Talking Engagement

In this episode, I sit down with the team from West End State School — Deputy Principal Amanda Taylor, Engagement Teacher Kate Farrington, Engagement Professional Angela Broughton, and Teacher Aide Casey Stow — to explore how their school is rethinking student engagement from the ground up.

We dive into the creation of their "Connect & Learn" space, a dedicated team and environment designed to support students at risk of disengaging from learning. The team shares how they are working to support the students both academically and in developing their skills and confidence as learners to ensure they become strong, self-regulated learners who are prepared for life.

 Key topics include:

• The different types of learners — from "sponges" to "rocks" to "Teflon kids" — and why a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work
• How "quick starts" and an interactive engagement wall give students practical strategies to self-regulate and reset
• The importance of using humour to make disengagement a safe, normalised topic rather than something to hide
• Why teacher aides are critical partners in this work, and how their deep knowledge of students shapes the approach
• How starting with the students who need the most support can actually give them a head start — turning them into the experts in their classrooms
• The connection between engagement, wellbeing, and teaching and learning, and why it's a culture, not a program

The team leaves us with their top tips for schools just starting out: fail forward, make it co-created and approachable, build a diverse team, and treat it as a living, breathing culture rather than a rigid program.

Want to learn more?

Join us in The Engagement Hub, our online community for educators interested in supporting engagement and empowering learners. You can connect with Amy and many of our guests there. 

Thanks for listening!

Talking Engagement with Principal Anne Grayson

In this episode, Amy talks with Anne Grayson, Principal of Robe Primary School in South Australia's Limestone Coast region. The conversation covers the school's journey in bringing to life their "Learning to learn, learning for life" vision.

How it started: The school was introduced to Amy's research through a network partnership. Staff were immediately inspired, particularly by the distinction between compliance and genuine engagement — recognising that busy-looking classrooms aren't necessarily engaged ones.

The "Learning to Learn, Learning for Life" framework: Anne brought together three ideas — the Engagement Continuum, the Learning Pit, and brain science/trauma-informed practice (Berry Street training) — into a unified school-wide approach. Staff were given autonomy to "bend and fold" the framework to their contexts, which generated strong buy-in with no pushback.

Key insights discussed:

• Behavior issues often decrease when students are genuinely cognitively engaged
• Evidence of impact doesn't have to be numerical — rich qualitative data and student voice are equally valid
• The continuum must be put into learners' hands, not just used as a teacher management tool
• The school uses "notice, name, narrate, and nudge" to build their authentic learning language

Student impact stories: Children as young as 5 are using the language of learning authentically — including one student who independently identified being "in the pit" during learning, chose a strategy to get unstuck, and celebrated moving out of it, all in just seven weeks into the school year.

Top tips for schools:

1. Take the risk — you don't need all the answers to start
2. Give staff the license to experiment without judgment
3. Make it inclusive — visuals and language consistent across every learning space
4. Approach it with curiosity, not a problem-fixing mindset

Want to learn more?

Join us in The Engagement Hub, our online community for educators interested in supporting engagement and empowering learners. You can connect with Amy and many of our guests there. 

Thanks for listening!

Talking Engagement with Valentine Public School

Guests: Dana Fisher (Stage 2 Assistant Principal) and Casey Duck (Year 5 Teacher) from Valentine Public School, NSW

In this episode, Amy talks with Assistant Principal, Dana Fisher, and Year 5 teacher, Casey Duck, about their journey of improving engagement at Valentine Public School. 

Key Topics:

• The Problem: Despite having well-behaved, compliant students, staff recognized that most learners were passive — doing the right things but not truly engaged. Students themselves believed that being quiet and following rules equated to being a good learner.
• The Journey: Beginning in 2021 with a school-wide deep dive, and accelerating in 2023 through instructional rounds with Steph Salazar, the school discovered Amy's engagement continuum.
• The Light Bulb Moment: Seeing engagement as a student-centered continuum shifted teacher mindset from "what am I doing wrong?" to "what could students do to move their engagement up?" This reframed engagement as a shared responsibility.
• Implementation: The school adapted the continuum into child-friendly language, embedded it consistently K-6, and connected it to their reporting system (linking engagement levels to effort marks). Their librarian and Early Stage 1 AP helped ensure consistent language across all settings.
• The Video: Students from the acting ensemble created a video dramatizing each engagement level, which was shared with families via Facebook (600+ views) to help parents understand the continuum alongside school reports.
• Impact: Students now use engagement language organically — setting engagement goals, self-identifying their level, and connecting engagement to learning progress. One student even referenced engagement in her personal learning plan goals.
• Top Tips for Other Schools:
   
  1. Take it slow — introduce gradually, check in with staff regularly 
• Consistency across K-6 — same expectations and language school-wide 
• "Built in, not bolted on" — small, mindful tweaks to daily practice rather than adding extra tasks

• Amy's Story: Amy shared how her interest began in a "responsible thinking classroom" at a secondary school 20+ years ago, leading to her PhD research and creating the engagement continuum based on teacher and student interviews.
• Practical Strategies Discussed: Desk continuums with colored counter check-ins, engagement goal-setting at lesson starts, "going for green/going for gold" linked to participating vs. investing/driving, and role-playing engagement levels.

Want to learn more?

Join us in The Engagement Hub, our online community for educators interested in supporting engagement and empowering learners. You can connect with Amy and many of our guests there. 

Thanks for listening!

In this episode, host Amy Berry talks with Stephanie Salazar, an instructional leadership consultant, coach, and former assistant principal who founded Sanctuaries of Learning. Stephanie works with school leaders and teachers across Australia to strengthen coaching practices, teaching, and student engagement.

Key Discussion Points:

The Engagement Problem Stephanie shares insights from her work facilitating instructional rounds across 25 schools in New South Wales. Despite focusing on various teaching improvements (feedback, learning intentions, questioning), she found that challenges always traced back to a fundamental issue: most schools equated engagement with compliance and behavioral management rather than genuine learning investment.

Discovering the Engagement Continuum After encountering Amy's engagement continuum, Stephanie found it resonated immediately with educators. The framework provides clear, student-friendly language that helps everyone—teachers, students, parents, and leaders—develop a shared understanding of what engagement truly means beyond surface-level compliance behaviors.

Real Impact in Schools The conversation highlights powerful examples from schools using the engagement continuum:

• Faulconbridge Public School increased student belonging from 39% to 71% over three years and won a NSW State Award
• Valentine Public School created a video with their students demonstrating and explaining the engagement continuum for their school community
• Schools developed new definitions of engagement emphasizing student agency, curiosity, and active participation rather than compliance

Practical Implementation Strategies Stephanie emphasizes starting with teachers themselves as learners, asking them to reflect on their own engagement experiences. She advocates for:

• Piloting with willing early adopters who are motivated and can lead the way for others
• Making small tweaks to existing initiatives rather than complete overhauls
• Using creative approaches like drama activities to explore the continuum with staff and students
• Capturing shifts in beliefs and attitudes as evidence of impact

The Teacher-Student Partnership While students need to develop self-regulation skills, teachers play a crucial co-regulatory role. The continuum helps teachers design lessons from students' perspectives and opens conversations about how both teachers and students can work together to enhance engagement.

The episode concludes with Stephanie's top tips: see lessons from students' perspectives, check in genuinely about engagement, and reflect on your own professional engagement as a teacher.

Want to learn more?

Join us in The Engagement Hub, our online community for educators interested in supporting engagement and empowering learners. You can connect with Amy and many of our guests there. 

Thanks for listening!

In this episode, Amy talks with Balmoral State High School about their collaborative approach to transforming engagement in their school. The school focused on their core values of agency, innovation and belonging and used that as inspiration and motivation for change, with students firmly at the center of this transformational journey. From the beginning, students were involved in the discussions and decision-making as valued partners in engagement. Demonstrating their commitment to collaborating with students, the leaders brought along Year 9 student, Peter, to join in the conversation and share his insights and experiences as a student.

In this episode, we will hear from:

Timothy Barraud - Principal

Zena Carusi-Lees - Head of Pedagogy and Performance

Peter Donald - Year 9 student and Junior Secondary Captain

Want to learn more?

Join us in The Engagement Hub, our online community for educators interested in supporting engagement and empowering learners. You can connect with Amy and many of our guests there. 

Thanks for listening!

In this episode, Amy sits down with Chris Pyne, Principal of Faulconbridge Public School to discuss their remarkable journey transforming student engagement and school culture. When Chris arrived at the school four years ago, it was struggling - 60% of their staff had left and student belonging was at a rock-bottom 39%. Students felt disconnected from their school and disengaged from their learning. But through a collaborative approach to building belonging and empowering engagement, the school achieved extraordinary results. Student belonging soared to 81%, and in 2025, the school received the NSW Secretary's Award for Outstanding School Achievement for their work in improving engagement.

What You'll Discover:

The Crisis Point: How staff turnover created rising disengagement and students who were struggling to feel connected to their school and their learning.

The Turning Point: How they discovered the engagement continuum and began making it their own.

The Keys to Success:

• Why connecting new frameworks to existing practices made the difference.
• How building a shared language and vision within their community created lasting change.
• The importance of trusting your staff to drive innovation and empowering them to take ownership.
• Understanding that this is ongoing work that evolves and expands over time.

This conversation offers practical insights and inspiration for school leaders and educators looking to create meaningful, lasting change in student engagement.

Want to learn more?

Join us in The Engagement Hub, our online community for educators interested in supporting engagement and empowering learners. You can connect with Amy and many of our guests there. 

Thanks for listening!

Welcome to the first episode of the Talking Engagement podcast! Host Amy Berry sits down with an inspiring team of educators from Mawson Primary School in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) to explore their transformative two-year journey in reimagining learner engagement.

Mawson Primary is one of only three bilingual schools in the ACT and the only one offering a Mandarin Immersion Program (MIP), where 50% of the curriculum is taught in Mandarin and 50% in English. This unique context adds fascinating layers to their engagement work.

In this episode, you'll hear from:

• Lydia Kepich, Small Group Teacher
• Olivia Leonard, Kindergarten Teacher
• Joanne Hurley, Mandarin Teacher
• Lorah Medley, Year 5/6 Teacher
• Leanne Harrigan, Year 5/6 Executive Teacher and engagement work leader

What You'll Discover:

The team shares how they connected the Continuum of Learner Engagement with their existing Visible Learning practices, creating a powerful scaffold that gave both teachers and students the language and tools to move from knowing what learning should look like to understanding how to get there.

Hear candid stories about:

• How kindergarteners learned to recognize when they've "fallen off the continuum" and developed agency in getting back on track
• A Mandarin teacher's journey shifting from teacher-centered instruction rooted in Chinese educational culture to autonomy-supportive partnership with students
• Small group students using engagement language to accept feedback and drive their own learning, even on the playground
• Senior students annotating their own "wall of engagement" to reflect on how their understanding has evolved over two years

Key Themes:

This conversation goes beyond surface-level strategies to explore the cultural shifts required for meaningful change—the importance of curiosity over compliance, partnership over control, and creating psychologically safe environments where both teachers and students can struggle, learn, and grow.

You'll discover why decoupling behaviour from identity matters, how to connect new initiatives with existing school frameworks without forcing artificial alignment, and why giving teachers time and autonomy to implement change at their own pace leads to deeper, more sustainable impact.

Why This Matters:

With 87% of teachers seeing it as their job to promote driving learning engagement, close to 80% of students saying their teacher talks to them about learning engagement and 90% of students reporting they engage in their learning at school, Mawson's story offers practical wisdom for any school seeking to move beyond compliance-based approaches toward genuine learner agency and partnership.

Whether you're just beginning your engagement journey or looking to deepen existing work, this episode provides honest insights, practical examples, and inspiration from educators who are living this work every day

Want to learn more?

Join us in The Engagement Hub, our online community for educators interested in supporting engagement and empowering learners. You can connect with Amy and many of our guests there. 

Thanks for listening!