Inside Education - a podcast for educators interested in teaching

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's podcast I discuss drama and theatre in education with Madeline Michel, a teacher in Monticello High School in Charlottesville Virginia. Madeline was the 2019 winner of the Tony award for excellence in theatre education. Among the topics we discuss in the course of the podcast are the following: How she approaches theatre education How a sports –competitive – paradigm is mistakenly applied to the arts Theatre in education versus drama in education How she tried to make her class more diverse Teaching multiple grades in her classes Letting students know that their stories and their talents are important Her credo: art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable How she became interested in theatre in education What she reads How education is a microcosm of the wider world Stimulating teenagers to write plays The first day in her drama class and building community Collaborating with other teachers Staging a school production The importance of dance and movement in a production The shortcomings of drama on Zoom What students learn through drama Assessing drama Winning the Tony Award for Theatre in Education She recommends the Nice White Parents podcast: (about school segregation in New York City) Thanks to John Heffernan who suggested Madeline as a guest for the podcast.

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's podcast my guest is Professor William (Bill) Damon from Stanford University Graduate School of Education where he directs the Stanford Center on Adolescence. He is the author of many books, including The Path to Purpose. We discuss how students can be helped to find purpose in life. Among the topics discussed on this week's programme are: Many young people looking for something to believe in - about a quarter of them “drifting” Responses to being adrift: hedonism, anxiety. Being adrift originates in not finding something that is a positive direction for themselves. Profile of young people who are drifting How young people have found purpose in previous eras (national, economic…) Difference between seeking a purpose and seeking a meaning in life How having a sense of purpose can help you have a psychological balance Any activity can be purposeful if you believe in it, do it well and give it your all How teachers can model a purposeful life for their students Profiles in purpose A teacher’s role in helping students find their purpose When parents dislike the purpose chosen by their daughter or son Most of us have multiple purposes in life The link between purpose and entrepreneurship Atul Gawande’s book Being Mortal The relationship between mission, commitment and purpose Where people find purpose The importance of “why” questions for teachers How exams could be purposeful Barriers students encounter in trying to find their purpose in life How he conducts his research Questions to help people find their purpose Diane Ravitch

On this week's programme I speak to Paddy Madden about teaching and learning outdoors. Among the topics we discuss are: How weather engages the senses when we learn outdoors Benefits of teaching outdoors Forest bathing Noticing Nature Cloud watching, listening to the sound of birds, smelling flowers. Daily 15-minute walkabout Teaching outdoors across the curriculum Book: Sue Waite Children Learning Outside the classroom A silly symphony Preparing for outdoor learning Learning outcomes Ways of Knowing by John Quinn A spiral curriculum – revisiting topics at a more complex level Teaching outdoors in September What to do when a wasp enters your classroom Spiders Planting a square metre of wheat Integration across the curriculum using topic of wheat Painting – called The Gleaners (I mistakenly called it “The Garners” in the recording) Places to visit at this time of year Fruit and seed walk: Dry fruit (e.g. helicopters, nuts) and succulent fruit (blackberries, rowan berries, sloes) How school grounds can sometimes be barren Paddy’s vision of ideal school grounds Creating raised beds in a school grounds Furniture for outdoors learning Making a pond safe for a school setting Making clipboards from recycled corroboard How to position a bird box correctly The value of a compass in school for showing directions Why he dislikes terms such as a “bug hotel” or a “bug viewer” Working outdoors in an urban environment Using window boxes to grow food Using binoculars with early finishers The “Engage with Nature” website Nature as a stage The value of unstructured play Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv John Feehan’s books Richard Louv: "The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need." Sacha Hamilton, the Duchess of Abercorn and activities of the Pushkin Trust

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. This week on the programme I interview five colleagues who participated recently in an Erasmus+ project titled EDUCATE. This project involved developing materials for teachers, providing providing professional development, and conducting research on how to combine challenge and differentiated instruction in the teaching of mathematics at pre-primary, primary and post-primary levels. Project materials are available here. The guests on the programme are Charalambos Charalambous from the University of Cyprus, Ann Marie Gurhy from the Marino Institute of Education, Despina Potari from the University of Athens, João Pedro da Ponte from the University of Lisbon, and Evridiki Kasapi from the University of Cyprus. Among the topics we discuss are: Realising that mathematics is more than memorisation and drill and practice. How the study of differentiated instruction and challenge in mathematics came about What it means to introduce challenge to mathematics tasks An overview of differentiated instruction Using enablers and extenders to promote differentiated instruction Why a teacher needs to know a student’s cognitive, social and affective needs in order to differentiate Observing teachers’ needs in differentiating and providing challenge through reading research and observing lessons Developing materials to support teachers Using video clubs as a model of teacher professional development Challenges teacher encounter when working with challenging tasks The difference between video clubs and lesson study Overview of the modules created as part of the project (each module is based around a number of cases of practice)

In this engaging discussion, Derek Sivers—musician, author, and founder of CD Baby—explores the importance of critical thinking over traditional education. He argues that being smart is about questioning assumptions and finding your interests, rather than merely completing assignments. Sivers highlights the impact of great teachers who inspire creativity and emphasizes personalized learning. He also reflects on the rapid pace of traditional curricula and shares how a shift in education can foster a more engaged and curious mindset.

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's programme school librarian from the Albemarle School System in the State of Virginia in the United States, Ida Mae Craddock (Mae) makes the case for having a school librarian in every school. We discuss her work as a school librarian. Among the topics covered are: A description of the school she teaches in Allocation of librarians to schools in Virigina The job of school librarian Describing the library and the services offered Doing a masters in library science (Old Dominion University) Content of masters course The challenge and importance of locating resources that are relevant and used Developing the library collection The library of things “Being stuck at home is no fun, being stuck at home with no books is tragic.” Cataloguing library materials The kind of literature that is popular among the students in the school she works in Loss of library stock Value of having a librarian in a school The history of school libraries The future of school libraries – innovation hubs Writing regularly for School Librarian Connection and School Library Journal The Maker Educator Collective Laser cutting and 3-D printing CRICKETS – Computer Aided Cutting Teaching as a subversive activity by Neil Postman Walden by Thoreau

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this 400th episode of Inside Education I am delighted to be joined by the co-presenter of my favourite podcast, Speak-up Storytelling. Matthew Dicks is also an elementary school teacher and the author of Storyworthy: Engage, teach, persuade, and change your life through the power of storytelling. He blogs and shares other resources at his website. Matthew shares a story with listeners to this week's podcast and among the other topics we discuss are: Becoming a teacher Studying in a community college while working in McDonalds before winning scholarships to university Manipulating his dream to fit his reality instead of manipulating his reality to fit his dream What he likes and dislikes about teaching Teaching children writing like an editor treats a writer (giving them time, choice, audience, purpose) The importance of letting a child share their writing and how to respond to the child’s writing Providing feedback for students on their writing Why he writes The kind of stories he tells on stage The idea he developed called “homework for life” How he uses storytelling in his elementary school teaching Improvisational story telling games The consequence of storytelling and story-writing being acts “of courage” Sharing writing as a celebratory moment Having a stage, curtains, lighting and a sound system in his class Teaching Shakespeare to fifth grade students “Whatever your passion is, bring it to the classroom” Albert Cullum Shakespeare in the classroom A typical day in his classroom Disliking school as a student Why he teaches to the students who don’t want to be in class; not assuming that any student wants to be in school on any given day How his approach to planning has changed He is a problem-solving, big-picture person – not someone who likes to write a unit of work or draft a school plan Managing behaviour in the classroom Why he dislikes homework: children should read every day and learn to study. He prefers long-term assignments over short-term ones Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath Using competence in storytelling to be a better interviewee when you go for a job Telling a story  

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney On this week's podcast my guest is website entrepreneur, bestselling author and performance nutritionist, Daniel Davey. Daniel Davey is the senior performance nutritionist with Leinster Rugby and with the Dublin Senior Football team. The focus of our conversation is nutrition and education. Among the topics we discuss are the following: What made him decide to study nutrition Memories of preparing food and cooking at home from a young age Studying home economics at school and agricultural science at college Making the connection between nutrition and sport Importance of a positive relationship with food His message for students when he visits schools Challenges in applying principles of healthy nutrition in our lives How he sees his role in promoting nutrition as that of a coach Why he does not prepare meal plans for the athletes he works with Questions he is asked by students in schools Attempts to use schools in the fight against childhood obesity Why he prefers the healthy plates to that of the food pyramid Taking responsibility for the food you eat Why it’s good to raise your own awareness and curiosity about food Making the classroom a safe space to talk about food The power of questions when talking about nutrition Work of a nutritionist is to facilitate and empower Relationship between nutrition and physical exercise How coaches of school sports teams can promote good nutrition with their members Elite school sports performance and nutrition – place of supplements Advice for parents around school lunches Positive and negative impacts of teachers on him His continuing professional development How our nutrition practices have set us up to fail in school What inspires him

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's episode I speak to Professor Yong Zhao from the School of Education at the University of Kansas. Among the topics we discuss on the episode are the following: We currently have the opportunity to reimagine education without schools: Do we have to do these subjects? Do we have to teach this much? A good time to teach global understanding, empathy and competency Innovation in education The importance of having an entrepreneurial mindset The Digital Pencil Alternative ways of organising the education of young people Difficulty of finding like-minded people in a small school Globalisation as the “death of physical distance” Globalisation is localisation of global forces Implications of globalisation for teachers Why everyone should have a local identity and affirm the identities of others Your uniqueness can only become valuable when it’s valuable to others Why schools encourage people to be independent and selfish rather than interdependent Schools as a place to bring about a better society Students as job creators versus job hunters Enhancing entrepreneurship in students Unintended consequences of education policies PISA test scores and the illusions of excellence, science, progress. His experience of being educated in China The impact of technology on education To compete with a machine, a person must avoid becoming one! Be unique and great in your own way; understand yourself, your talents and virtues. "Creative" means identifying problems worth solving Empty creativity versus good creativity – the need to have a domain to excel in What schools should be for: a place to equalise community resources David Berliner and Bruce J. Biddle The Manufactured Crisis. David Berliner as a former guest on the podcast Diane Ravitch’s blog: https://dianeravitch.net/ If we want a better life in the future, we need to help our children create a better life for us

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney On this week's podcast I bring you my interview with Alfie Kohn, who writes and speaks about education, especially in areas such as homework, standardised testing and punishments and rewards. Among the items we discuss on the podcast are the following: Fostering students’ curiosity and encouraging them to think deeply Teachers participating with children in an exploration of ideas to move beyond factual knowledge How teachers can teach to promote students’ thinking The inverse relationship between teacher control and student learning Why learning starts with a question John Dewey, Jean Piaget, Ed Deci and Richard Ryan (Self-determination theory) Why rewards and punishment don’t help children learn Why saying “Good job” to your students is the equivalent of a “verbal doggy biscuit” Children who are frequently praised are less generous than their peers How children know when they’re being controlled and how they respond to it How teachers can respond to students’ work and respect the child’s autonomy Implementing a no-homework policy in a school Why he believes that giving homework to children constitutes malpractice. Excitement (about learning) drives excellence Standardised tests and teacher accountability; Authentic assessments – tap into projects done by students over time Why standardised teaching tells you only two things: (i) how much time was given to teaching test taking and (ii) how big the houses are near the school. Differences between role of parent and teacher: Unconditional parenting and unconditional teaching Punished by Rewards Unconditional Parenting