Oxford Education Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Lindsay Bruce Aaron Wilkes James Ball Liam Hall Richard McFahn Hear from our team of experienced Edexcel History teacher-authors as they share their tips and advice on how Oxford’s approach can help students succeed in their Edexcel exams. Aaron Wilkes has over 20 years’ experience working in schools as a teacher, department, and faculty leader. He also works with the PGCE History trainees at the University of Warwick. In addition to his classroom experience, Aaron is also one of the leading history authors in school publishing and his KS3 History series, now in fourth edition and published by Oxford University Press, is currently the best-selling KS3 History series in the UK. Aaron is also Series Editor/co-author of OUP’s NEW KS3 Depth Studies: The British Empire, African Kingdoms, Fight for Rights, and Migration Nation. He is the Series Editor/co-author of OUP’s KS4 History textbooks which match the AQA and Edexcel GCSE History specifications, and is involved with the BBC as an Educational Consultant for their Bitesize and Teach series. Aaron tweets at @WilkesHistory Lindsay Bruce is a Deputy Headteacher of a 3-19 special school where she still teaches History. She has worked with OUP since 2015 and has contributed to the AQA and Edexcel GCSE History series, KS3 content, Revision Guides, Kerboodle, Teacher Handbooks and the OUP Word Gap resources. Lindsay tweets at @HistoryTeach0 James Ball has worked as a History Teacher, Head of History and Head of Humanities in schools in the West Midlands for nearly 20 years. For much of that time, he has authored textbooks alongside his teaching career - including co-authoring OUP’s Edexcel Medicine in Britain student book. He now lives in Copenhagen and writes full-time, authoring textbooks, creating resources and penning educational articles and blogs for numerous publishers, EdTech companies and charities. Liam Hall has served as Head of History at a school in the West Midlands for eight years.  During this period, he has worked as an assistant examiner for Pearson and has co-authored Oxford’s GCSE textbook on Edexcel Medicine in Britain. He has also written online resources for OUP's On Your Marks series and, in 2018, appeared on BBC's Back in Time for School series. Liam tweets at @HallHistoryGuy Richard McFahn is the ITE History Lead Tutor. He has worked for 25 years as a History Teacher, Subject and Senior Leader, Advanced Skills Teacher and Local Authority Adviser. As a teacher Richard helped set up and develop a series of thriving and sustainable teacher networks in Hampshire, which Ofsted have subsequently described as best practice. Richard has regularly led well-received workshops and opening plenary sessions at the Schools History Project and the Historical Association Conferences. He has written several books, articles and numerous blogs on different aspects of History Teaching. Richard created, developed and now curates History Resource Cupboard a website aimed at supporting history teachers. He is also the co-founder and editor of Practical Histories an online magazine for history teachers. In 2017 he won a student-led teaching award at The University of Sussex. In 2018 with the ITE team he won a teaching award for outstanding student support. In 2020 Richard was nominated for The Sussex Teaching to Disrupt Award. Richard tweets at @HistoryResource Further reading and support: • This podcast was first recorded as an Oxford Education webinar. View the slides via the webinar recording. • Find out more about Oxford’s Edexcel GCSE History series. • Explore our new Oxford Revise revision guides for Edexcel GCSE History with discounts available to schools. • More revision support for students and parents is available on the Oxford Revise Hub.

Mary Hamley James Clements Lindsay Pickton Dr. Sarah McGeown Learn all about the link between motivation and reading for pleasure in this insightful conversation between Oxford Education’s Mary Hamley and reading experts James Clements, Lindsay Pickton and Dr Sarah McGeown. We discuss how you can grow a reading culture in your classroom, how to encourage students to read for pleasure, and practical tips to support motivating students to read more. James Clements is an education writer and reading for pleasure advocate. Lindsay Pickton is primary English specialist. He tweets at @EnglishHubUK Dr Sarah McGeown is a reading for pleasure and literacy expert. She tweets at @DrSarahMcG Mary Hamley is Head of Primary Digital Literacy and Reading at Oxford University Press. Further reading and support: Learn more about Readerful - a new reading library packed with ingredients to motivate children to read more. Order a free Readerful taster pack for your school. Find out more about the Love to Read project that Sarah mentions.

Kathrine Mortimore Helen Prince talks to Kathrine Mortimore about ways to employ disciplinary literacy techniques in your classroom. The EEF have placed disciplinary literacy as their number one strategy for improving literacy in secondary schools. Kathrine and Helen discuss the importance of: showing students what excellence looks like in your subject; the explicit teaching of challenging key ideas and vocabulary; and scaffolding using carefully prepared materials.  Kathrine Mortimore is currently an Associate Assistant Principal, leading literacy at Torquay Academy. Her most recent book 'Disciplinary Literacy and Explicit Vocabulary Teaching' is centred on moving forward those who are furthest behind by improving their literacy skills. This publication follows research she has undertaken into narrowing the attainment gap at the University of Cambridge, and whilst working in the context of Torquay Academy. Kathrine has also co-authored four of Neil Bowen's 'Art of..' literature study guides. She tweets at @Kathrine_28 Further reading and support: Read more on disciplinary literacy strategies from Kathrine on the Oxford Education Blog. Kathrine is particularly interested in tackling social inequalities through education and has been blogging about this topic for many years.

Action Jackson Helen Prince talks to Jackson Ogunyemi, better known as Action Jackson, about the importance of being able to motivate, equip and empower to unlock young people’s confidence. He shares tips to help teachers motivate themselves and their students, discusses how psychology and physiology are interlinked, and stresses the importance of celebrating ourselves and our achievements. “The opposite of winning is not losing; the opposite of winning is learning.” Action Jackson is a motivational speaker, helping teachers motivate their learners to wake up happy and achieve. Known as the UK Ambassador for Happiness, he loves cheesecake, running and inspiring people. Action tweets at @Actionjackson Further reading and support: Are you looking for GCSE and A Level revision guides for your students? Developed by cognitive science and subject experts, Oxford Revise follows a simple three step strategy that helps students to make every minute of their revision count: Knowledge, Retrieval, Practice. Explore the Oxford Revise student & parent hub for expert videos, past papers, revision planners, and advice. Learner identity and Awe and wonder are two pillars of the Oxford Smart Curriculum. Find out more and read the curriculum direction paper.

Laura Henry-Allain In this episode of Diversifying Reading with Shareen Wilkinson, Shareen talks to Laura Henry-Allain MBE about the Lit in Colour research and diversifying children’s publishing, why we need to talk to children about race in school and at home, and how to be anti-racist. Laura Henry-Allain MBE is an award-winning international writer, speaker and consultant. She is the creator of the well-loved CBeebies characters JoJo and Gran Gran as well as the series' associate producer. She is also executive producer on a few shows that are currently in development. She is the vice-president of the British Association for Early Childhood Education, and is an educational consultant for several well-known brands as well as children's media, television and publishing. Laura's new children's book, My Skin, Your Skin, illustrated by Onyinye Iwu, explores race and racism, and empowers children to be the best versions of themselves. Laura tweets at @LauraHAllain Further reading and support: Read more about the Lit in Colour research and find out what we're doing at OUP to support the initiative, including lots of practical tips for your school. My Skin, Your Skin, written by Laura Henry-Allain and illustrated by Onyinye Iwu. The Early Years Blacklist Supporting you to Raise Antiracist Children, written by Laura Henry-Allain and Emma Worrollo for Mattel Play Room, 2020.

Daniel Fenwick In this episode of Diversifying Reading with Shareen Wilkinson, Shareen talks to Deputy Headteacher Daniel Fenwick about his involvement with Penguin and The Runnymede Trust’s Lit in Colour initiative and the steps that his school have taken to teach a wider range of texts. Daniel Fenwick is the Deputy Head and English Coordinator at St Wilfrid's Primary School. He has a real passion for English and one of his favourite things to do is to read stories to children of all ages. He’s a father to two young children and loves reading stories to them, particularly before bed. Further reading and support: Read more about the Lit in Colour research and find out what we're doing at OUP to support the initiative. Download our free Getting Started Guide to diversifying literature in your school. Penguin’s (in)complete book lists

Darren Chetty In this episode of Diversifying Reading with Shareen Wilkinson, Shareen talks to Darren Chetty about his involvement with Penguin and The Runnymede Trust’s Lit in Colour initiative. They talk about why it’s important for all children to have access to a representative range of books, as well as ideas to support parents. Darren Chetty is a Lecturer at UCL Institute of Education and has taught in London primary schools for twenty years. His research focuses on philosophy for children, multiculturalism and racism. Among his many books, columns and articles, he is the author of ‘You Can’t Say That! Stories Have to be About White People’ an essay in The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla. Darren tweets at @rapclassroom Further reading and support: Read more about the Lit in Colour research and find out what we're doing at OUP to support the initiative, including lots of practical tips and reading recommendations to share with parents. Penguin’s (in)complete book lists The Good Immigrant: 21 writers reflect on race in contemporary Britain edited by Nikesh Shukla (2017) Reflecting Realities Survey of Ethnic Representation in Children’s Literature CLPE November 2021 Critical Philosophy of Race and Education edited by Judith Suissa and Darren Chetty (2021) Secret Gardens: A Study of the Golden Age of Children's Literature by Humphrey Carpenter (2009) ‘Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors’ by Rudine Sims Bishop in Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom. Vol. 6, no. 3, Summer 1990. (PDF) Darren's 'Beyond the Secret Garden' column in Books for Keeps Musical Truth: A musical history of modern black Britain in 28 songs by Jeffrey Boakye (2021)

Penny Rabiger Helen Prince talks to Penny Rabiger about the importance of listening to young people and what we can learn from them about race, identity and social justice.  Penny Rabiger was a teacher for 10 years and has been working with social enterprises, charities and start-ups in the education sector since 2007. She was one of the founding directors of The Key for School Leaders, Head of Membership at Challenge Partners, and Director of Engagement with the Finnish edtech organisation Lyfta. Penny is a school governor at a north London primary school, Trustee on a south London multi-academy trust board, a member of the Haringey BAME achievement group and a Co-founder and Trustee of the BAMEed Network. Penny is a coach on the Leeds Beckett University Centre for Race, Education and Decoloniality's Anti-Racist Schools Award.  Further reading and support: Penny tweets at @Penny_Ten and you can read her blog here Learner identity is one of the pillars of the Oxford Smart Curriculum. Find out more and read the curriculum direction paper.

Nathan Burns Helen Prince talks to Nathan Burns about his specialist subject, metacognition. Nathan explains the importance of embedding metacognition into day-to-day teaching, why modelling and monitoring are key approaches in the classroom, and the value metacognition plays in all areas of life, from poaching an egg to putting up a tent. Nathan Burns is a teacher of Mathematics, Assistant KS3 Progress and Achievement Leader and More Able and Talented Co-Coordinator at David Nieper Academy in Alfreton. He is a former Metacognitive Implementation Lead, as well as the founder of metacognition.org.uk, which offers metacognitive resources and CPD. Nathan is passionate about teaching and learning, and has researched, written about and delivered CPD on metacognition for several years. He tweets at @MrMetacognition Further reading and support: Where does metacognitive modelling fit in the classroom? Read more from Nathan on the Oxford Education Blog. Metacognition is one of the pillars of the Oxford Smart Curriculum. Read the curriculum direction paper. Find out more about Oxford Smart Mosaic, an intuitive and impactful KS3 Maths course created by Oxford and Craig Barton which helps to embed mastery.

Louise Pennington Louise Pennington and Adam Gaskell talk about supporting secondary transition in maths. They discuss removing barriers to maths learning, the benefits of using manipulatives and the meaning of mastery.  Louise Pennington is Professional Development lead for Oxford University Press, previous teacher, specialist maths teacher and local authority SEND Team lead working with both primary and secondary schools, students and parents. She is a Numicon Author and vice-chair of the Mathematical Association's joint primary group. Louise tweets at @pdLouiseP  Adam Gaskell is Head of Mathematics at a Leicestershire secondary school, NPQML and NCETM Mastery Advocate. Adam tweets at @MrGTeach  Numicon Big Ideas helps upper Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 students learn and explore maths while building their confidence. Further reading and support: Find out more about Numicon Big Ideas for KS3. Access resources to support transition to secondary school.