Listen to the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast here:
S02E01 – Dr. Ray Boyd on Leadership, Vision, and School Culture
In this podcast episode, Brendan Lee interviews Dr. Ray Boyd, discussing his educational leadership journey, particularly his pedagogic innovations at West Beechboro P.S. and his experiences founding Dayton Primary School. Dr. Boyd shares lessons from past mistakes, the importance of communication with parents, fostering school community, staff well-being, and setting clear professional…
S02E02 – James Dobson Decoding The Foundations Of Teaching Kindergarten
Brendan Lee interviews James Dobson, an accomplished teacher at Campbells Creek Primary School, who emphasises the importance of evidence-based teaching methods like Direct Instruction for young learners. James shares insights into his daily and yearly lesson planning, focusing on foundational skills like phonics, writing, and maths, along with balancing the demands of…
S02E03 – Dr. Jenny Donovan on accelerating the use of educational research in Australian classrooms
In this podcast episode, Brendan Lee interviews Dr. Jenny Donovan, CEO of the Australian Education Research Organisation. She stresses the necessity for evidence-based practices in education. Jenny talks about explicit instruction, classroom management, teacher training, NAPLAN testing, and accountability. Donovan’s career journey and involvement in significant educational reforms, including contributions to the…
S02E04 – Dr. Nathaniel Swain On Developing Great Writing Skills
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Nathaniel Swain. He currently works at La Trobe University as a Senior Lecturer, Learning Sciences and Learner Engagement and the Director of Undergraduate Academic Programs. He is also the founder of Think Forward Educators. Nathaniel first appeared on the Knowledge for Teachers podcast in…
S02E05 – Sarah Powell On Effective Word Problem Instruction
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr Corey Peltier who is an Assistant Professor of Special Education in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Oklahoma. He also contributes to The Science of Math movement that is focused on disseminating research-informed recommendations to enhance math instruction and outcomes for…
S02E06 – Tom Bennett On Running The Room
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Tom Bennett, the Director and founder of researchED and school behaviour advisor to the UK government. He shares his journey from running nightclubs to becoming an influential figure in the education sector and we find out how teaching saved him. Bennett delves into the challenges…
S02E07 – Rebecca Birch On Improving Australian Education
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Rebecca Birch, a teacher of English and the Director of Research and Practice at a top 50 independent school in Sydney, Australia. She shares her journey from a career in fashion and advertising to becoming an English teacher. Rebecca emphasises the importance of evidence-based practice…
S02E08 – Dr. Mark Dowley on Managing Behaviour and Maximising Learning
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Mark Dowley (Associate Head – Staff Development at the Crowther Centre for Applied Educational Research) and has recently released the book, “The Classroom Management Handbook” that he co-authored with Ollie Lovell. In this chat, they unpack the book and how it’s what Mark and…
S02E09 – Trisha Jha on teacher experiences in implementing the science of learning
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Trisha Jha who currently works with the Centre for Independent Studies and recently released a couple of reports titled: What is the Science of Learning? And Implementing the Science of Learning: Teacher experiences. Trisha unpacks these papers and discusses her journey into education research and…
S02E10 – Bron Ryrie Jones on Responsive Teaching and Instructional Playbooks
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Bronwyn Ryrie Jones, an instructional coach who supports teachers and instructional leaders to develop their expertise. She discusses the importance of responsive teaching and shares techniques to effectively check for understanding in the classroom. She emphasises the need for teachers to have a deep understanding…
S02E11 – Emina McLean on the challenges of research translation in literacy
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Emina McLean. Emina works with systems, schools, leaders, and teachers to develop ambitious and rigorous assessment, curriculum and instruction practices in English and literacy. In this chat, Emina discusses her focus on implementing effective systems and practices for teaching reading and writing. She highlights the…
S02E12 – Jamie Clark on Simplifying Research and PD with One-Pagers
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Jamie Clark, an English teacher and lead practitioner specialising in pedagogy and digital learning. They discuss his recently released book, One Pagers and unpack how it could be used. Jamie breaks down a number of the techniques mentioned in the book and describes his thinking…
S02E13 – Pamela Snow on why it takes a village to change reading instruction
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Professor Pamela Snow. She has been at the coalface fighting for evidence-based reading instruction to be common practice for a number of years and throughout this conversation, she provides nuggets of gold in describing how when we talk about phonics we need to be using…
S02E14 – Professor Bethany Rittle-Johnson on conceptual and procedural knowledge in mathematics
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Bethany Rittle-Johnson, a professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University. Bethany has led a lot of the research around conceptual and procedural knowledge. In this chat, she delves into this topic and also discuss other high impact strategies such as worked examples, self-explanations and the power…
S02E15- Professor Jonathan Sharples on Implementation in Schools
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Professor Jonathan Sharples from the Education Endowment Foundation. He has led the recent update to the EEF’s A School’s Guide to Implementation and in this conversation we unpack the paper. Professor Sharples details the updates and why they were made. He also digs into each…
S02E16 – Charlotte Peverett on the importance of having high expectations for all students including diverse learners
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Charlotte Peverett, an experienced learning specialist and inclusion outreach coach, who shares her journey into teaching and special education. Charlotte discusses the significance of structures and routines in creating a safe and consistent learning environment. Charlotte also emphasises the importance of high expectations for all…
S02E17 – Brendan Lee and Dr. Zach Groshell on the nuances of teaching effectively
In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers podcast, Brendan Lee and Dr. Zach Groshell (Host of the Progressively Incorrect podcast) collaborated in the first of a series of episodes together. The theme for this episode was around what are the main principles that teachers need to understand about how learning happens…
S02E18 – Rhonda Filmer on Neurodiversity and the Twice-Exceptional Student
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Rhonda Filmer, a gifted education consultant and teacher, she discusses her journey into the field and the importance of understanding neurodiversity and twice exceptional students. She has recently released a book, “Neurodiversity and the Twice-Exceptional Student” and they delve into some of the key points…
S02E19 – Professor Nancy Jordan on Number Sense, Early Numeracy Screeners and Fractions
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Professor Nancy Jordan. She has been at the forefront of all things to do with early numeracy research including looking at screeners and intervention. Many of you come from the science of reading world and are fans of Scarborough’s Reading Rope, Nancy and colleagues have…
S02E20 – Dr. Zach Groshell and Brendan Lee on coaching, culture and change
This is the second conversation between Dr. Zach Groshell and Brendan Lee. For those that don’t know, Zach is the host of the Progressively Incorrect Podcast and also the author of Just Tell Them: The Power of Explanations and Explicit Teaching. In this episode, they take a deep dive into some of…
S02E21 – Dr. Nathaniel Swain On Prioritising What Matters: A Deep Dive into the Science of Learning
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Nathaniel Swain. He returns for the third time and this time it’s to unpack his new book Harnessing the Science of Learning. However, as you will hear, they actually go beyond the book and dig into some of the critical considerations that schools and…
S02E22 – Dr. Leslie Laud – Implementation Science Meets Writing Instruction: ThinkSRSD’s Journey to Scalability and Impact
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Leslie Laud. She is the founding Director of ThinkSRSD, a writing program built upon Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD). The discussion covers ThinkSRSD’s key strategies, including mnemonics and how to apply them across different grade levels and writing genres. Furthermore, Dr. Laud addresses implementation challenges…
S02E23 – Dr. Zach Groshell and Brendan Lee on effective school leadership
In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Zach Groshell for the third of their trilogy of conversations together. In their first episode, they unpacked the nuances of teaching effectively. In the second one, they spoke about coaching, culture and change. In today’s podcast, you will hear them discuss the complex world…