Reading Time: 2 minutesWhy hasn’t education changed in two centuries?

Our 29th guest on the Teacher Toolkit podcast is Reggie Grant, Assistant Professor of Journalism at Tallahassee Community College in Florida. Prior to this he taught in High Schools for 10+ years.

Podcast Summary

In this episode, you can hear Reggie and Teacher Toolkit founder, Ross McGill:

* discuss Reggie’s frustrations about how little education has changed in the last two centuries

* talk about when Ross and Reggie first met – on a bus!

* describe the state of education in Florida and how it could be improved

* offer an alternative to standardised testing

* explore why friendship amongst colleagues is so important

* reveal what book Reggie is reading.

Remember, our podcast is available on iTunes!

Education has changed so little in the last several hundred years.
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Project-Based Learning

In a follow-up conversation with Reggie, we asked: “Why is project-based learning so important?”

“I think that teaching students individual subjects like Mathematics and English and Science, compartmentalised in different rooms in a way that shows no obvious relationships between them, is beyond madness. Everything relates to everything. We should be developing meaningful projects that teach students how all of these subjects relate to each other, while providing them with an opportunity to problem solve and exercise their creativity by creating products that actually mean something. We should be doing this to make our students better citizens, emphasising empathy for others, so they understand the importance of making the world a better place for all of us.

He went on to explain that all his classroom-based projects help develop four skills:

* Problem solving

* Communication

* Teamwork

* Creativity

You can follow Reggie on Twitter and read his blog Media 4 Literacy. In particular, take a read of the post “Distracted Driving Project Helped Make My Students Better Citizens” and see if you feel inspired to run a similar project in your school.

Reading Time: 1 minuteHow can you transition into academic teaching?

Our 17th interview for the 100 Women Series, is with Jenny Fogarty at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine where she works as Assistant Professor in Teaching and Learning.

Podcast Summary

In this episode, you can hear Jenny and Teacher Toolkit founder, Ross McGill:

* describe what a typical day is like working in the largest school of public health in the UK

* discuss Jenny’s path to academia

* touch on the career achievements Jenny is most proud of

* explore why Jenny considers herself a “teacher whisperer”

* choose the one thing Jenny would like to see changed in education

* explore the advice Jenny has for young girls and what she wants for women in the next 100 years.

Remember, our podcast is available on iTunes!

Aggressive academisation is not good for the local community.
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Academic Teaching

In a follow-up conversation with Jenny, we asked: “What advice would you give to teachers wanting to move into academic education?”

“Find an element of your practice that you are curious about and develop your research question around that. Academia really values lots of the skills you develop in the classroom and in the right institution, you can grow and progress in ways that feel authentic to your teaching roots.”

You can follow Jenny on Twitter and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Reading Time: 1 minuteWhy don’t we allow pupils to lead their own education?

Our 27th guest on the Teacher Toolkit podcast is Professor Stephen Heppell. Stephen is a former teacher and currently holds a chair at Camilo José Cela University in Madrid for learning innovation.

Podcast summary

In this episode, you can hear Stephen and Teacher Toolkit editor, Holly Gardner:

* discuss what it’s like to talk on the main stage at the BETT show

* talk about how forgettable education ministers are

* reminisce about how Stephen came to set up an education degree

* explain why he wants to see children engaged and consulted more in education

* discuss Stephen’s child-focused approach to teachers reducing their workload.

Remember, our podcast is available on iTunes!

Children have to be leading the charge, not jogging alongside us.
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You can find out more information about Stephen on his website or follow him on Twitter.

Reading Time: 2 minutesIs it time we re-wrote the curriculum from scratch?

Our 16th interview for the 100 Women Series is with Natasha Devon MBE, at Pan MacMillan’s offices in Kings Cross. Natasha works with 14-18 year olds in secondary schools across the UK, conducting focus groups around what is missing from the students’ PSHE curriculum and creating lesson plans on the topics to then deliver at their schools.

In this episode, you can hear Natasha and Teacher Toolkit founder, Ross McGill:

* detail Natasha’s education and the scenic route she took to teaching

* touch on how writing about mental health can be detrimental to one’s own mental health

* marvel at how many plates Natasha manages to keep spinning in her work and creative life

* discuss a huge change of approach Natasha wants to see in the curriculum

* reveal the personal achievements Natasha is most proud of

* explain the advice Natasha has for young girls and what she wants for women in the future

Remember, our podcast is now available on iTunes! Subscribe here now.

And one more thing from Natasha…

As a follow up to the conversation Ross had with Natasha, we asked her the following question:

What strategies would you recommend to teachers wanting to promote positive body image?

* Role model positive body image. Children mimic what they hear from adults and over time, they repeat it so much they start to believe it’s true. They also take on repeated cultural norms like ‘the perfect body is a size 10’ subconsciously. So be wary of what you say around young people and try to behave like a person who loves their body, knowing they will copy.

* The Girlguiding National Attitudes Survey revealed girls as young as six think the world values them more for their looks than for their achievements or character. This can be counterbalanced to an extent by looking at what we praise them for. I challenge schools and families to a ‘compliment swap’ – instead of telling girls they look pretty, or are cute, we should praise them when they are brave, clever, insightful, funny or kind. If we can extend this to adults it can also play into tip one above, as girls don’t hear adults telling each other they’ve lost weight or ‘look well’ continuously.

You can follow Natasha on Twitter and find out more about her on her website.

Reading Time: 2 minutesHow can you plan to manage workload efficiently this new term?

Our 25th guest on the Teacher Toolkit podcast – and the first of the new school year! – is Jon Tait, a Deputy Head Teacher and Director of Acklam Grange Teaching and Secondary School in Middlesbrough. He is a trained P.E teacher and has worked at the school for nearly four years.

Jon is responsible for teacher learning, professional development and previously for behaviour and pastoral care.

In this episode, you can hear Jon and Teacher Toolkit editor, Holly Gardner:

* Look back on the teachers that influenced Jon’s career

* Jon details his frustration with constant change in education policies

* Explore the use of planning to help manage teacher workload

* Reveal what book Jon is reading and why

* Detail the projects that Jon is working on and the way in they’re ran

Remember! As well as listening on Soundcloud, it’s also available on iTunes! Subscribe here now.

Jon’s tip for the new term

The podcast was recorded at the BETT show last year, but last week Holly caught up with Jon to ask him:

What is your one key piece of advice for teachers new to leadership this school year?

My advice for a new senior leader would be:

Establish your presence around the school. Walk the corridors, pop into classrooms, meet and greet students and parents at the gate, attend school events – whatever you can. Get to know the people in your learning community. Everyone from staff, governors, students, parents and the local residents. Let them know that you care.

You can find out more about Jon by following him on Twitter or reading his blog. Also – don’t miss his brand new book: Bloomsbury CPD Library: Senior Leadership which is out now and is packed full of individual CPD ideas and session plans for training others.

Reading Time: 1 minuteIs progress for everyone being made?

Our 14th interview for the 100 women series is with Alison Kriel. Alison is an ex-headteacher, now working part-time as a CEO of Amaya Trust and is developing her own Social Media platform for education.

In this episode, you can hear Alison and Teacher Toolkit founder, Ross McGill:

* look back on the shared and personal achievements Alison is most proud of

* expand on why tick box culture reduces development opportunities in education

* talk about the main challenges Alison has faced in her career as a headteacher

* examine the philosophy and purpose of schools

* touch on what Alison would like to see improve for women in the next 100 years

* find out what Alison would have been if she hadn’t become a teacher

 

You can follow Alison on Twitter @AlisonKriel and find out more information about her on her website here.

Reading Time: 1 minuteWhat is best practice, and is teaching the best job in the world?

Our 23rd guest is Vic Goddard, the head teacher of Passmores Academy in Harlow, Essex. Vic has been a head teacher for 9 years.

In this episode, you can hear Vic and Ross McGill:

* reminisce about Vic’s school days and highlight the best qualities of his teachers

* explain why the accountability structure within education needs to change

* talk about the best ways teachers and schools can reduce workload

* tell us what Vic’s reading at the moment

* talk about new practices Vic is trialling with his staff.

 

You can follow Vic on Twitter here and find out more about his book The Best Job in The World here.

Reading Time: 1 minuteWhat are your views on the key education provocations?

Our 22nd guest is Tom Rogers and Darren and Naomi. Ross Morrison McGill has 10 education provocations and he’s keen to put them to teachers and hear their responses.

In this episode, you can hear Ross ask Tom, Darren and Naomi questions on controversial topics in the education landscape, and discuss:

* If schools should be judged on much broader sets of outcomes

* Whether voices of family, parents and students should be central to the process of creating education policy

* Why students who don’t want to attend university shouldn’t be viewed as inadequate

* What the alternatives are to high-stakes testing

* The dangers of teaching only equipping kids with the ability to remember snippets of knowledge for an exam

* How Ross finds the time to write all his blogs and what drives him

You can find all of this week’s interviewees on Twitter: Tom @rogershistory, Darren @KEYSschool and Naomi @RobertsNiomi

Reading Time: 1 minuteHow can we encourage girls to play traditionally male dominated sports?

Our 12th and 13th interview for the 100 Women series is with Daisy Gardner and Becky Kenneally, teachers at The Piggott School. Becky is a PE teacher, Head of Year 9 and shares the role as head of Key Stage 3. Daisy Gardner is also a PE teacher and Head of Year 7.

In this episode, you can hear Becky, Daisy and Teacher Toolkit editor, Holly Gardner:

* express the value of having passionate sportspeople teaching young girls

* humbly tell of their sporting accolades and career highlights

* describe the challenges they faced playing male dominated sports and the behaviour of young boys in class

* highlight the importance of delegation, in managing your own time in a leadership role

* share their behaviour management tips

* discuss how bonding with students outside of class can reduce behavioural issues in students

* name their 4 female role models and why they are such positive influences on female body image.

Holly says: “This podcast is full of practical tips and advice – from behaviour management, workload, managing a middle leadership role and how to be a strong woman! Don’t miss it!”

 

You can follow Daisy on Twitter here and Becky on Twitter here.

Reading Time: 1 minuteHow can we get girls involved in Cyber Security?

Our 11th interview for the 100 Women series is Patranjali Bhattacharya, head of Computer Science at the Piggot School. Before taking up teaching, Pat was a software developer for many years.

In this episode, you can hear Pat and Teacher Toolkit editor, Holly Gardner:

* delight at Pat’s female GCSE students winning a national Cyber Security competition

* dissect how the mentalities of society affect girls choosing to pursue STEM careers

* address the ways in which Pat and the Piggot School champion Computer Science for young girls

* Pat explains the main challenges that she and teachers like her face

* talk about how surreal it was doing an interview with the BBC.

 

You can find out more about the Cyber Security competition Pat’s students won here. You can also watch their interview on BBC news below, where the girls talk about what the competition entailed and the very exciting invitation they received from Buckingham Palace!