Talking Teaching
Talking Teaching is a podcast series for and about teachers. We invite you to be part of a lively conversation about effective classroom practice and the latest in educational thinking.
Join our host, Dr Sophie Specjal, as we share interviews and stories from teachers, principals and leading thinkers across Australia and explore the most pressing topics in education.
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Episode #3 // Learning from her: celebrating indigenous women in education
We delve into the stories of three remarkable Indigenous women significantly impacting the educational landscape across Australia. From overcoming challenges to integrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and knowledges into curriculums, our guests A/Prof Melitta Hogarth, Rosie Paine and Kylie Captain provide valuable lessons for anyone passionate about education.
Listeners gain insights into their families, experiences and the transformative work they are doing in their communities, highlighting the importance of Indigenous voices in shaping educational policies, practices, and outcomes.
Episode #2 // AI in the classroom: friend or foe?
We de-mystify the question; is AI in the classroom a friend or a foe? As ChatGPT and DALL-E become mainstream, warnings in the media about this new technology are growing, including its impact on education and assessment. But AI also offers exciting opportunities for teachers and students.
Helping us explore this evolving conundrum and share the inspiring possibilities of AI and tips on how teachers can start exploring new tech in their classrooms is renowned educator and researcher in the impact of globalisation and technology on education, Professor Yong Zhao, as well as expert in self-regulation and classroom-based assessment, Professor Therese Hopfenbeck, and expert in digital learning and assessment technology, Lauren Sayer.
Episode #1 // It's not a choice: the real issues behind school 'refusal'
We unravel the complex issues around school attendance. Why do kids refuse to go to school? What approaches work to support students going back to school? How do we support parents and teachers through this process?
We speak with A/Prof Lisa McKay Brown and A/Prof Glenn Melvin who share research and tools for schools. Plus, discover practical insights from teachers at Travencore School, Katie Archibald and Rebecca Plunkett on how they are improving school attendances.
The views expressed in this podcast series are those of presenters and guests and are not necessarily endorsed by the University of Melbourne.
Producers: Genevieve Siggins and Podcast Services Australia
Episode #1 // The teacher crisis - real or imagined
In this episode of Talking Teaching, Professor Jim Watterston, Dean of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education (MGSE), delves into the details of Australia's teacher crisis. How does the situation differ in rural and urban areas? Is teacher education a problem? Why can't we fast-track people from other jobs into teaching? Why are teachers leaving the profession at a crisis level? What are some solutions for the teaching profession?
The views expressed in this podcast series are those of presenters and guests and are not necessarily endorsed by the University of Melbourne.
Episode #1 // Mental health in primary schools
In this episode of Talking Teaching, Professor Jim Watterston, Dean of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education (MGSE), explores the Mental Health in Primary Schools program (MHiPS) with Professor Frank Oberklaid OAM and Dr Georgia Dawson.
The Murdoch Children's Research Institute's Centre for Community Child Health, as well as partners from the MGSE and the Victorian Department of Education are supporting this new program, which aims to address mental health problems in children before they enter adolescence. Providing support, education, and social and emotional learning skills in primary school may reduce the prevalence of mental health problems in high school and beyond.
Further reading
The views expressed in this podcast series are those of presenters and guests and are not necessarily endorsed by the University of Melbourne.
Episode #4 // New assessments: Acknowledging student success
A new research project, New Metrics for Success, works with schools across Australia to develop new ways of assessing school students. These new ways assess the general capabilities and skills of students including communication, collaboration, and critical and creative thinking. By assessing these capabilities we broaden our understanding of students’ abilities and expand the opportunities for students to achieve their work and study ambitions.
Professor Jim Watterston, Dean of the Melbourne School of Education, discusses the development of these new assessment tools with Professor Sandra Milligan, Director of the Assessment Research Centre at the University of Melbourne. He also speaks to the Principal of the Hunter Sports High School in NSW, whose school is participating in the New Metrics research project, about what these new assessments look like on the ground in a school.
Episode #3 // Gen X, Y & Z: facing the challenges of the 21st century
In this episode of Talking Teaching, Professor Jim Watterston, Dean of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, and Professor Johanna Wyn discuss the differences and commonalities between the generations revealed by the longitudinal study Life Patterns. This study, which began in the early 1990s, has tracked and documented the transitions of young people across education, work, wellbeing, relationships and family life. Now, with a new Australian Research Council grant, a cohort of Gen Z will join the study.
Episode #2 // COVID-19 - catalyst for change or a retreat to the past?
In this episode of Talking Teaching, Professor Jim Watterston, Dean of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, and Professor Yong Zhao discuss the education system post-COVID-19 and question whether the role of education should be more than simply preparing students for the workforce. Yong Zhao is Professor of Educational Leadership at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and Foundation Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas School of Education.
Episode #1 // Decolonising the English curriculum
In this episode of Talking Teaching, the University of Melbourne’s Larissa McLean Davies – an Associate Professor in Languages and Literacy Education – hosts a panel discussion on the importance of reading in our lives, and how to make the teaching of English more inclusive, particularly in terms of decolonising the curriculum.
The views expressed in this podcast series are those of presenters and guests and are not necessarily endorsed by the University of Melbourne.
Episode #5 // The COVID lessons: John Hattie reflects
Laureate Professor John Hattie reflects on the effect of COVID-19 on the education system examining what we should keep from what he calls the ‘great experiment’. Speaking to Talking Teaching on the eve of his retirement from the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, John stresses the need to focus on the existing expertise we have in education and the need to upscale success.
Episode #4 // The kids are alright but is the education system?
On this episode of Talking Teaching Kamilaroi woman, Dr Melitta Hogarth, the Assistant Dean, Indigenous at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, discusses the challenges facing the education sector in building an inclusive school culture and environment for Indigenous students in Australia. To achieve this, she says, we need to flip the narrative and address the significant gap in non-Indigenous Australians’ understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, cultures, knowledges and peoples. We also speak to Josh Cubillo, a Larrakia man educated in the Darwin area, who is now pursuing his dream of improving the knowledge of non-Indigenous teachers and their understanding of the concept of country.
Episode #3 // Dealing with trauma: schools on the frontline
In a traumatic year of bushfires and a global pandemic young people in Australia have faced increasing uncertainty and anxiety. How do schools support their students through these times and how can they help them deal with the trauma to ensure that they thrive? On this episode of Talking Teaching Professor Helen Cahill, a leading innovator in school-based wellbeing interventions, discusses the ways that social and emotional learning programs in schools can assist young people to deal with traumatic situations and mitigate the effects of trauma, before they happen, if already implemented in schools.
Episode #2 // Teaching through the pandemic: lessons learned in and out of school
Teachers, students, parents and entire school communities have been through a tumultuous time having been forced to switch schooling from the classroom to remote learning and back again in the space of a few months. So, what’s worked, what didn’t and what are schools going to take with them into the future? On this episode of Talking Teaching two leaders of two very different schools share their insights. Plus we speak with Professor Janet Clinton, who was commissioned by the Australian Government to report on ‘Supporting vulnerable children in the face of a pandemic’, about the potential effect COVID-19 may have on vulnerable students.
Episode #1 // Resilience and recovery: bushfires and COVID-19
A global pandemic and devastating bushfires – these major events are going to affect people's lives and wellbeing for a long time. Their ramifications are forcing people to deal with uncertainty, stress and loss. On this episode of Talking Teaching: Professor Lindsay Oades, Director of the Centre for Positive Psychology at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, tells us how we can find resilience in a pandemic – and we meet the Principal of Clifton Creek Primary School, Sue Paul, who’s rebuilding her school and community after it was destroyed by bushfire.
The views expressed in this podcast series are those of presenters and guests and are not necessarily endorsed by the University of Melbourne.
Episode #9 // Teaching Indigenous history in schools and the rundown on NAPLAN
In this final edition of Talking Teaching for this year Maxine McKew talks to David de Carvalho about the national NAPLAN picture and what it is really telling us. The ACARA chief regrets that NAPLAN is too often seen as the sole measure of student achievement and that national testing needs to be augmented by more granular assessment.
And we hear from Professor Marcia Langton about the University of Melbourne’s new schools’ resource material for the teaching of indigenous history. Professor Langton explains how a new generation of students is curious for truth telling about a culture that we know is 65,000 years old.
Episode #8 // The need for policy changes in the VET sector
The Prime Minister says that TAFE is as good as university and wants to encourage young Australians to consider taking up a trade. But how fit for purpose is the sector? After a troubled recent history of dodgy providers and high upfront fees, enrolments are plummeting. Can this be reversed? In this edition of Talking Teaching Professor John Polesel and Professor Peter Noonan consider the policy changes needed to alter the perception that VET is a second class option.
Episode #7 // Australian schooling and teaching 21st century skills
Emeritus Professor Barry McGaw has spent a lifetime advocating for greater equity in Australia schooling. In this interview with Kerry Elliott he considers recent funding policy failures and regrets the way Australian schooling has become so segmented and stratified. The founding chair of ACARA, Barry McGaw also makes some important distinctions about the teaching of 21st century skills, emphasising the continuing importance of disciplinary knowledge. A compelling interview with one of Australia’s top educators.
Episode #6 // Positive Psychology: Learning the skills and capabilities for wellbeing
The sixth International Congress for Positive Psychology was held recently in Melbourne with the University of Melbourne as the main partner. Hundreds of experts from across the globe described their approach to maximising wellbeing, particularly among young people. Talking Teaching was there and interviewed David Kolpak from St Peter’s College in Adelaide where wellbeing programmes are a standard part of the curriculum. In this episode you’ll also hear where the science of Positive Psychology is taking us with Professor Lindsay Oades, Director of the Centre for Positive Psychology at MGSE.
Episode #5 // Talking Teaching considers the growing national momentum for pre-school for three year old children
In this episode Maxine McKew talks with experts Trish Eadie and Deb Brennan about the multiple benefits of quality early learning programmes for young children. In particular they consider the growing national momentum for pre-school for three year old children, a policy already embraced by Victoria. The discussion also analyses the success and continuing challenges highlighted in the recent national review of ECE, Lifting our Game.
We also visit Gowrie Clare Court in Yarraville Melbourne to hear what early learning teachers say.
Episode #4 // What the rest of the world is noticing about our most effective teachers
What is it the rest of the world is noticing about Australia’s teachers? Ranked as one of the world’s top ten teachers, Rooty Hill humanities teacher Yasodai Selvakumaran talks to Talking Teaching about international interest in the way we engage students in complex problem solving.
And principal turned bureaucrat Bruce Armstrong argues that teachers and policy makers need to be less suspicious of each other. He also says we need a sense of national urgency around attracting and retaining highly capable professionals in teaching.
Episode #3 // Teaching children reading
In this episode of Talking Teaching Kerry Elliott talks to David Hornsby about the contentious issue of how we teach reading to young students. Why can’t we agree on the fundamentals and insist on comprehensive English language training for teachers? Listen to David Hornsby's common sense approach.
David Hornsby has a fifty year background as an educator. He has been a teacher, and a university lecturer at La Trobe, RMIT and University of Melbourne. He is one of our most popular presenters to our University of Melbourne’s Network of Schools (UMNOS).
Episode #2 // A challenging look at teaching teachers
In this episode of Talking Teaching writer and university lecturer Tegan Bennett Daylight discusses what she sees as declining standards and poor quality reading skills in some students attending universities. She identifies the dilemma of how to instil a love of reading in children from teachers who are struggling themselves. A provocative must- listen interview hosted by Maxine McKew.
Episode #1 // How educators can boost children's interest in reading
Talking Teaching’s first episode for 2019 features interviews with Larissa McLean Davies and Penny Jones. From different perspectives they both talk about how educators can boost student interest in reading.
Larissa McLean Davies is Assoc Dean Teaching and Learning at The Melbourne Graduate School of Education. She is on a mission to boost the teaching of a diverse range of quality Australian texts in our schools. She talks to Maxine McKew about a range of programmes she is developing which will help English teachers develop appropriate resourcing for the teaching of Australian literature.
As well Talking Teaching looks at the above average reading success of a small Victorian regional school, Cobram Secondary. Lead teacher Penny Jones describes the life changing strategies that have seen secondary students rediscover the joy of reading. Cobram Secondary is a member of MGSE’s Network of Schools.
The views expressed in this podcast series are those of presenters and guests and are not necessarily endorsed by the University of Melbourne.
Tune in to our Talking Teaching podcast as we welcome an illustrious guest list to take up some of the most pressing topics in education and explore the latest in educational research for teachers, leaders and education systems.
Episode #7 // Glyn Davis and the Joys of Teaching
In this episode of Talking Teaching Maxine McKew talks with Professor Glyn Davis who has just completed fourteen years as Vice Chancellor of the University of Melbourne. It was one of Glyn’s high school teachers who first sat him down and showed him how to go about pursuing a university education. Glyn’s own reflections on the joy of teaching, the challenges of leadership, and students’ use of technology make for absorbing listening. So sit back and enjoy this interview with one of Australia’s most significant educational leaders.
Episode #6 // What does it take to be a good principal?
In this episode of Talking Teaching Stephen Dinham and John Goh talk to Kerry Elliott about the qualities and skills needed to be an effective instructional leader. Both agree that central to the job is an ability to facilitate teaching and learning.John Goh has spent fourteen years at Merrylands East Public School in Sydney and his leadership skills have been recognised in multiple ways, most recently with the awarding of the Commonwealth Bank prize for teaching excellence.
Emeritus Professor Stephen Dinham led the development of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education’s Master of Instructional Leadership (MIL). His most recent work, the book I'm the Principal. Principal learning, action, influence and identity contains dozens of first-hand accounts of the joys and complexities of the job.
Kerry Elliott has lectured in the MIL programme and is co-author of I'm the Principal with Stephen Dinham, Louisa Rennie and Helen Stokes. The book is published through the Australian Council of Educational Research.
Episode #5 // Jo Boaler, Michaela Epstein and Michelle Fry on Maths Education, and the Saudi Arabian education reforms
In this month’s Talking Teaching, Sophie Murphy interviews Stanford University’s Jo Boaler. Named by the BBC as one of the eight most influential people in her field, Boaler argues that the latest research in neuroscience explains what she has always argued – that anyone can do maths.
Next up, Kerry Elliott talks to Michaela Epstein, the President of the Mathematical Association of Victoria and Head of Learning for Maths Pathway. We hear from Michaela and from Redcliffe State High School’s Michelle Fry about how this new approach to on-line learning is engaging students and producing impressive results.
Talking Teaching also features the extraordinary partnership between the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and Saudi Arabia. The Middle East kingdom is determined to radically reform its entire school system, from curriculum, to assessment to teacher training. It’s come to Melbourne to show them the way.
Episode #4 // Gonski 2.0
Talking Teaching this week dives into a lively discussion about the value and messages contained in Gonski 2.0 – Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools.
Episode #3 // Katherine Henderson, Dr Geoff Masters and David Baker
This month Talking Teaching looks at the power of school networks. In particular we talk to leaders from across the school sector who explain the value of coming together to exchange ideas at the University of Melbourne. University of Melbourne Network of Schools (UMNOS) founder Katherine Henderson is also featured and explains the link between this kind of collaboration and a lift in overall student achievement.
In addition, Talking Teaching interviews Dr Geoff Masters, CEO of the Australian Council for Education Research, who argues its time to move away from a structure whereby students are organised according to age or year level, to one based on the achievement of proficiencies. Dr Masters is now leading a thorough review of the NSW school system to ensure that it is compatible with the principles enshrined in the latest Gonski report.
Finally, David Baker tells Sophie Murphy, how his school, Gippsland Grammar, is already moving towards this approach and interrogating ways to move students from surface to deep learning.
Episode #2 // Eddie Woo
Episode two of Talking Teaching features a lengthy interview with the maths teacher behind Woo Tube, the dynamic communicator Eddie Woo. With an audience in the hundreds of thousands that stretches way beyond his home school of Cherrybrook High in Sydney, Eddie has a down-to earth approach to technology, seeing it merely as an amplifier. Central to his high impact teaching is a well developed methodology and a talent for hooking his students with a great story. Importantly, he has a lot to say about how we need to change the mindset of those students who say, 'I can't do maths'.
Episode #1 // John Hattie, Peggy Brookins, HALTS teachers, Noel Creece and Wesley Imms
In this episode of Talking Teaching we focus on the national teaching standards that are validated by the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). In particular AITSL's chair Professor John Hattie looks at the way Highly Accomplished teachers are using their networks to spread the word about high-impact teaching practice. We also hear from his U.S. counterpart Peggy Brookins who describes the way national standards apply across the American states.
In a separate story, we take a look at South Melbourne Primary School, Victoria's first public vertical school. The University of Melbourne's Associate Professor Wesley Imms says that re-thinking the design of learning spaces is a proven way to boost student interest.
The views expressed in this podcast series are those of presenters and guests and are not necessarily endorsed by the University of Melbourne.
Talking Teaching recorded and mixed by Gavin Nebauer at The Horwood Recording Studio, University of Melbourne. Theme music by Gavin Nebauer.