A Wee Bit of Everything

This week on the podcast, we are joined by Donnie MacLeod. Donnie is the Head of Education Services at Glasgow City Council. Donnie began his career (post Jordanhill College at Scottish School of Physical Education) as a PE Development Officer in the Scottish Borders based at the Queens Centre, Galashiels. Following this, he spent 18 months as a Graduate Assistant in the Physical Recreation at Stirling University.

Afterwards, Donnie spent 10 years as at PE Teacher Larbert High School in Falkirk as teacher and assistant Principal Teacher. He was then PT PE at Lenzie Academy in East Dunbartonshire and spent 14 years as a school inspector with HMIE – firstly as a secondary inspector and National Specialist for PE and Lead Inspector for Outdoor Learning. He then moved to Area Lead Officer linked with the Ayrshire Education Authorities. His last two years have been spent as Head of Service with Glasgow City Council Education.

This week Ross Hyslop makes a repeat appearance on the podcast to talk to us about the topic of Imposter Syndrome. Ross did a morning vlog every morning during lockdown speaking about different areas of psychology as he went through the alphabet, and one we found particularly interesting was on Imposter Syndrome. A feeling of fraudulence or that you don't deserve to be in the position you are in. This topic seemed to resonate with a lot of people in the comments section of Ross's vlog, therefore we thought we would invite ross back on to pick his brains on this area.

Alexandra Haskett, Physical Education Teacher at St Augustine’s RC High School in Edinburgh, is here to talk us through the Scottish National 5 Physical Education course structure and key strategies she has experience and success with. Alex share a fantastic insight into the success she has using cooperative learning with her certificated classes along with some excellent tips you can take away with you to try immediately within your teaching. You do not want to miss this episode!

#34 - Teacher use of technology with Dr Murray Craig by Lewis Cleland

This week we are joined by Blaine McKenna. Blaine specialises in Football Coaching and currently works abroad in Thailand. Blaine holds the UEFA A Licence coaching qualification and has achieved a MSc in Sport Psychology. The Northern Irishman has coached in 11 countries on 5 continents. We hear first hand about his successes and challenges throughout his career. Blaine offers some personal advice for other aspiring coaches out there!

This week we are joined by Nickademus de la Rosa. Nick specialises in endurance coaching and is a gait analyst. He is passionate about working with individuals who think running isn't for them but maybe they've seen some videos, their friend did a marathon and they kind of want to try it however they have constant niggles or aren’t quite sure on where to begin. Nick is also passionate about the psychological and postural side of running where he often shares his knowledge on his instagram account with informative technical breakdowns of how to improve your running technique. On top of this, Nick is also an avid ultra endurance athlete. His most impressive achievement is winning the Barkley Marathons in 2013 which is considered to be one of the toughest, if not, the toughest running event on the planet. To put this into context, the event has been running for over 30 years and there have been fewer than 20 finishers. Nick also talks to us a lot about mental health and the importance of doing what you do for the love and enjoyment of it as opposed to seeking external validation from others. A very interesting conversation and one not to be missed.

This week on the podcast, we are delighted to welcome Shirley Gray on to the show. Shirley is a Senior Lecturer in Physical Education at Edinburgh University. She has carried out and supported others through many research projects such as Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility, digital health, equality and curriculum development. We are delighted to have Shirley on to talk us through these models. We hope others listening can test the strategies Shirley discusses and take tangible action points back to school to positively influence curriculum development and teaching and learning.

This week on the podcast we are joined by 2 time world record holder and endurance cyclist Mark Beaumont. Mark is well known for his impressive endurance cycling feats with his most recent expedition being an around the planet cycle in 78 days, where he broke 2 world records in the process. That is an average of 240 miles per day for 78 consecutive days. Mark shares how he prepares his body physically and mentally for the expeditions he takes on. He also shares some of the many lessons he has learned throughout his challenges, like the time he and a team of fellow rowers attempted to row across the Atlantic Ocean and capsized for several hours before being rescued by a passing ship.

This week on the podcast we are delighted to welcome Elaine Wotherspoon. Elaine is the PGDE secondary programme leader for all subject areas at the University of the West of Scotland. She has experience in research on Health and Wellbeing in general and how prepared teachers feel they are to meet their responsibility for HWB in schools which Elaine discusses with us in today's episode. Elaine talks to us about her time teaching in Chicago and the impact this had on her as a teacher. Lastly, we find out about Elaine's role at the University and what this entails.

Maureen McKenna Joins A Wee Bit of Everything this week to share her experience with us. Maureen is the Executive Director of Education for Glasgow City council. Maureen shares her thoughts on how education can move forward successfully amidst the coronavirus pandemic. She also shares some great insight into how Glasgow are going to trial a blended learning model to help reduce numbers within school.