

Inside Education - a podcast for educators interested in teaching
Sean Delaney
An Irish perspective on education for all who value teaching
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 19, 2018 • 28min
Programme 346, Katie Ashford pt 2 (19-12-18)
Presented and produced by Seán Delaney
Theme music composed and arranged by David Vesey
This week I bring you the second part of my interview with Katie Ashford Deputy Head of Michaela Community School in Wembley Park in London. The wide range of topics we discuss include the following:
Michaela Community School Building
The Teach First Programme
Starting a blog, which led to a job offer
Personalised Instruction and whole class instruction
Her blog posts
A typical day
Family Lunch (at school)
What she likes most/least about teaching
Her ideal English lesson
What schools are for
Teachers who had a significant impact on her
Who inspires her
Katie also referred to Tom Bennett's blog and to books by Daisy Christodoulou and Daniel Willingham.

Dec 12, 2018 • 28min
Programme 345, School Culture & More (12-12-18)
Presented and produced by Seán Delaney.
Theme music composed and arranged by David Vesey.
On this week's programme I speak to Katie Ashford who is Deputy Head and Director of Inclusion at Michaela Community School in Wembley Park London. Her blog is called Tabula Rasa. We talk about school culture and other aspects of teaching. In the course of our discussion Katie mentions how she is inspired by people such as Rafe Esquith and Erin Gruwell.
Different kinds of school culture
Identifying problems in a school
Changing School Culture
Why teaching is tiring
The kind of records UK teachers need to keep
Marking children’s work
The approach used by teachers in Michaela Community School: teacher as authority

Dec 5, 2018 • 28min
Programme 344, Anne O'Gara on Inspectors, Teaching and More (5-12-18)
Presented and produced by Seán Delaney
Theme music composed and arranged by David Vesey
On this week's programme I bring you the second part of my interview with Professor Anne O'Gara, former President of Marino Institute of Education and current board member of Tusla. Among the topics we cover in this part of the interview are:
The role for inspectors in our education system
Giving and receiving feedback
Recognising learning
The Home School Community Liaison Scheme – Establishment and Purpose
Dr Concepta Conaty’s vision for the Home School Community Liaison Scheme
Her primary teaching experience
What schools are for
A teacher who had a significant impact on her

Nov 28, 2018 • 28min
Programme 343, Professor Anne O'Gara on Leadership (28-11-18)
Presented and produced by Seán Delaney
Theme music composed and arranged by David Vesey
On this week's programme I speak to my friend and former colleague, Professor Anne O'Gara. Professor O'Gara was President of Marino Institute of Education from 2006 to 2018. Prior to that she taught in primary schools for several years before becoming Assistant National Coordinator of the Home-School-Community Liaison Scheme, and subsequently an inspector at the Department of Education and Skills. In this first part of our interview we focused on leadership in education. Among the topics discussed were:
Entering an institution as a new leader
Identifying priorities as a leader
Bringing about Change and Resistance to Change
Doing courses, lifelong learning and coaching
Developing new courses
Changing your leadership style
360-degree feedback
Preparing for difficult conversations
Partnerships with stakeholders
What she misses and does not miss about the work

Nov 21, 2018 • 28min
Programme 342, Frank McNally, David Powell & Arjen Wals on Education (21-11-18)
Presented and produced by Seán Delaney
Theme tune composed and arranged by David Vesey
On this week's programme I bring you new excerpts from guests who featured on recent programmes: Frank McNally who is the main contributor to the Irishman's Diary column in The Irish Times, was a keynote speaker at the annual conference of the Literacy Association of Ireland. David Powell from the University of Huddersfield and Arjen Wals from the Wageningen University both contributed to the annual conference of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe.
In the course of his interview David Powell referred to the research team led by Stephen Kemmis.
Arjen Wals named a number of concepts, people, websites and publications related to sustainability and education.
Doughnut Economy
Martha Nussbaum
Gert Biesta
Michael Apple
Peter McClaren
Naomi Klein This Changes Everything
Website: transformativelearning.nl
Transgressive learning.org
The Global Education Monitor Report (2016) Education for People and Planet: Creating Sustainable Futures for All.

Nov 14, 2018 • 28min
Programme 341, Frank McNally's Education (14-11-18)
Presented and produced by Seán Delaney.
On this week's programme I speak to the main author of An Irishman's Diary in The Irish Times, Frank McNally. Frank was a keynote speaker at the 42nd annual conference of the Literacy Association of Ireland. Among the topics covered in the interview are the following:
Why Frank's family members were known by the nickname the “College” McNallys.
Among native English speakers, why only the Irish and the Scots use the expression “Amn’t I?”
Doing two Leaving Certificates and no Inter Cert
Doing a masters degree without doing a bachelors degree
How he goes about writing An Irishman’s Diary in The Irish Times
The books he read while attending the “University of Life”
Two English teachers who had a significant impact on him

Nov 7, 2018 • 28min
Programme 340, Education and the Transformation Society (7-11-18)
Presented and produced by Seán Delaney
Theme tune composed and arranged by David Vesey
On this week's programme I speak to Ray Gallon of the Transformation Society about education outside the formal settings of school. I interviewed Ray at the 2018 annual conference of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe.
Among the topics we discuss are the following:
How the phrase “knowledge is power” has changed meaning
Educating outside formal school settings
Working with different sized groups
Presenting webinars
How he organises his own learning
Effective presentations
How teaching is changing
Ingredients of a good radio programme
Difference between a radio programme and a podcast
What inspires him personally and professionally

Oct 31, 2018 • 28min
Programme 339, Sustainability and Disruption in Education (31-10-18)
Presented and produced by Seán Delaney
Theme music composed and arranged by David Vesey.
On this week's programme I speak to Arjen Wals from the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands where he is Professor of Transformative Learning for Socioecological Sustainability/UNESCO Chair. He was a keynote speaker at the 2018 annual conference of the Association for Teacher Education of Europe, which was held in Gävle in Sweden in August. Among the topics we discussed were the following:
Why a sustainable approach to teaching is important
Why teachers alone cannot bring about sustainable living
How to promote sustainable choices in education
How sustainable choices may vary from one place to another
Why making teachers more accountable discourages them from taking risks
CSI – Critical Sustainability Investigations (example with old mobile phones)
Students taking photos of things that bother them in their environment and sharing them
“Alternative” pedagogies (experimental learning, embodied learning, place-based learning, discovery learning, problem-based learning)
The risk of having future people in power acting in an eco-totalitarian manner if sustainability issues are not addressed while time is available
What Policymakers can do to make education more sustainable
During our conversation Professor Wals referred to Fairphone.

Oct 24, 2018 • 28min
Programme 338, David Powell on Teacher Education (24-10-18)
Presented and produced by Seán Delaney.
Today I speak to Dr. David Powell from the University of Huddersfield about teacher education. I met up with David at the 2018 annual conference of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe. Among the topics we discuss are:
The soul of teacher education
The apprenticeship model of learning to teach
Observing teaching using the "Viewing Frame"

Oct 17, 2018 • 28min
Programme 337, Irish Primary Teacher, pt 2 (17-10-18)
Presented and produced by Seán Delaney
This week I'm delighted to bring you the second part of my interview with Niamh Dunphy, the teacher behind the blog and social media resource Irish Primary Teacher. Among the topics we talk about on the programme this week are:
Plans for developing Irish Primary Teacher
Where she gets her lesson ideas
Using the store to encourage users to remain on the website
How she reviews products for the Reviews section
Clothing and teaching
What she likes most and finds most challenging about teaching
Differences between teaching in England and teaching in Ireland
Her favourite subject to teach
What she has learned from teaching to date
What are schools for?
A teacher who had a significant impact on her
Who inspires her
Why she finds Instagram better than books
A change she would make in her current school
And much more!