Kulvarn Atwal is the headteacher - or rather, head learning leader - of two schools in Essex, and the author of The Thinking School. Kulvarn completed his doctorate in 2016, His thesis focuses on the factors that impact upon teacher engagement in professional learning activities, with a particular focus on action research - a topic close to my heart that we barely even touch upon in this conversation. His research draws on theories of workplace learning to provide a practical, powerful, proven framework for school improvement. His ideas are now being used by schools throughout the UK and Europe. This is a fascinating conversation in which we discuss why we should be more positive about our education system, and recognise how effective and inclusive it is; why we need to rethink how we capture and evaluate and celebrate the achievements of young people; and how to transform a school by focusing on the professional learning and development of teachers.

Links to interesting stuff we talk about:

BOOK: The Thinking School, by Kulvarn Atwal: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-thinking-school-developing-a-dynamic-learning-community/9781912906024

RESEARCH ARTICLE: What Makes a School a Learning Organisation?, by Kools & Stoll (2016, OECD Working Paper): https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/5jlwm62b3bvh-en.pdf

BOOK: The Fifth Discipline, by Peter Senge: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-fifth-discipline-the-art-and-practice-of-the-learning-organization-second-edition/9781905211203

BOOK: Situated Learning, by Jean Lave & Etienne Wenger: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZVogAwAAQBAJ

The Rethinking Education podcast is hosted and produced by Dr James Mannion. You can contact him at rethinking-ed.org/contact, or via @RethinkingJames on Twitter.