Teach, Tech, Lead

Gus and I had the pleasure of chatting to Ashleigh Martin, the Principal of Caulfield Grammar School. He is widely recognized for his forward-thinking approach to education, with a strong focus on innovation, student wellbeing, and preparing young people for a rapidly changing world. Under his leadership, the school has continued to evolve as a leading independent school, embracing new models of learning while staying grounded in strong community values. He brings a thoughtful and future-focused perspective on what great education can and should look like today, and we're very excited to explore that with him in this conversation. Hope you enjoy it!

Brent Sheffield is a high school English teacher with a decade of experience driving real, measurable student growth in a Title 1 school. Brent focusses on simplifying the practices that actually move the needle - things like clear explanations, spaced retrieval, and consistent feedback. 

Brent is a graduate of Florida’s High Impact Teacher Corps and has served as an English Department Chair, leading curriculum and teacher development through significant change. Brent also writes and speaks about a philosophy he calls “Ugly Learning”—the idea that real learning is often messy, uncomfortable, and driven by results, not appearances. 

Gus and I really enjoyed our conversation with Brent - and we are sure you will to!

What is the most effective way to give feedback to students so that they actually take it on board and action it? Are you spending countless hours marking student work only to have them look at the mark and shove it to the bottom of their bag? In this, our 9th one-pager, Gus and I discuss the process of giving feedback to students. Now notice I didn’t say CORRECTIONS, nor did I say MARKS, though marks do have a role to play.

Hope you enjoy it!

#Education #Pedagogy #Teaching #TeachTechLeadPodcast #Q4T #EducationalLeadership 

The link to the One Pager can be found here:

What does it really mean to teach students to think for themselves?

In our latest podcast episode, we speak with Dr Merinda Bermingham, whose PhD research in critical thinking — particularly teacher understanding of critical thinking — sits at the heart of her work as an educator. Merinda is driven by a powerful purpose: helping students live empowered, respectful, and innovative lives shaped by moral and intellectual integrity.

She describes the most rewarding moments of teaching as those when students realise they are capable of reading for meaning, thinking independently, and navigating a world filled with competing ideas and agendas. At the centre of her work is a belief that true education is essential not just for individual success, but for the health of a democracy.

This is a thoughtful and deeply important conversation about critical thinking, education, and the kind of citizens our classrooms help shape. Hope you enjoy it!

#TeachTechLeadPodcast #EducationalLeadership  

@Kate Stockmans is an English and Drama educator and the founder of CommuniKaters, with over a decade of teaching experience in international contexts including the UK, Australia, Nepal and Uganda. Trained in dialogic teaching principles, she is passionate about the role communication plays in fostering learning, supporting connection and building empathy between students, educators and parents. Hope you enjoy it!

#TeachTechLeadPodcast #TeacherTips #EducationalLeadership  

Amy Green is a keynote speaker, author and podcast host who, through her consultancy work, explores what it really means to live and work well. After starting in education, she saw how outdated ideas about productivity were leaving people overwhelmed - prompting a bigger question: what if the problem isn’t resilience, but how we design work? Amy helps leaders rethink productivity culture and build more sustainable ways of working. She’s the author of several books, including The Wellness Paradox (available soon) which examines how the pursuit of success may be driving burnout. You learn more about Amy at her website: https://thewellnessstrategy.com.au/ Hope you enjoy the episode!

Gus and I recently chatted to Sean Miller, a secondary school leader and educator who is passionate about how schools can use AI ethically and creatively. It was a great discussion about how AI is impacting schools and the responsibility we have to provide guardrails and guidance to students about using it. Hope you enjoy it!

#TeachTechLeadPodcast #EdTech #AIinEducation #DigitalLearning 

#EducationalLeadership  

Gus and I recently had the pleasure of talking to Professor Glenn Savage, a policy sociologist and Professor of Education Futures at Melbourne University’s Faculty of Education. Our discussion covered a wide range of topics from change management, retaining and attracting teachers to the profession, the challenges facing schools and how leaders can make positive and effective change. Hope you enjoy it!  #TeachTechLeadPodcast  #EducationalLeadership #Teaching 

In this episode of the Teach, Tech, Lead podcast, Gus and I spoke to Damir Odobasic - an award-winning Ed Innovator, conference presenter and speaker about how students think, remember and transfer knowledge. In what ways are digital devices and technologies disrupting or changing learning? Is AI any different? Damir has developed a simple (yet robust) Lesson Intelligence Framework, which which discuss in detail. Hope you enjoy it!

Ellen Moffat is a Deputy Principal, leader and educator who has held a variety of curriculum and pastoral roles in her career. She was on The Educator's Hot List in 2018 and their Rising Stars list in 2023 as well as being an Excellence Awardee at the 2021 Australian Education Awards. What was clear to both Gus and myself in our conversation, was how passionate Ellen is about effective pedagogy, the power of relationships in the classroom and the impact of effective leadership. Hope you enjoy the conversation!