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 and the need for teachers to be sceptical and critical of educational trends. She also highlights the challenges of implementing explicit instruction and the need for standardised teacher preparation programs. Rebecca calls for a clear hierarchy of importance within teacher standards and the role of teacher preparation in reinforcing those standards. The conversation also touches on strategies for schools to drive improvement without waiting for systemic changes.

Resources mentioned:

• Reimagining Teacher Professionalism. Why standards must be part of ITE reform
• Knowledge Society - Elena Douglas
• Trisha Jha
  • What is the Science of Learning? https://www.cis.org.au/publication/what-is-the-science-of-learning/
  • Implementing the Science of Learning: Teacher experiences https://www.cis.org.au/publication/implementing-the-science-of-learning-teacher-experiences/
• Strong Beginnings: Report of the Teacher Education Expert Panel
• Andrew Martin
• Kate Jones
• ResearchEd
• Alex Quigley: https://www.theconfidentteacher.com/
• Anita Archer
• Hollingsworth and Ybarra - Explicit Direct Instruction

Twitter: @msrebeccabirch

Linkedin: @rebeccabirch

Website: https://rebeccabirch.au/

Substack: https://rebeccabirch.substack.com/

Twitter: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Website: learnwithlee.net

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

Rebecca Birch is a teacher of English and the Director of Research and Practice at a top 50 independent school in Sydney, Australia. She worked as a learning support officer in diverse settings while she undertook her teacher training after a successful career in advertising and fashion.

Rebecca has provided consultation and content services for Ochre Education and Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn, and has appeared on panels for ResearchED and the Gonski Institute for Education. Her current research interest is the link between explicit instruction and student wellbeing. She writes for publication and through her newsletter (rebeccabirch.substack.com/).

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 he faced as a teacher, how he got into writing about behaviour, and his eventual role as the UK's Department for Education School Behavior Advisor. He highlights the integral role of setting clear behavioural expectations and embedding routines in creating a conducive learning environment. Tom also discusses the creation and implementation of a behaviour curriculum and the origins of researchED.

Resources mentioned:

• Tom Bennett - Running the Room: The Teacher's Guide to Behaviour
• Greg Ashman
• Daisy Christodolou: Seven Myths about Education
• Daniel T. Willingham: Why Don't Students Like School?
• Bill Rogers

You can connect with Tom:

Twitter: @tombennett71

Website: https://tombennetttraining.co.uk/

Substack: https://bennettt.substack.com/

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Website: learnwithlee.net

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast, Brendan Lee speaks with Sarah Powell. Sarah is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Texas at Austin. She has pretty much dedicated her whole career to researching word problems in maths. She has also contributed to a couple of papers that have recently been released for the Centre for Independent Studies and we touch on those as well.

However, the main focus is Word Problems and we go through everything from Attack Strategies, to the dangers of using keywords and delve into the world of schema instruction. If you care about helping your students improve their ability to solve word problems, then this episode is for you.

Resources mentioned:

• Lynn Fuchs
• Sarah Powell , Elizabeth M. Hughes, Corey Peltier: Myths That Undermine Maths Teaching
• Sarah Powell , Sarah King , Sarah Benz: Maths Practices You Can Count On: Five Research-Validated Practices in Mathematics
• https://www.piratemathequationquest.com/
• Powell, S. R., Namkung, J. M., & Lin, X. (2022). An investigation of using keywords to solve word problems. The Elementary School Journal, 122(3), 452-473.
• Powell, S. R., & Fuchs, L. S. (2018). Effective word-problem instruction: Using schemas to facilitate mathematical reasoning. Teaching exceptional children, 51(1), 31-42.
• Free word-problem intervention is here: https://www.piratemathequationquest.com/
• Here's a free math intervention course Sarah developed: https://intensiveintervention.org/training/course-content/intensive-intervention-mathematics
• And free teacher materials can be found here: https://mathspiral.com/

You can connect with Sarah:

Twitter: @sarahpowellphd

email: srpowell@utexas.edu

Website: http://www.sarahpowellphd.com/

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Website: learnwithlee.net

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

Sarah R. Powell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include developing and testing interventions for students with mathematics difficulties, with a special emphasis on peer tutoring, word-problem solving, mathematics writing, and the symbols and vocabulary within mathematics.

She was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2019.