This episode features a compelling conversation with Murat Dizdar, the head of the New South Wales Department of Education. Murat shares his inspiring journey from being the son of Turkish immigrants to leading Australia’s largest education system. He discusses the experiences that shaped his vision for public education, his deep passion for the teaching profession, and the key initiatives he’s championing to drive meaningful change. This episode offers valuable insights and inspiration for anyone interested in education and leadership.

Resources mentioned:

• NSW Department of Education Resource Hub
• Explicit Teaching Statement
• High Potential and Gifted Education Policy
• AERO (Australian Education Research Organisation)
• Grattan Institute: Ending the lesson lottery

You can connect with Murat:

Twitter/X: @dizdarm

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter/X: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Website: learnwithlee.net

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers podcast, Nick Hart takes us on an inspiring journey from his beginnings in sports science to becoming a school leader in Dubai. A respected voice in educational leadership, Nick shares insights from his blog and books, delving into the evolution of his leadership style. He discusses the critical role of context in decision-making, introduces the concept of the school year’s rhythm for structured improvement and highlights the importance of trust in fostering strong school communities. Tune in for practical advice and thought-provoking ideas on navigating the complexities of educational leadership.

Resources mentioned:

• Nick Hart’s books:
  • Creating a strong culture and a positive climate in schools
  • Impact: a five part framework for making a difference in schools
• Nick Hart’s blog posts discussed in this episode:
  • Leadership handbook 5.0
  • School improvement: Rhythm of the year
  • Culture setting | More than words
  • A model for school improvement
• Vivianne Robinson
• Mary Kennedy
• Dr. Neil Gilbride
• Bryk and Schneider
• Ambition Institute - The persistent problems of school leadership
• AERO

You can connect with Nick:

Twitter: @MrNickHart

Linkedin

Website: mrnickhart.wordpress.com

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Linkedin: @brendan-lee-kft

Website: learnwithlee.net

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

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 of school leadership! They explore the key elements that contribute to a positive and productive school culture. From going beyond superficial evaluation methods to building a diverse team that leverages everyone's strengths, they cover a range of important topics that will help school leaders create a thriving learning environment for both students and teachers.

Zach’s four points were:

1. Leaders need to start minimizing evaluations and start maximizing teacher performance
2. Leaders should view behavior as a system that involves everyone, including them
3. Leaders don’t have to be the best teachers on earth, but they do have to know something about instruction
4. Leaders should move away from one-off PD as the primary means of teacher training.

Brendan’s 4 points were:

1. Leaders need to have their fingers on the pulse
2. Clear Communication is key
3. Leaders need to build a diverse team
4. Good leaders don't care about who is right or wrong

Resources mentioned:

• Zach’s newly released book: Just Tell Them: The Power of Explanations and Explicit Teaching
• Viviane Robinson - Reduce change to increase improvement
• Daniel Kahnemann - Thinking, Fast and Slow
• Progressively Incorrect S4E10: Nathaniel Swain, Steven Capp, and Katie Roberts-Hull on Harnessing the Science of Learning

You can connect with Zach:

Twitter: @mrzachg

Podcast: Progressively Incorrect

Website: educationrickshaw.com

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Website: learnwithlee.net

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

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 and provides advice for teachers, emphasising a gradual release of responsibility, the significance of teacher collaboration and the need for professional development that respects teachers' unique contexts.

Resources mentioned:

• thinksrsd.com
• Facebook Group: think SRSD "Self-Regulated Strategy Development": Releasing Writers
• Facebook Group: ThinkSRSD New Zealand and Australia
• SRSD
• Charles Haynes from Talking to Writing
• Judith Hochman
• Writing Revolution
• Karen Harris
• Steve Graham
• Amy Thomas
• Pooja Patel
• Nate Hanford, Leslie Laud, and Elizabeth Rinstra: ThinkSRSD A Secondary Analysis Cohort Investigation
• Carol Sue Engler
• Linda Mason
• Linda Darling Hammond and Anne Lieberman
• Dr. Charles Haynes

• Dr. Kay Wijekumar

• Gemma Maddocks - GEM Literacy

You can connect with Leslie:

Twitter: @LeslieLaud

Bluesky: @leslielaud.bsky.social

Linkedin

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter: @learnwithmrlee

Bluesky: @learnwithmrlee.bsky.social

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Website: learnwithlee.net

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

Register for my upcoming course: A Systematic and Structured Approach to Teaching Primary Mathematics

Use the code: MATESRATES for a 10% discount.

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 teachers need to be making. They explore how to make teaching and learning the top priority in your school, reclaiming valuable instructional time often lost to distractions. They also unpack the essential elements of effective literacy and numeracy instruction, going beyond the surface level to understand the importance of a knowledge-rich curriculum, explicit teaching techniques, and structured implementation processes.

They look at why teaching should be “Fun in the service of learning, not in spite of Learning” and some of the common barriers that school leaders face when initiating change.

Resources mentioned:

• Think Forward Educators
• Bentleigh West PS
• Riverwood PS
• Churchill PS
• Challis Community PS
• Steve Capp
• Lyn Stone
• David Morkunas
• Core Knowledge Foundation
• Toni Hattan-Roberts
• Doug Lemov
• Tom Sherrington
• Dr. Zach Groshell
• Dr. Simon Breakspear
• Katie Roberts-Hull
• Helen Hughes

You can connect with Nathaniel:

Twitter: @NathanielRSwain

Facebook

Linkedin

Order Nathaniel's book, "Harnessing the Science of Learning"

Website: www.nathanielswain.com

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Website: learnwithlee.net

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

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 the key considerations that schools need to take when it comes to instructional coaching.

For this episode, Zach’s four items were:

• Schools need an instructional focus for coaching to be successful.
• Coaching is not only about teaching techniques, but also about fostering teacher judgement.
• Relationships with teachers should not overshadow the goal of coaching
• Coaching cycles and drop ins don’t need to take all that long

Brendan’s four points were:

• Coaches need to shrink the change
• Coaching should feel like a development process, rather than a judgemental one
• Participants need to own the problem
• Get granular with goal setting

Resources mentioned:

• Steplab
• Josh Goodrich - Responsive Coaching
• Teach Like a Champion
• Peps Mccrea
• Jim Knight
• Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli - Teaching Walkthrus

You can connect with Zach:

Twitter: @mrzachg

Podcast: Progressively Incorrect

Website: educationrickshaw.com

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Website: learnwithlee.net

10% off Discount code: MATESRATES

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

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 put together a Number Sense one! I’ve popped the citation in the show notes.

Throughout this conversation she delves into what number sense is, why it’s important, how we can develop it and how to assess it. Nancy also covers the role of manipulatives and the transition to understanding fractions.

Resources mentioned:

• SENS: Screener for Early Number Sense
• Number Sense Interventions
• Jordan, N. C., Devlin, B. L., & Botello, M. (2022). Core foundations of early mathematics: refining the number sense framework. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 46, 101181.
• ICME
• Ginsburg, Greenes, & Balfanz - Big Math for Little Kids
• Bob Siegler
• Nora Newcomb
• Chelsea Cutting.
• What Works Clearinghouse

You can connect with Nancy:

Twitter: @Dr_nancyjordan

Email: njordan@udel.edu

Website: https://sites.google.com/a/udel.edu/nancy-jordan/

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Website: learnwithlee.net

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

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 from the book throughout the episode.

Resources mentioned:

• Center on the Developing Child - Harvard University

• Tom Bennett
• Michelle Ronksley-Pavia
• Gifted Education Resource Center at New South Wales University
• Miraca Gross
• SPELD NSW

You can connect with Rhonda:

Linkedin

Book: Neurodiversity and the Twice-Exceptional Student

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Website: learnwithlee.net

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast