today Legacy of Professor John Coolahan. He featured on two episodes of Inside Education, here and here. School placement: from supervisor to placement tutor. What’s in a name change? Gert Biesta article, Resisting the seduction of the global measurement industry: notes on the social psychology of PISA and book, The Beautiful Risk of Education. 

Podcast 410, Education Historian, Dr. Thomas Walsh (5-10-20)

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney On this week's podcast I interview the editors of a book titled Challenging perceptions of Africa in schools: Critical approaches to global justice education. They are my colleague Dr. Barbara O'Toole, from the Marino Institute of Education and Dr. Ebun Joseph and Dr. David Nyaluke from University College Dublin. Among the topics we discussed on the programme are the following: How our education system is focused on a Eurocentric view of people from Africa Chimamanda and the Danger of a single story What teachers are doing well when presenting Africa to their students How history is taught impacts on the past and on life today The need to hear the story of Africa from a different perspective How our system encourages us to perform racism The benefits of reading African authors to see how they represent Africa The need to present a balanced story of Africa Why discussing Africa with a deficit perspective needs to be balanced with a discussion of its strengths Negative portrayal of Africa in Irish primary school textbooks The need for unlearning: self-questioning and reflection What critical race theory is (a theoretical framework and an analytical framework) White Teacher by Vivian Gussin Paley Knowledge justice The River Between by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe Books by Ali Mazrui. How Europe is portrayed in African education Decolonising education and Alice Feldman How this affects every subject across the curriculum Just Connections, Just Trade resource for teachers The importance to develop a race consciousness and how race impacts on people’s experiences There is a stereotype in all our work – we need to think about how we can erase them Being in a crisis of knowledge and a crisis of solutions Moving to a mindset of social justice can permeate every aspect of a teacher’s teaching Relative size of Africa compared to Europe and the United States 

Podcast 409, Teaching Africa and Challenging Perceptions in Schools (29-11-20)

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's programme I am delighted to interview my colleague, Dr. Jennifer O'Sullivan on the topic of teaching reading. Specifically, we explore the areas of phonemic awareness, phonological awareness and picture books. Jennifer also recommends several useful resources for teaching reading. Among the topics we discuss and the resources mentioned are the following: Jennifer's route to becoming a teacher The joys and challenges of teaching in a junior school that had disadvantaged status Doing a master’s degree in literacy. Specific challenges teachers experience in their first year of teaching The research base for how children learn to read The path to learning to read: alphabetic principle, apply sounds of language to print on page, decoding, comprehending meaning The importance of teacher content knowledge in diagnosing what a child needs to work on when learning to read The importance of phonological awareness and what phonemic awareness is Why not to introduce phonics to children too soon; start with speech and then move to print (rather than working from print to sounds). The need to teach children how to separate sounds in words and to blend them back together. The need to explicitly teach that, for example, a word like “eight” has only two sounds but five letters and that this makes the subsequent introduction of phonics easier for children. The App she’s developing to assess phonological awareness Why dyslexia is caused by a phonological deficit Visual literacy and close reading Reading a picture Picture books to use in primary school: Anthony Browne Jon Klassen I want my hat back The Arrival by Shaun Tan. The Paperbag Princess by Robert Munsch. How to use picture books in school: discussing difficult topics, developing empathy, developing vocabulary, springboard for writing, visual literacy, challenging stereotypes. What parents can do at home to help their child read better Literacy in the kitchen video with Clara Fiortentini. Model reading for children Choose books children enjoy: e.g. David Walliams. A billboard message for all teachers Jan Hasbrouck. Mark Seidenberg: Language at the Speed of Sight Louisa Moats (What do we need to know as teachers to teach reading?). Book, Speech to Print. Clara Fiorentini’s Little Miss Teacher blog. Here is a link to the interview I did with Clara Fiortentin. The Literacy Channel on YouTube.  

Podcast 408, Jennifer O'Sullivan on Teaching Reading (14-11-20)

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. My guest on the podcast this week is Dr. Pam Moran who is the Executive Director of the Virginia School Consortium for Learning and is a former superintendent of Albemarle County Public Schools. Among the points we discussed in the podcast were the following: The role of a superintendent in US education Desmos software that is used to teach mathematics. The reintroduction of maker skills into US education in response to narrow testing and the benefits of it MAKER LEARNING Students who take making courses Safety in maker learning Involving the wider family in maker learning How maker learning is reflected in the school curriculum PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR TEACHERS Her thoughts on professional development that works best for teachers Professional development to help teachers teach online Flipgrid EDUCATION FOR THE 21ST CENTURY What schools need to do to be more relevant to the twenty-first century (automation, climate change, working from home, demographic changes, superficial learning for tests) Edward Hess books: Learn or Die, Humility is the New Smart and Hyper Learning: Learning at the speed of change) How she would reform the mathematics and science curriculum to make it more relevant for students The book she co-authored, Timeless Learning: How Imagination, Observation, and Zero-Based Thinking Change Schools. Reimagining education using zero-based thinking Ira Socol. Yong Zhao episode on Inside Education. Catherine Cronin's interview on Inside Education. Pam O’Brien, Mags Almond, John Heffernan. Maya Angelou, Séamus Heaney Stories from the Pandemic. Website of Pam Moran and Ira Socol 

Podcast 407, Pam Moran on 21st Century Education (1-11-20)

An Irish perspective on education for all who value teaching

hubhopper

Inside Education - a podcast for educators interested in tea...

hubhopper