The Leading, Language and Literature Podcast

In this episode I am talking to Tom Needham. Tom is an assistant headteacher in London, former Head of English and author of two fantastic books. His first, Explicit English Teaching , looks at how to take the findings of cognitive science and apply it to the secondary English classroom. And his second, Direct Instruction in Action , was my major motivation for getting in touch with him, as it bre...

In this episode I am speaking with Doug Lemov. Doug is one of my all time teaching heroes and an incredible person in the world of education. He is the founder and leader of Teach Like a Champion, an organisation that studies exceptional teachers and translates their practice into replicable techniques. Most notably, these are shared via the Teach Like a Champion books which are now on their 3.0 v...

In this episode I am speaking to Dr. Claire Badger. Claire is the Head of Teacher Professional Development at InnerDrive, a UK-based education and coaching company that specialises in bridging the gap between cognitive science, psychology, and the classroom. She is also a former assistant head and now specialises in helping schools develop their evidence-informed practice. Claire has also co-autho...

In this episode I’m talking with Gaurav Dubay. Gaurav is a Trust Director of English and Evidence Lead in Education based in Birmingham, England. He is an active and passionate voice both online and in-person when it comes to enhancing all students outcomes through the Key Stage 3, literacy, oracy and much more. I have followed Gaurav for a long time now but what prompted our chat was a post I rec...

In this episode, I’m explaining What I Learnt From: Making Good Progress? The Future of Assessment for Learning by Daisy Christodoulou. This is the fourth episode that sees me go through my annotations and notes for a book that explores an area of English teaching or leadership. This time, it’s a text that I think is absolutely fundamental to understanding assessment and therefore curriculum desig...

In this episode I am speaking to Gemma Keating. Gemma is a specialist in IBDP Mathematics, EdTech enthusiast and public speaker here in Hong Kong. Our chat is the sixth conversation ina series of discussions designed to learn more about secondary subjects and their possible interdisciplinary links with English. My intrigue in doing these is to see whether there are possibilities for connections ac...

In this episode, I’m speaking to Richard Wheadon. Richard is a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching (FCCT), a former senior leader and author of Learning Habits: How to Develop Independent and Successful Learners . It was regarding this book that I most wanted to chat with Richard in the first place. For a while I have been considering the role of metacognition and self-regulation in the cl...

In this episode, I’m speaking to Christopher Such. Chris is a primary school teacher by trade but has also served as a school leader, teacher educator and consultant. He has worked with many schools, multi-academy trusts and English organisations to develop teachers’ understanding of reading and implement evidence-informed classroom practice. He is also an author, having written The Art and Scienc...

In this episode, I’m speaking to Costas Constantinou. Costas is the co-founder and Director of Education at Veema Education, an organisation that provides professional development and school improvement programs internationally. A former London-based school leader, he specialises in training, coaching, and supporting educators globally. He is also the author of " A School Leader’s Guide to Leading...

In this episode, I am speaking to Gina Davies. Gina is an experienced educator of Science with expertise in instructional leadership, coaching and serves the charity WomenEd as regional lead here in Hong Kong. Our chat is the fifth conversation in a series of discussions designed to learn more about secondary subjects and their possible interdisciplinary links with English. My intrigue in doing th...

In this episode, I’m speaking with Li Bin. Bin is a Deputy Head of School here in Hong Kong and formerly Asia-Pacific Regional Manager for the International Baccalaureate’s Middle Years Programme. On top of that, she is a deeply experienced teacher of Chinese and has worked with many schools that offer bilingual instruction. Our chat is the fourth conversation in a series of discussions designed t...

In this episode, I’m speaking with Shanice Welsh. Shanice is a director of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum here in Hong Kong and an active sharer of good teaching practice on the likes of X where she posts under the handle @Edu_byCreation . She is an experienced Middle Years Programme teacher and has done lots of work to integrate the framework into her own department’s output but also across th...

In this episode, I’m talking to Eoin MacCarthaigh. This is the latest in a running series of conversations between Eoin and I, where we share 3 things each from the world of education that have been causing us some consideration. We discuss: 1. Eoin’s pedagogical priorities for the new year 2. Why everything is downstream from a concept-led curriculum 3. How schools should approach the challenge o...

In this episode, I am talking to Tama Karena. Tama is a Director of Music at an international school here in Hong Kong and has 30 years of experience in the classroom, twenty of which have been spent in international schools. My chat with him is the second conversation in a series of discussions designed to learn more about secondary subjects and their possible interdisciplinary links with English...

In this episode, I am talking to Louis Wong. Louis is a STEM Coordinator, DP Physics teacher, IB Examiner, author and speaker. My chat with him is the first conversation in a series of discussions designed to learn more about secondary subjects and their possible interdisciplinary links with English. My intrigue in having these chats is seeing whether there is possibilities for connections across...

In this episode, I’m speaking with Richard Bustin. Richard is a Geography teacher as well as being Director of Pedagogy, Innovation and Staff Development at Lancing College in the UK. Most recently, he has authored a book entitled: What Are We Teaching? Powerful Knowledge and a Capabilities Curriculum. It was an interview I’d heard between Richard and James Mannion that led me to Richard’s work an...

In this episode, I’m talking with Morgan Whitfield. Morgan is an author, consultant, CPD trainer and senior leader. Her recent book, Gifted?, advocates for challenging all students through an inclusive approach to teaching, whereby every student is given the opportunities to reach mastery. I really wanted to chat with Morgan having read her book, which is possibly the most robustly researched piec...

In this episode, I’m talking with Mary Myatt. Mary is nothing short of a patron saint of curriculum design in the uk, with her books including The Curriculum: Gallimaufry to Coherence, Huh: Curriculum Conversations Between Subject and Senior Leaders and Back on Track: Fewer Things, Greater Depth. I find myself quoting things Mary has said in discussions with colleagues on a regular basis and was e...

In this episode, I’m talking to Eoin MacCarthaigh. This is the latest in a running series of conversations between Eoin and I, where we share 3 things each from the world of education that have been causing us some consideration. We discuss: 1. The challenges of instructional coaching 2. The challenges of achieving improvement in education 3. Handbooks versus playbooks and what this means for prof...

In this episode I’m talking with Sam Gibbs. Sam is a former English teacher and curriculum / development leader for a school trust in Manchester. Additionally, she co-authored the brilliant The Trouble with English and How to Address It: A Practical Guide to Designing and Delivering a Concept-Led Curriculum. As we go onto discuss, making the shift to concept-led curriculum in English is a paradigm...

In this episode I’m talking to Dr James Mannion. James is co-author of Fear is the Mind Killer a book designed to guide, implement and evaluate a Learning Skills curriculum in schools. More recently he has written Making Change Stick , a book that brilliantly synthesises research on school improvement so that is can be practically implemented in a sustainable way. James is also a fellow podcaster,...

In this episode, I’m explaining What I Learnt From: Reduce Change to Increase Improvement by Viviane Robinson. This is the third episode that sees me go through my annotations and notes for a book that explores an area of English teaching or leadership. This time, it’s a text that I was actually assigned as part of a Masters I did a few years ago. Amidst all the theoretical reading, Viviane Robins...

In this episode, I’m taking to Chris Youles. Chris has experience being an assistant head, english lead, writing moderator, and a specialist leader in primary education. He is also a published author having penned: Sentence models for creative writing: A practical resource for teaching writing and more recently Teaching Story Writing in Primary: Curriculum-aligned, classroom-ready resources and st...

In this episode I’m speaking to David Didau. David is a well-known and well-respected consultant in the world of English teaching and teaching more broadly. He has authored numerous books about education and the subject of English more specifically. Most recently, his book Bringing the English Curriculum to Life: A Field Guide for Making Meaning in English, with contributions from Claire Woozley,...

In this episode, I’m talking to Eoin MacCarthaigh. This is the latest in a running series of conversations between Eoin and I, where we share 3 things each from the world of education that have been causing us some consideration. We discuss: 1. The purposes for teaching English and what this subsequently means for writing instruction 2. My attempts at suggesting the core concepts at the heart of E...