In this episode of Knowledge for Teachers, Brendan Lee sits down with Mandy Nayton — CEO of the Dyslexia-SPELD Foundation and president of AUSPELD — for a deep and timely conversation about how students really learn to read. Mandy draws on decades of experience to unpack what the science of reading actually is (and what it isn’t), why explicit inst…

In this episode of Knowledge for Teachers podcast, Brendan Lee is joined by the legendary Craig Barton—maths educator, best-selling author of How I Wish I Taught Maths and Reflect, Expect, Check, Explain, creator of variationtheory.com and tipsforteachers.co.uk, and one of the original voices in education podcasting. In this conversation, Craig ope…

In this episode, I’m joined by Jeanette Breen — Learning Specialist at Templestowe Heights Primary School and Head of Global Partnerships at No More Marking — to unpack insights from her recent tour of some of the highest-performing schools across the UK. From standalone primaries to schools within trusts like Ark Academy, and even the renowned Mic…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Carl Hendrick, a leading voice in education and co-author of What Does It Look Like in the Classroom?, How Learning Happens, and How Teaching Happens. Carl has been instrumental in helping teachers bridge the gap between research and practice, addressing the key question: That all sounds great, but what …

In this episode, we're focusing on a key element of successful schools: understanding and supporting positive student behaviour. Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Brandi Simonsen, a professor of special education at the University of Connecticut and co-director of the National Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). Brandi shares…

In this episode, get ready to dive deep into the world of assessments with Dr. Matthew Burns, as we explore the different categories of assessments, their intended purposes, and how they can be used to inform instruction. Dr. Burns, a researcher with extensive experience in the effective use of assessment data and interventions, shares his expertis…

In this episode of Knowledge for Teachers, Brendan Lee speaks with Liana McCurry, a passionate advocate for primary school maths education. Fresh from her Churchill Fellowship, Liana shares findings from her research into mathematical practices across six countries. Listeners will gain insights into the systemic issues contributing to Australia's d…

This episode features a compelling conversation with Murat Dizdar, the head of the New South Wales Department of Education. Murat shares his inspiring journey from being the son of Turkish immigrants to leading Australia’s largest education system. He discusses the experiences that shaped his vision for public education, his deep passion for the te…

In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers podcast, Nick Hart takes us on an inspiring journey from his beginnings in sports science to becoming a school leader in Dubai. A respected voice in educational leadership, Nick shares insights from his blog and books, delving into the evolution of his leadership style. He discusses the critical role of…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Zach Groshell for the third of their trilogy of conversations together. In their first episode, they unpacked the nuances of teaching effectively. In the second one, they spoke about coaching, culture and change. In today’s podcast, you will hear them discuss the complex world of school leadership! They …

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Leslie Laud. She is the founding Director of ThinkSRSD, a writing program built upon Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD). The discussion covers ThinkSRSD's key strategies, including mnemonics and how to apply them across different grade levels and writing genres. Furthermore, Dr. Laud addresses im…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Nathaniel Swain. He returns for the third time and this time it’s to unpack his new book Harnessing the Science of Learning. However, as you will hear, they actually go beyond the book and dig into some of the critical considerations that schools and teachers need to be making. They explore how to make t…

This is the second conversation between Dr. Zach Groshell and Brendan Lee. For those that don’t know, Zach is the host of the Progressively Incorrect Podcast and also the author of Just Tell Them: The Power of Explanations and Explicit Teaching. In this episode, they take a deep dive into some of the key considerations that schools need to take whe…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Professor Nancy Jordan. She has been at the forefront of all things to do with early numeracy research including looking at screeners and intervention. Many of you come from the science of reading world and are fans of Scarborough’s Reading Rope, Nancy and colleagues have put together a Number Sense one! I’v…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Rhonda Filmer, a gifted education consultant and teacher, she discusses her journey into the field and the importance of understanding neurodiversity and twice exceptional students. She has recently released a book, “Neurodiversity and the Twice-Exceptional Student” and they delve into some of the key points…

In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers podcast, Brendan Lee and Dr. Zach Groshell (Host of the Progressively Incorrect podcast) collaborated in the first of a series of episodes together. The theme for this episode was around what are the main principles that teachers need to understand about how learning happens and what are the key mechani…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Charlotte Peverett, an experienced learning specialist and inclusion outreach coach, who shares her journey into teaching and special education. Charlotte discusses the significance of structures and routines in creating a safe and consistent learning environment. Charlotte also emphasises the importance of …

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Professor Jonathan Sharples from the Education Endowment Foundation. He has led the recent update to the EEF’s A School’s Guide to Implementation and in this conversation we unpack the paper. Professor Sharples details the updates and why they were made. He also digs into each of the key elements. As Jonatha…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Bethany Rittle-Johnson, a professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University. Bethany has led a lot of the research around conceptual and procedural knowledge. In this chat, she delves into this topic and also discuss other high impact strategies such as worked examples, self-explanations and the power of comp…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Professor Pamela Snow. She has been at the coalface fighting for evidence-based reading instruction to be common practice for a number of years and throughout this conversation, she provides nuggets of gold in describing how when we talk about phonics we need to be using it as an adjective with a noun follow…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Jamie Clark, an English teacher and lead practitioner specialising in pedagogy and digital learning. They discuss his recently released book, One Pagers and unpack how it could be used. Jamie breaks down a number of the techniques mentioned in the book and describes his thinking process in putting it all tog…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Emina McLean. Emina works with systems, schools, leaders, and teachers to develop ambitious and rigorous assessment, curriculum and instruction practices in English and literacy. In this chat, Emina discusses her focus on implementing effective systems and practices for teaching reading and writing. She high…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Bronwyn Ryrie Jones, an instructional coach who supports teachers and instructional leaders to develop their expertise. She discusses the importance of responsive teaching and shares techniques to effectively check for understanding in the classroom. She emphasises the need for teachers to have a deep unders…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Trisha Jha who currently works with the Centre for Independent Studies and recently released a couple of reports titled: What is the Science of Learning? And Implementing the Science of Learning: Teacher experiences. Trisha unpacks these papers and discusses her journey into education research and the import…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Mark Dowley (Associate Head – Staff Development at the Crowther Centre for Applied Educational Research) who has recently released the book, “The Classroom Management Handbook” that he co-authored with Ollie Lovell. In this chat, they unpack the book and how it’s what Mark and Ollie wish they had when th…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Rebecca Birch, a teacher of English and the Director of Research and Practice at a top 50 independent school in Sydney, Australia. She shares her journey from a career in fashion and advertising to becoming an English teacher. Rebecca emphasises the importance of evidence-based practice and the need for teac…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Tom Bennett, the Director and founder of researchED and school behaviour advisor to the UK government. He shares his journey from running nightclubs to becoming an influential figure in the education sector and we find out how teaching saved him. Bennett delves into the challenges he faced as a teacher, how …

In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast, Brendan Lee speaks with Sarah Powell. Sarah is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Texas at Austin. She has pretty much dedicated her whole career to researching word problems in maths. She has also contributed to a couple of papers that have recen…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Nathaniel Swain. He currently works at La Trobe University as a Senior Lecturer, Learning Sciences and Learner Engagement and the Director of Undergraduate Academic Programs. He is also the founder of Think Forward Educators. Nathaniel first appeared on the Knowledge for Teachers podcast in episode 20 an…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Jenny Donovan, CEO of the Australian Education Research Organisation. Jenny has led some of the heaviest hitting bits of research in Australia. In her current role with AERO and previous one with NSW Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation, Jenny has been behind the teams that brought cognitive lo…

In this conversation, Brendan Lee speaks with James Dobson, an experienced teacher who has been expertly applying the art and science of learning when teaching students in their first year of school (Kindergarten/Prep/Reception/Foundation). He discusses the importance of evidence-based practice, the use of Direct Instruction programs, and the chall…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Ray Boyd, the Foundation Principal of Dayton Primary School. Throughout the interview he shares his journey into education leadership and the pedagogic shift he led at his previous school West Beechboro P.S. He reflects on the mistakes made and lessons learned during his time there and discusses the surp…

Brendan Lee provides his key takeaways from the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast for 2023. This year he spoke to people such as Tom Sherrington, Daisy Christodoulou, Christopher Such and many more. Find out what he took away from these conversations. He has split this episode into three sections: Science of reading Science of maths Implementing the s…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Corey Peltier who is an Assistant Professor of Special Education in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Oklahoma. He also contributes to The Science of Math movement that is focused on disseminating research-informed recommendations to enhance math instruction and outcomes for s…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Tim McDonald who is currently the CEO of YMCA WA and previously led Catholic Education WA, the Minderoo Foundation and was the Education Lead for Knowledge Society. Recently, he wrote a paper for the Centre for Independent Studies titled: Teaching Behaviour: How Classroom Conduct Can Unlock Better Learni…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Jessica Colleu Terradas the Senior Officer Teaching and Learning Literacy and Instructional Coach in Canberra and Goulburn Catholic Education. In 2022, she travelled to the USA, England and France where she met with leading experts to investigate effective literacy screening and instructional practices to su…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Jessica Del Rio the government and public finance lead at Equity Economics. She has recently been involved in a couple of major reports that have highlighted the poor literacy standards across Australia. Raising the grade: How schools in the Australian Capital Territory can lift literacy outcomes for student…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Bruno Reddy CEO of Maths Circle (Times Tables Rockstars and Numbots). He is the former head of Mathematics at King Solomon Academy and one of the pioneers of mathematics mastery, as we know it today. As you will hear, he is hugely passionate about mathematics and has thought long and hard about what needs to…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Emma Turner. She is an experienced school leader, author and co-host of the Mind the Gap podcast with Tom Sherrington. In this conversation, we dig into her recent books: Simplicitus: The interconnected primary curriculum and effective subject leadership Simplicitus Altius: Leading the interconnected primary…

Listen to this live coaching workshop on implementing the science of learning with Dr. Nathaniel Swain and Brendan Lee. In this session, you will hear from real teachers discussing their real-world challenges in implementing the science of learning. Dr Nathaniel Swain and Brendan Lee then guide the teachers and school leaders through some possible …

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Nathaniel Swain. He is currently a Senior Lecturer, Learning Sciences and Learner Engagement at La Trobe University and has also been a speech-language pathologist, teacher and is the founder of Think Forward Educators. In this conversation, Nathaniel plays the teacher version of Dolly Doctor and addresses some of t…

In this conversation, Brendan Lee chats with David Morkunas and they touch on a range of topics including why he thinks so many teachers have such a negative attitude towards teaching maths, what the key elements of his maths lessons are and how to teach mixed-ability classes. Resources mentioned: Explicit Direct Instruction Sigfried Englemann Kirs…

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Emeritus Professor Kevin Wheldall and Dr. Robyn Wheldall. They’ve achieved so much throughout their careers including co-founding MultiLit, a leading provider of effective literacy instruction. In this chat, they describe their journeys and how MultiLit came about. They also speak about their recently publis…

In this episode, I chat with Christopher Such. He is the author of, “The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading” and an experienced teacher, school leader and educational consultant. In our conversation, Chris touches on teacher workload, professional development and he goes through the thought behind his book and how his thinking has develope…

This is the final instalment of the three-part series that has focused on the Catholic Education Archdiocese of Canberra Goulburn. Across the 3 episodes, I have delved into Catalyst which is the term used that encompasses their approach to teaching and learning across the system. In the first part (Episode 14), Ross Fox, the Director described how …

This is the second of a three-part series that focuses on the Catholic Education Archdiocese of Canberra Goulburn. Across the three episodes, Brendan Lee will delve into Catalyst, the term used that encompasses the system's approach to teaching and learning across the system. In the previous episode, Brendan spoke with Ross Fox, the Director, and h…

This is the first of a three-part series that is focused on the Catholic Education Archdiocese of Canberra Goulburn. Across the 3 episodes, Brendan Lee will delve into how they have changed their approach to teaching and learning across the system under the banner of Catalyst. For this episode, Brendan chats with Ross Fox the Director of the Cathol…

In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers podcast, Brendan Lee chats with Jordan O’Sullivan from Shaping Minds. Together with Jared Bussell and now Brooke Wardana, they have been supporting teachers in implementing the science of learning in the classroom through practical professional learning combined with lesson demonstrations. For this podc…

This is the second episode of the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast, which focuses on Marsden Road Public School. In the previous chat, Brendan Lee spoke with Marsden Road’s Principal, Manisha Gazula. Her story has inspired thousands of educators around the world. In this conversation, you will hear from Deputy Principal, Troy Verey. He is a highly re…

In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast, Brendan Lee had the opportunity of visiting Marsden Road Public School and then speaking to the Principal, Manisha Gazula. Marsden Road has recently featured in a number of reports from the Grattan Institute on role-model schools from around the country. This is the first of a two part series o…