Inside Education - a podcast for educators interested in teaching

My guest on this podcast is Professor Devin Kearns from North Carolina State University at Raleigh. He was in Ireland for the inaugural Right to Read conference , which was held in Dublin on Saturday, 21 March 2026. Among the points we discussed in the podcast were the following:  What happens in the brain (generally and simplistically) when a competent reader in first, second or third class reads...

My guest on this podcast is Pamela Snow , University Distinguished Professor from La Trobe University in Australia. She was in Ireland for the inaugural Right to Read conference , which was held in Dublin on Saturday, 21 March 2026.  Among the topics discussed were: Why functional literacy is insufficient for full civic engagement What it means to be literate Students from some groups disproportio...

My guest on this podcast is Dr. Conall Ó Breacháin from the School of Language, Literacy and Early Childhood Education in Dublin City University . Among the topics we discuss in this episode are:  Differences between 1999 language curricula and the 2016 language curriculum in Ireland (e.g. focus on plurilingualism and the transfer of skills is a noticeable difference in emphasis in the redeveloped...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. My guest on the podcast today is my colleague, Dr. Claire Dunne , from the Marino Institute of Education . Among the topics we discussed were: Why learning another language gives you another window on the world. Why literacy is crucial for those who speak minoritised languages so that they can have widespread access to texts in the language. Why should peopl...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's episode, we delve into the history of Irish education in the 1800s to learn about an ambitious attempt to educate teachers by co-locating theory and practice. We look at the rise and fall of model schools as a means of teacher training. My guest is retired primary school teacher and principal, Dr. Joe Doyle who recently published Model Schools...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's podcast I speak to Professor Sonia Cabell who is an associate professor of Reading Education in the School of Teacher Education and the Florida Center for Reading Research at Florida State University . She was a keynote speaker at the Literacy Association of Ireland conference on 9 November 2024. Among the topics we discussed are the following...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. This week on the podcast I speak again to Dr. Siobhán Keenan Fitzgerald whose book Listen: How Child and Student Voice Can Change the World has just been published by Routledge. Among the topics we discussed are: Among the topics were discussed were: Connecting to a network of Changemaker schools Getting interested in outdoor education inspired by a colleagu...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's programme I am delighted to be joined by Dr. Patrick Burke from Dublin City University's School of Language, Literacy and Early Childhood Education. Among the topics discussed were: Differences between the primary school he attended and the school where he began his teaching career. How he became interested in the teaching of literacy. Being a...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's podcast my guest is Perry Share, who is Head of Student Success at Atlantic Technological University. Among the topics we discuss are: The impact of taking a module with Hilary Tovey on rural sociology and a module with Brian Torode and Barbara Bradby on language, discourse and French theory. Perry’s belief that artificial intelligence is a ca...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. The format of this podcast differs a bit from the usual one in that I am joined by my colleague in Marino Institute of Education , Dr. Gene Mehigan to discuss a book that influenced him on his journey as a teacher and teacher educator. The Book is The Master by Bryan MacMahon , published by Poolbeg Press in 1992. Among the topics we discuss are the following...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. In this episode I interview Hugh Catts from the Florida State University about reading comprehension, dyslexia and more. People interviewed on previous Inside Education podcasts are mentioned in this episode: Jerome Kagan , Daniel T. Willingham and Tim Shanahan . Among the topics raised on the podcast are: How his interest in educational research grew from p...

On this week's podcast I speak to Professor Etta Hollins from the University of Missouri-Kansas City about teacher education and the role of the teacher. Among the topics we discussed are: Why observation is key to good teaching practice and learning to teach The need to be observing, documenting and analysing classroom practice from early in a student teacher’s course How the influence of theoris...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney On this podcast I spoke to Professor Mark Windschitl from the University of Washington about teaching science and especially the science of climate change. As usual with these podcasts we covered a wide range of topics, including the following: What core practices are in teacher education (e.g. teachers need to elicit ideas students already have about the top...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this podcast I discussed social and emotional learning with Professor Sara Rimm-Kaufman from the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development . Among the topics discussed were: What social and emotional learning is The implicit and explicit process of learning social and emotional skills How children can learn empathy Her book for teac...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. In this episode I speak to Professor Art Baroody from the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign about matters related to counting and early mathematical development. Professor Baroody shares insights from his extensive research in children's early mathematical learning with anecdotes from his life and work. Among the topics w...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. In this episode I speak to Professor David T. Hansen from Teachers' College , Columbia University about the philosophy of education and the practice of teaching. Among the topics we discuss are the following: What it means to see teaching as an art, as a political activity and as a moral endeavour. Direct lessons about morality/values/ethics versus the conti...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. Theme tune composed by David Vesey. On this episode of Inside Education, engineer Patricia Scanlon of Soapbox Labs discusses how improving how well software can recognise children's voices can support how teachers teach, assess and give feedback on reading and enhance equity in the classroom. Among the topics discussed are: How children’s voices differ to ad...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney Theme tune composed by David Vesey On this week's podcast I speak to cognitive scientist, Professor Daniel T Willingham from the University of Virginia . We discuss learning to read, learning styles, multiple intelligences, education research and more. The full range of topics includes: Applying the science of learning in school and at home Paradigms of cogni...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. Theme tune by David Vesey. On podcast 420, I welcome back Stanford University School of Education Professor William (Bill) Damon who was one of the first guests on this year's schedule to discuss his new book, A round of golf with my father: The new psychology of exploring your past to make peace with your present . Among the topics  we discuss on this bonus...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney On this week's podcast I speak to Deirdre Hodson who works in the European Commission’s department for Education, Youth, Sports and Culture in Brussels. She provides a European Union policy perspective on technology and sustainability in education. Among the topics we discuss are: How she came to work in the area of digital education policy and her studies in...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. In this podcast I explore the topic of education and autism by speaking to a classroom teacher, Graham Manning from Cork, and a university researcher, Professor Steffie van der Steen from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Among the topics we discuss are: How Graham became coordinator of classes for autistic students in school The organisation w...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. This week my guest on the podcast is expert on assessment, feedback and academic integrity, Professor Phillip Dawson from Deakin University . Among the topics we discuss on the podcast are the following: How academic integrity is learned throughout our lives – and how even Peppa Pig has been known to flout academic integrity. What a secondary school teacher...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's podcast I speak to Professor Gregory Cajete from Santa Clara Pueblo and the University of New Mexico about indigenous education and what contemporary western education can learn from such rich traditions. Among the topics we discuss are: Belonging to the Tewa tribe and what is particular about that tribe. Numbers in different tribes such as th...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's episode I interview my long-time colleague and fellow vice-president of Marino Institute of Education on the topics of literacy and disadvantage and more. Among the topics we discuss during the podcast are the following: What constitutes a struggling reader Identifying a struggling reader in a class setting Why it is important to move on from...

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's podcast I am joined by Professor Stefan Ward from Central Washington University who is currently a Fulbright Scholar in Dublin City University Institute of Education . Among the topics we discuss are: His interest in positive youth development How he became involved in Project Fun Direction and why it is important for young girls What is physi...