Becoming Educated – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode of The Becoming Educated Podcast, Zach Groshell discusses the importance of effective explanations in teaching, emphasising the value of direct instruction and cognitive science principles.

He reflects on his own teaching experiences, critiques traditional discovery-based learning, and advocates for explicit teaching methods that enhance student understanding and engagement.

The discussion covers practical strategies for teachers, the role of storytelling, and the significance of pacing and active learning. Groshell also highlights the need for coaching and self-development in education, asserting that these methods are beneficial for all students, especially those who struggle with learning.

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Please join our Facebook Group. I would love for you to join and share your takeaways from this episode and engage in discussion with fellow listeners.

Keep the conversation going using #becomingeducated and tagging me @dnleslie

If you have time, I would love for you to review Becoming Educated and share what you love about the podcast.

You can support the ongoing production of the podcast by buying me a coffee

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In this episode of The Becoming Educated Podcast, Chris Such discusses his philosophy on teaching reading, emphasising the need for a balanced approach that supports both novice and experienced teachers.

He explores the intertwined nature of word recognition and language comprehension, the importance of phonics instruction, and the necessity of accurate decoding practice.

Chris also outlines effective reading lesson structures that promote independent reading and addresses the significance of assessing and overcoming barriers to reading development.

His insights provide a comprehensive framework for educators looking to enhance their reading instruction practices.

Get involved and share widely.

Please join our Facebook Group. I would love for you to join and share your takeaways from this episode and engage in discussion with fellow listeners.

Keep the conversation going using #becomingeducated and tagging me @dnleslie

If you have time, I would love for you to review Becoming Educated and share what you love about the podcast.

You can support the ongoing production of the podcast by buying me a coffee

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I am joined by Harry Hudson, Harry is a History teacher at the West London Free School in Hammersmith, West London. He’s also a freelance writer and has written for a range of publications including The Times, The Telegraph and The Spectator.

In this weeks episode Harry and I discuss the following and so much more:

Why teaching has an image problem

Why money could be an issue in getting good people into teaching

Why the fact that everyone has been to school contributes to the image problem

How the explosion of awareness of cognitive science has enhanced the profession

What the many positives of being a teacher are

How we can change the image of teaching through opening our doors and sharing our bright spots with the public

This was a fascinating discussion with Harry and believe he has kickstarted a discussion into how we can really change the image of our most wonderful profession.

Get involved and share widely.

Keep the conversation going using #becomingeducated and tagging me @dnleslie

If you have time I would love for you to review Becoming Educated and share what you love about the podcast.

You can support the podcast by buying me a coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dnleslie

Finally, If you would like to sponsor an episode of #becomingeducated then please contact me via email using darren@becomingeducated.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I am joined by Abby Hughes. Abby is the Assistant Headteacher: Teaching & Learning and Head of Divinity at the West London Free School. In this episode I follow up on Abby's excellent talk for the We Are in Beta Curriculum Thinkers group and we explore the following and so much more:

The 7 principles of a West London Free School Lesson

Divinity, the divinity curriculum and why as ED Hirsch notes ‘No person in the modern world can be considered educated without a basic knowledge of all the great religions of the world’

How Abby and her team teach their Divinity Curriculum using an excellent set of principles 

Why Abby teaches using Textbooks and why myths about using Textbooks are wrong

How Abby prepares for a lesson

This was an excellent insight into an incredibly well thought out curriculum and I was blown away by the preparation and level of thinking that Abby undertakes to ensure that each lesson is high energy and has maximum return on learning.

You can find Abby on twitter @abbyjhughes

Get involved and share widely.

Keep the conversation going using #becomingeducated and tagging me @dnleslie

If you have time I would love for you to review Becoming Educated and share what you love about the podcast.

You can support the podcast by buying me a coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dnleslie

Finally, if you would like to sponsor an episode of the podcast and reach thousands of listeners please contact me using darren@becomingeducated.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I am Joined by Helen Howell.  Helen is director of English at the Blue Coat School in Oldham. She previously worked at the Radclyffe School as English AST and lead teacher for literacy, where she was instrumental in developing a knowledge-rich KS3 curriculum and a culture of reading for pleasure.

Helen recently published a great book, alongside Ross Morrision McGill of Teacher Toolkit, 'The Revision Revolution, How to build a culture of effective study in your school' and we explore this in depth in todays episode.

We discuss the following and so much more:

Why students dont revise? Why creating a rich curriculum is the first step towards a revision revolution? Why we should start with staff training? How to kick the revolution off by sharing key revision strategies with year seven or s1 for us in Scotland What teachers can do in lessons to support students learn the content How to train students to support themselves How to engage adults in supporting the revision revolution.

I loved this interview with Helen and the book is fantastic. A must have if you want to supercharge your students learning.

You can find Helen on twitter @cura_dora

Get involved and share widely.

Keep the conversation going using #becomingeducated and tagging me @dnleslie

If you have time I would love for you to review Becoming Educated and share what you love about the podcast.

You can support the podcast by buying me a coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dnleslie

Finally, if you would like to sponsor an episode of the podcast and reach thousands of listeners please contact me using darren@becomingeducated.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Chiles began as a geography teacher, head of department and senior leader with responsiblity for teaching and learning. Michael is now a head of department at a school in the north west of England. Michael is the author of three books including 'The Sweet Spot: Explaining and Modelling with Precision'

We discuss the following and much much more:

What teachers should consider when planning their classroom layout

What we should consider when planning our wall displays as 'paying attention is a critical cog to enable learning'

Why our PowerPoints, the staple of our lessons, create cognitive overload

The importance of classroom culture

Why it is important to prepare for and be precise with our explanations

You can follow Michael on twitter @m_chiles

Get involved and share widely.

Keep the conversation going using #becomingeducated and tagging me @dnleslie

If you have time I would love for you to review Becoming Educated and share what you love about the podcast.

You can support the podcast by buying me a coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dnleslie

This episode is sponsored by UpLearn: Up Learn is an online, curriculum-learning resource for A Levels that helps teachers improve educational outcomes amongst students, whilst reducing their own workloads.

Developed by an experienced team of educators, Up Learn courses contain high-quality videos, quizzes and exam preparation material. Teachers direct students to certain sections of Up Learn as homework, facilitating flipped learning, consolidation of classroom material and independent learning.

97% of students who complete an Up Learn course achieve A*/A, with many starting from D's and U's. What could yours achieve? Find out by booking a demo today at uplearn.co.uk, and be sure to quote Becoming Educated for a 10% discount.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I speak with Professor Rob Coe and Jamie Scott from Evidence Based Education and we explore the Great Teaching Toolkit Project, their online professional development platform which follows on from the Great Teaching Toolkit Evidence Review, published in June 2020.

In this episode we discuss the following and much more:

The Great Teaching Toolkit Evidence Review

What the team have been working on since the review

How schools can use the Toolkit to focus a teachers professional learning

How Student Surveys were designed and how they are used to give valuable insides into the work of a teacher

Why teacher learning should be focussed on one thing for 6 months or more

You can find the Evidence Review, sample materials from the Toolkit and make contact with Rob & Jamie at evidencebased.education

Get involved and share widely.

Keep the conversation going using #becomingeducated and tagging me @dnleslie

If you have time I would love for you to review Becoming Educated and share what you love about the podcast.

You can support the podcast by buying me a coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dnleslie

This episode is sponsored by UpLearn:

Up Learn is an online, curriculum-learning resource for A Levels that helps teachers improve educational outcomes amongst students, whilst reducing their own workloads. Developed by an experienced team of educators, Up Learn courses contain high-quality videos, quizzes and exam preparation material. Teachers direct students to certain sections of Up Learn as homework, facilitating flipped learning, consolidation of classroom material and independent learning. 97% of students who complete an Up Learn course achieve A*/A, with many starting from D's and U's. What could yours achieve?

Find out by booking a demo today at uplearn.co.uk, and be sure to quote Becoming Educated for a 10% discount.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I am joined by Alex Quigley. Alex is a former English teacher and school leader, of over 15 years standing, who now works for the Education Endowment Foundation, supporting teachers to access research evidence. He can be found on twitter @AlexJQuigley and blogs at www.theconfidentteacher.com

He is the author of ‘The Confident Teacher’, ‘Closing the Vocabulary Gap’ and ‘Closing the Reading Gap’.

In this episode Alex & I explore the vital importance of reading in our schools and Alex clearly articulates why it should be the number one school improvement priority. 

In this episode we discuss the following and so much more:

The history of reading and writing systems and why they are important for us to know about.

What the science of reading tells us on how we should teach reading.

How teachers can develop reading comprehension in their classrooms.

Academic and disciplinary reading and how they are different within each subject discipline.

Discussing the topic of reading with Alex has served to sharpen my own thinking and I came away with so many notes to unpick.

Get involved and share widely.

Keep the conversation going using #becomingeducated and tagging me @dnleslie

If you have time I would love for you to review Becoming Educated and share what you love about the podcast.

You can support the podcast by buying me a coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dnleslie

This episode is sponsored by UpLearn:

Up Learn is an online, curriculum-learning resource for A Levels that helps teachers improve educational outcomes amongst students, whilst reducing their own workloads.

Developed by an experienced team of educators, Up Learn courses contain high-quality videos, quizzes and exam preparation material. Teachers direct students to certain sections of Up Learn as homework, facilitating flipped learning, consolidation of classroom material and independent learning.

97% of students who complete an Up Learn course achieve A*/A, with many starting from D's and U's. What could yours achieve?

Find out by booking a demo today at uplearn.co.uk, and be sure to quote Becoming Educated for a 10% discount.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jon blogs at www.pedfed.wordpress.com

We explore in depth Jon's thinking behind his 'Five Best Bets for Teaching & Learning' which are:

1. Low Stakes Quizzing

2. Instructional Coaching

3. Sequencing Curriculum

4. Improving Ratio

5. Learning about Cognitive Load Theory

You can read the original post Jon wrote on this here: https://www.teachfirst.org.uk/blog/five-best-bets-improve-teaching-and-learning-year-ahead

You can follow Jon on twitter @jon_hutchinson_

Get involved and share widely.

Keep the conversation going using #becomingeducated and tagging me @dnleslie

If you have time I would love for you to review Becoming Educated and share what you love about the podcast.

You can support the podcast by buying me a coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dnleslie

This episode is sponsored by UpLearn:

Up Learn is an online, curriculum-learning resource for A Levels that helps teachers improve educational outcomes amongst students, whilst reducing their own workloads.

Developed by an experienced team of educators, Up Learn courses contain high-quality videos, quizzes and exam preparation material.

Teachers direct students to certain sections of Up Learn as homework, facilitating flipped learning, consolidation of classroom material and independent learning. 97% of students who complete an Up Learn course achieve A*/A, with many starting from D's and U's. What could yours achieve?

Find out by booking a demo today at uplearn.co.uk, and be sure to quote Becoming Educated for a 10% discount.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I speak with Doug Lemov, author of Teach Like A Champion 3.0 & The Coach's Guide to Teaching. Co-Author of Teaching in the Online Classroom, Reading Reconsidered and Practice Perfect. Doug is the Managing Director of Uncommon School and leads its Teach Like a Champion team, designing and implementing teacher training based on the study of high-performing teachers.

We explore in depth his thinking behind Chapter 1 of Teach Like A Champion 3.0 and the five principles Doug shares. The five principles are:

Principle 1: Understanding Human Cognitive Structure means building Long Term Memory and managing Working Memory

Principle 2: Habits Accelerate Learning

Principle 3: What Students Attend to Is What They Will Learn About

Principle 4: Motivation is Social

Principle 5: Teaching Well Is relationship Building

You can find Doug on twitter @DougLemov and you can read his excellent blog here: https://teachlikeachampion.com/blog/?s=video

Get involved and share widely.

Keep the conversation going using #becomingeducated and tagging me @dnleslie

If you have time I would love for you to review Becoming Educated and share what you love about the podcast.

You can support the podcast by buying me a coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dnleslie

This episode is sponsored by UpLearn:

Up Learn is an online, curriculum-learning resource for A Levels that helps teachers improve educational outcomes amongst students, whilst reducing their own workloads.

Developed by an experienced team of educators, Up Learn courses contain high-quality videos, quizzes and exam preparation material. Teachers direct students to certain sections of Up Learn as homework, facilitating flipped learning, consolidation of classroom material and independent learning.

97% of students who complete an Up Learn course achieve A*/A, with many starting from D's and U's. What could yours achieve?

Find out by booking a demo today at uplearn.co.uk, and be sure to quote Becoming Educated for a 10% discount. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.