In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Tim McDonald who is currently the CEO of YMCA WA and previously led Catholic Education WA, the Minderoo Foundation and was the Education Lead for Knowledge Society. Recently, he wrote a paper for the Centre for Independent Studies titled: Teaching Behaviour: How Classroom Conduct Can Unlock Better Learning. Throughout this conversation, he touches on a lot of the key points from the report and talks about what schools can do to build a behaviour curriculum. He also answers some of the tough questions on things such as phones in schools, exclusions and behaviour expectations.
Resources mentioned:
- Teaching Behaviour: How Classroom Conduct Can Unlock Better Learning
- Classroom Management: Engaging students in learning
- Tom Bennett, Running the Room
- Anita Archer
- Urie Bronfenbrenner
- Doug Lemov
You can connect with Tim:
@DrTimMcDonald1
Website: www.classroommastery.com.au/
You can connect with Brendan:
Twitter: @learnwithmrlee
Facebook: @learningwithmrlee
Website: learnwithlee.net
Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast:
https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast
About Dr. Tim McDonald
Tim joined the Y WA as CEO in 2021, with over 20 years experience leading change in education systems and the philanthropic sector. His background has seen him leading work for Catholic Education WA and the Minderoo Foundation, working on projects in areas of leadership, student engagement, well-being and innovation in the fields of education, and employment. More recently he was Education Lead for Knowledge Society, where he co-developed a strategy of professional learning to enhance the capacity of school leaders and teachers to improve student achievement. Prior to this, Dr Tim McDonald was CEO of Generation One, an organisation founded by the Minderoo Foundation to end Indigenous disparity within one generation. The culmination of his experiences supporting young people aligns him perfectly with the values of the Y. He believes that empowering and inspiring young people is what’s at the heart of thriving communities where all people flourish.
Hey Brendan,
I hope you’re doing well! I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks your fantastic Podcast. It’s been a game-changer for me, expanding my horizons and keeping me incredibly busy as I am trying to catch up addressing my knowledge and skill gaps. As I navigate my journey as a Pre-Service Teacher, I’ve realized the critical importance of refining my classroom management skills which are foundational for effective teaching and a healthy blood-pressure and sanity as a teacher.
The recent episode featuring Tim McDonald was insightful, especially considering that his book was the core text of the Classroom Management unit in my Masters at ECU. It prompted me to dive into ‘Running the Room’ and grab all the Aero Resources available, which have been incredibly practical and ideal for someone like me who appreciates a pragmatic approach.
However, as I move forward, I’ve identified a missing piece in my toolkit for success: a comprehensive set of scripts to handle recurring situations in the classroom. Tim McDonald mentioned providing an 8-page Day 1 script to schools participating in his Professional Learning sessions. Do you happen to know of any resources or tools that could assist me in compiling a repertoire of phrases and actions tailored for day-to-day classroom situations?
Thanks so much in advance.
Kind regards, Anja
Hi Anja, Good on you for taking ownership of your learning and it’s great to hear that they are using Tim’s book as a resource! Anything from Bill Rogers is super practical, I also suspect that the soon-to-be-released book from Mark Dowley and Ollie Lovell should hit the mark for what you are after. I’ll try and release a blog post in the next couple of weeks that goes over how we will be implementing our behaviour curriculum. It won’t be exactly what you are asking for, but should help give you an overview of what things need to be considered.
Hi Brendan, great, consider them added to my reading wish list. I have also just read Tom Bennett’s Running the Room which I though was great in terms of looking at behaviour through a societal lens.
Amazing article about implementing a behaviour curriculum, I would love to work at a school pursuing a whole-school approach to behaviour. That just seems to save so many headaches and, overall, time.
Thanks so much for all the work you put in sharing the latest and above all, workable knowledge in the education sector.
I also wanted to add, the slides in the blogpost about the behaviour curriculum were very useful. As they remind me of the Ochre slide format, it made me realise that teaching behaviour really is like teaching any other subject and helped demystify the ‘how’ of teaching behaviour. Thanks for sharing.
Glad they were useful and thanks for the kind words! I hope you’re able to work at a school that takes a whole-school approach as well!