Mind the Gap: Making Education Work Across the Globe

For this episode, Tom and Emma chat with Frances Akinde, a headteacher for the special school in Riverdmeade Inclusive Trust. The conversation begins with a discussion on Francis’ article, The Year Getting Into ‘Good Trouble’ Became Necessary. This led to the topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the professional education space. Francis explores how there is not enough representation in leadership positions, discussing her time in school and as a teacher. Visit edCircuit.com to watch this episode. In the second part of the discussion, Tom, Emma, and Francis discuss special schools and their importance to the education system. Francis has been a headteacher in a special school for three years and in that time she has garnered a wealth of knowledge and experience. Frances discusses the importance of understanding students individually and how a special school environment stops students from falling through the cracks. A particular point of emphasis for Frances is understanding the nuanced circumstances of her students and ensuring she connects with them individually to address their needs. Frances primarily works with students on the autism spectrum and her work has broadened her understanding of education and training for teachers. About the participants: Frances Akinde is the headteacher of the special school for Rivermeade Inclusive Trust in Kent. Frances started her career as an LEA specialist advisory teacher (SEN/SLCN) and AP Assessment center manager and has been in leadership roles since 2017. Outside of her work as headteacher, Francis is an advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion particularly focused on seeing more representation in education leadership. Tom Sherrington has worked in schools as a teacher and leader for 30 years and is now a consultant specializing in teacher development and curriculum & assessment planning. His books include Teaching WalkThrus, Rosenshine’s Principles in Action, and The Learning Rainforest Fieldbook. He regularly contributes to conferences and CPD sessions locally and nationally and is busy working in schools and colleges across the UK and around the world. Follow Tom on Twitter @teacherhead Emma Turner joined Discovery Schools Academy Trust as the Research and CPD lead after 20 years in primary teaching. She is the founder of ‘NewEd – Joyful CPD for early-career teachers’, a not-for-profit approach to CPD to encourage positivity amongst the profession and help to retain teachers in post. Turner is the author of Be More Toddler: A Leadership Education From Our Little Learners and Let’s Talk About Flex: Flipping the flexible working narrative for education. Follow Emma on Twitter @emma_turner75

For this episode, Tom and Emma chat with education “sister act” Tracey Adams and Sonia Thompson. The pair discuss their roles at St. Matthew’s Primary School in Birmingham, Sonia’s publication with John Catt Educational, and their philosophies on research-based education. In addition to being Head and Deputy Headteachers at St. Matthew’s, Tracey and Sonia are sisters and discuss their dynamic in a research school environment. St Matthew’s has garnered a lot of positive attention from the education community in the U.K, even having other educators visit quite often to take some of the techniques Sonia and Tracey use into their own classrooms across Britain. Visit edCircuit.com to watch this episode. Using a wealth of knowledge gained in the classroom, Sonia’s recent publication builds off Ron Berger’s seminal work An Ethic of Excellence: Building a Culture of Craftsmanship. Sonia’s book explores how she has used Berger’s work in the classroom to build fundamentals in reading, language, and create educational experiences that shape young students for great achievement in the future. Sonia Thompson is Head Teacher at St. Matthew’s C.E. Primary School and Director of St. Matthew’s Research School. She is an SLE for English and School Improvement and a regular speaker at conferences, such as Research Ed. You can find Sonia on Twitter @son1bun Tracey Adams is the Deputy Head Teacher at St. Matthew’s CE Primary School and Deputy Director of St. Matthew’s Research School. She is also NCETM Professional Development Lead and SLE for Maths and School Improvement. You can find Tracey on Twitter @traceya75 Tom Sherrington has worked in schools as a teacher and leader for 30 years and is now a consultant specializing in teacher development and curriculum & assessment planning. His books include Teaching WalkThrus, Rosenshine’s Principles in Action, and The Learning Rainforest Fieldbook. Follow Tom on Twitter @teacherhead Emma Turner joined Discovery Schools Academy Trust as the Research and CPD lead after 20 years in primary teaching. She is the founder of ‘NewEd – Joyful CPD for early-career teachers’, a not-for-profit approach to CPD to encourage positivity amongst the profession and help to retain teachers in post. Turner is the author of Be More Toddler: A Leadership Education From Our Little Learners & Let’s Talk About Flex: Flipping the flexible working narrative for education. Follow Emma on Twitter @emma_turner75

For this episode, Tom and Emma chat with David Goodwin and Oliver Caviglioli, co-authors of  The Organise Ideas: Thinking By Hand, Extending The Mind, about all things graphic organization. This episode discusses how our memory and organization intertwine to create more comprehensive knowledge and memory in education. Using a wealth of knowledge and Annie Murphy Paul’s The Extended Mind as a primary text, David and Oliver explore “extending the point of access for intellectual thinking” and how deep the roots of mapping things like creativity, comprehension, and knowledge go. Visit edCircuit.com to watch this episode. Mind the Gap is presented by John Catt Educational, a leading independent publisher that has supported teachers and school leaders with research-based, easy to use professional development publications since 1959. Learn more about books from Tom, Emma, and many other world-class authors at us.johncattbookshop.com (US) or johncattbookshop.com (International). About the participants: David Goodwin is the head of years 10 and 11 and a geography teacher at a school in Lincolnshire. Follow David on Twitter @MrGoodwin23. Oliver Caviglioli is a former headteacher of a special school. Follow Oliver on Twitter @olicav  Tom Sherrington has worked in schools as a teacher and leader for 30 years and is now a consultant specializing in teacher development and curriculum & assessment planning. His books include Teaching WalkThrus, Rosenshine’s Principles in Action and The Learning Rainforest Fieldbook. He regularly contributes to conferences and CPD sessions locally and nationally and is busy working in schools and colleges across the UK and around the world. Follow Tom on Twitter @teacherhead Emma Turner joined Discovery Schools Academy Trust as the Research and CPD lead after 20 years in primary teaching. She is the founder of ‘NewEd – Joyful CPD for early career teachers’, a not-for-profit approach to CPD to encourage positivity amongst the profession and help to retain teachers in post. Turner is author of Be More Toddler: A Leadership Education From Our Little Learners and Let’s Talk About Flex: Flipping the flexible working narrative for education. Follow Emma on Twitter @emma_turner75

For the first episode of 2022, Tom and Emma review some of their personal successes and major education events of the previous year. Importantly, they begin the episode by acknowledging, thanking, and celebrating the educators worldwide whose dedication through the difficult 2021 year was critical to providing students with the meaningful support they deserve. Visit edCircuit.com to watch this episode. As the conversation continues, Emma shares some recent books―Kieran Mackle’s Thinking Deeply About Primary Mathematics and Annie Murphy Paul’s The Extended Mind―that made a significant impression on her; Tom speaks about the recent ResearchED event, which brought UK educators together in-person after a long pandemic-related hiatus; Tom and Emma reflect on their 2021 interview with Doug Lemov and further collaborations the conversation inspired; and much more. Mind the Gap is presented by John Catt Educational, a leading independent publisher that has supported teachers and school leaders with research-based, easy to use professional development publications since 1959. Learn more about books from Tom, Emma, and many other world-class authors at us.johncattbookshop.com (US) or johncattbookshop.com (International). About the participants: Tom Sherrington has worked in schools as a teacher and leader for 30 years and is now a consultant specializing in teacher development and curriculum & assessment planning. His books include Teaching WalkThrus, Rosenshine’s Principles in Action and The Learning Rainforest Fieldbook. He regularly contributes to conferences and CPD sessions locally and nationally and is busy working in schools and colleges across the UK and around the world. Follow Tom on Twitter @teacherhead Emma Turner joined Discovery Schools Academy Trust as the Research and CPD lead after 20 years in primary teaching. She is the founder of ‘NewEd – Joyful CPD for early career teachers’, a not-for-profit approach to CPD to encourage positivity amongst the profession and help to retain teachers in post. Turner is author of Be More Toddler: A Leadership Education From Our Little Learners and Let’s Talk About Flex: Flipping the flexible working narrative for education. Follow Emma on Twitter @emma_turner75

Peps Mccrea, Dean of Learning Design at Ambition Institute and author of books such as Motivated Teaching and Memorable Teaching, is the guest on this episode. Visit edCircuit.com to watch this episode. With hosts Tom Sherrington and Emma Turner, Peps discusses his work as a professional teacher educator and what drove him to enter this role relatively early in his career. He talks about his approach to training educators, the priorities he sets for delivering impact, and more important considerations about ensuring each student is taught by an excellent teacher. Peps also discusses the challenges and benefits of writing “ultraconcise” books for educators, the influence of social norms on teachers’ behaviours, the frameworks for reliably developing teacher expertise, and more. Mind the Gap is presented by John Catt Educational, a leading independent publisher that has supported teachers and school leaders with research-based, easy-to-use professional development publications since 1959. Learn more about books from Tom, Emma, and many other world-class authors at us.johncattbookshop.com (US) or johncattbookshop.com (International). About the participants: Peps Mccrea is Dean of Learning Design at Ambition Institute, where he oversee the design of programmes for teachers and teacher educators. In the past, he has been a senior lecturer in teacher education, teacher, and school leader. Peps also writes ultraconcise books for teachers including Motivated Teaching and Memorable Teaching. Learn more on his website https://pepsmccrea.com and connect with him on Twitter @pepsmccrea Tom Sherrington has worked in schools as a teacher and leader for 30 years and is now a consultant specializing in teacher development and curriculum & assessment planning. His books include Teaching WalkThrus, Rosenshine’s Principles in Action and The Learning Rainforest Fieldbook. Follow Tom on Twitter @teacherhead Emma Turner joined Discovery Schools Academy Trust as the Research and CPD lead after 20 years in primary teaching. Turner is author of Be More Toddler: A Leadership Education From Our Little Learners and Let’s Talk About Flex: Flipping the flexible working narrative for education. Follow Emma on Twitter @emma_turner75

Acclaimed educators, authors and advisers John Tomsett and Mary Myatt join Mind the Gap to discuss their new co-authored book, Huh: Curriculum conversations between subject and senior leaders. Visit edCircuit.com to watch this episode. With hosts Tom Sherrington and Emma Turner, Tomsett and Myatt talk about the conversations that need to take place in schools regarding the rationale behind the curriculum, what they are intending to achieve with it, how well it is planned and enacted in classrooms and how they know whether it’s successful. They also discuss a variety of other critical education and teaching topics. Mind the Gap is presented by John Catt Educational, a leading independent publisher that has supported teachers and school leaders with research-based, easy-to-use professional development publications since 1959. Learn more about books from Tom, Emma, and many other world-class authors at us.johncattbookshop.com (US) or johncattbookshop.com (International). About the guests: John Tomsett has been a teacher for 27 years and a head teacher for 12. He is head teacher at Huntington School, York. He co-founded The Headteachers’ Roundtable think tank and is a popular speaker on school leadership. Follow John on Twitter @johntomsett Mary Myatt is an education adviser, writer and speaker. She has written extensively about leadership, school improvement and the curriculum in her books Back on Track, High Challenge, Low Threat, Hopeful Schools and The Curriculum: Gallimaufry to Coherence.  Mary has been a governor in three schools, and a trustee for a multi academy trust. She co-founded the RE Quality Mark, is chair of the board for the Centre for Education and Youth and a member of the curriculum advisory group for Oak National Academy. Follow Mary on Twitter @marymyatt Follow Tom and Emma on Twitter: @teacherhead @emma_turner75

On the 30th episode of Mind the Gap, Tom and Emma speak with educator, blogger, and author Alex Quigley. Visit edCircuit.com to watch this episode. The conversation begins with a reflection on the way Tom and Alex met one another many years ago, as they were both beginning to blog and find that readers were interested in their work. Alex talks about his introduction to blogging, social media, and eventually his book writing process. Tom, Emma, and Alex also discuss some of the topics Alex speaks and writes about, including intentionality in one’s teaching practice; how educators determine instructional priorities across grade levels; goals for teaching reading and writing; and more. Mind the Gap is presented by John Catt Educational, a leading independent publisher that has supported teachers and school leaders with research-based, easy-to-use professional development publications since 1959. Learn more about books from Tom, Emma, and many other world-class authors at us.johncattbookshop.com (US) or johncattbookshop.com (International). About the participants: Alex Quigley is a former English teacher and school leader, of over 15 years' standing, who now works for the Education Endowment Foundation, supporting teachers to access research evidence. He blogs at www.theconfidentteacher.com his books include Closing the Reading Gap, Closing the Vocabulary Gap, and The Confident Teacher. Follow him on Twitter @AlexJQuigley Tom Sherrington has worked in schools as a teacher and leader for 30 years and is now a consultant specializing in teacher development and curriculum & assessment planning. His books include Teaching WalkThrus, Rosenshine’s Principles in Action and The Learning Rainforest Fieldbook. Follow Tom on Twitter @teacherhead Emma Turner joined Discovery Schools Academy Trust as the Research and CPD lead after 20 years in primary teaching. Turner is author of Be More Toddler: A Leadership Education From Our Little Learners and Let’s Talk About Flex: Flipping the flexible working narrative for education. Follow Emma on Twitter @emma_turner75

On this episode, Tom and Emma catch up on a variety of topics that have been prominent in the education discourse. Visit edCircuit.com to watch this episode. The episode begins with Emma’s overview of the latest work on the Early Career Framework in the UK. Tom and Emma discuss professional learning, instructional coaching, needs for Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs), mentorship, and more. They also chat about the need to learn both the theory and practice of classroom instruction. Other topics include the EduGive online conference Tom and his daughter Daisy organised to raise money for charity, including some of the brilliant ideas shared in the conference; and what curriculum should look like in schools. Mind the Gap is presented by John Catt Educational, a leading independent publisher that has supported teachers and school leaders with research-based, easy to use professional development publications since 1959. Learn more about books from Tom, Emma, and many other world-class authors at us.johncattbookshop.com (US) or johncattbookshop.com (International). About the participants: Tom Sherrington has worked in schools as a teacher and leader for 30 years and is now a consultant specializing in teacher development and curriculum & assessment planning. His books include Teaching WalkThrus, Rosenshine’s Principles in Action and The Learning Rainforest Fieldbook. He regularly contributes to conferences and CPD sessions locally and nationally and is busy working in schools and colleges across the UK and around the world. Follow Tom on Twitter @teacherhead Emma Turner joined Discovery Schools Academy Trust as the Research and CPD lead after 20 years in primary teaching. She is the founder of ‘NewEd – Joyful CPD for early career teachers’, a not-for-profit approach to CPD to encourage positivity amongst the profession and help to retain teachers in post. Turner is author of Be More Toddler: A Leadership Education From Our Little Learners and Let’s Talk About Flex: Flipping the flexible working narrative for education. Follow Emma on Twitter @emma_turner75

Professor Sam Twiselton, OBE is the special guest for this episode of Mind the Gap. Sam is Director of Sheffield Institute of Education at Sheffield Hallam University and one of the UK’s most recognised leaders in the areas of Initial and Continuing Teacher Development. Visit edCircuit.com to watch this episode. Among other topics, Sam discusses her desire to see a change in the narrative around early career teachers, her thoughts on what should be included in teacher training and initial teacher education, and how she views her role and responsibility as a national education leader. Mind the Gap is presented by John Catt Educational, a leading independent publisher that has supported teachers and school leaders with research-based, easy-to-use professional development publications since 1959. Learn more about books from Tom, Emma, and many other world-class authors at us.johncattbookshop.com (US) or johncattbookshop.com (International). About the participants: Professor Samantha Twiselton, OBE is the Director of Sheffield Institute of Education at Sheffield Hallam University - a national centre of education research and practice, recognised for its excellence and innovation in teaching and learning. In this role she uses her research and practice in the development of teacher expertise to develop a range of innovative workplace embedded approaches to Initial and Continuing Teacher development. With experience in teacher education, curriculum development and language and literacy, Sam has been heavily involved in influencing Government policy on teacher education. In June 2018 she was named in the Queen's birthday honours as a recipient of an OBE for services to Higher Education. You can find her on Twitter @SamTwiselton Tom Sherrington has worked in schools as a teacher and leader for 30 years and is now a consultant specializing in teacher development and curriculum & assessment planning. His books include Teaching WalkThrus, Rosenshine’s Principles in Action and The Learning Rainforest Fieldbook. Follow Tom on Twitter @teacherhead Emma Turner joined Discovery Schools Academy Trust as the Research and CPD lead after 20 years in primary teaching. Turner is author of Be More Toddler: A Leadership Education From Our Little Learners and Let’s Talk About Flex: Flipping the flexible working narrative for education. Follow Emma on Twitter @emma_turner75

Haili Hughes, an English teacher, Head of Department, teacher mentor, and author of the new book, Mentoring in Schools: How to become an expert colleague, is Tom and Emma’s guest on this episode. Visit edCircuit.com to watch this episode. To start off the episode, Haili describes what inspired her to write the book. She noticed there wasn’t much literature on mentoring as a practice; nothing that bridged the theory and practice. She decided to write a book that educators could reference again and again. She also describes how she used focus groups to get teachers’ voices directly involved in developing the content. Haili also talks about the Early Career Framework, addressing the concerns some educators feel with the framework and giving her perspective on how it can be used properly. Tom also shares a story from early in his career, describing the lack of mentoring he received , which leads into a practical discussion about how to set up mentoring in schools. How often should teachers meet with their mentors and what should they discuss? Later, Emma discusses the many hats educators wear and how trying out different roles is the best way to determine your own unique strengths. Tom, Emma and Haili also discuss the challenges educators face, their own work with schools nationwide, and much more. Haili Hughes is an English teacher, former Head of Department and Senior Leader who has mentored new teachers and ITT students for over 10 years. Haili is author of the book Mentoring in Schools: How to become an expert colleague. You can find her on Twitter @HughesHaili Tom Sherrington has worked in schools as a teacher and leader for 30 years and is now a consultant specializing in teacher development and curriculum & assessment planning. His books include Teaching WalkThrus, Rosenshine’s Principles in Action and The Learning Rainforest Fieldbook. Follow Tom on Twitter @teacherhead Emma Turner joined Discovery Schools Academy Trust as the Research and CPD lead after 20 years in primary teaching. Turner is author of Be More Toddler: A Leadership Education From Our Little Learners and Let’s Talk About Flex: Flipping the flexible working narrative for education. Follow Emma on Twitter @emma_turner75