This episode begins with some further thoughts on department development plans - following on from episode 15 on that topic.   Matt and Femi talk about defining what processes will be running in the department rather than trying to describe a particular endpoint and also incorporating teacher’s career ambitions into departmental development plans.They then posit that teachers are the most important resource that a school has and that results are largely determined by them, and not the sy...

People vs Systems

A podcast about teaching.  We discuss teaching and learning, pedagogy, lessons and classroom practise, management and leadership, teaching of mathematics, training and trainees, mentors and mentoring, behaviour management, being a head of department and running a faculty, SLT and much much more!

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Today Femi and Matt discuss their career changes, both recent (in Matt's case) and forthcoming (in Femi's) and how they are thinking about teaching and learning, and education going forward.  This context should throw some light onto some of the conversations they have had recently or that are coming up.

Changes are afoot!

The discussion today was prompted by a listener question about students being late to lessons, so Matt and Femi each give their take on that.  They discuss what they think the relevant psychology is and how they each handle this situation.  They talk about whole-school policies and dealing with a culture of lateness as middle and senior leaders – and different ways that schools approach the starts and ends of lessons, as well as transitions.  Femi and Matt also muse on some of ...

Late To Lessons

The topic of today’s discussion is Matt's visit to Ark Soane Academy, and in particular the impressive whole-school culture and the remarkable impact of that on student behaviours, attitudes and learning.  Femi and Matt talk about the best science lesson Matt has ever seen, and wider discussion about starting and running schools and embedding shared routines across the school.As always, all questions or comments welcome: @beyondgoodpod on X.

My Visit to Ark Soane Academy

The topic of discussion this week is warning systems – so very much a behaviour-based episode rather than a maths one.  Matt and Femi cover a fair bit of ground: from classrooms with names written on the board and hundreds of warnings being issued each day through to classrooms with no warnings and students absorbed in their work.  And from supporting colleagues with behaviour issues through to the prospect of creating a school-wide culture around behaviour that leaves deleterious l...

The Warning System

This week Femi and Matt debate the pros and cons of homework - a particularly slippery beast to nail down.  They get into some general principles and challenges of setting good homework, and what they have tried and each do now, among other things.  By all means let us know if you think you have this one cracked:@beyondgoodpod on X.

People vs Systems

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