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: How a book about teaching in Rural Ireland from the 1930s to the 1970s could speak to a teacher in a DEIS band 1 school in Darndale in the 1980s and 1990s. The consequences of poverty on children in ..read more

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 problems members of his family, including himself, had in learning to read. The benefits of having knowledge of phonetics and linguistics in studying reading difficulties His thoughts on whether someone ..read more

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 theorists like Jerome Bruner and John Dewey can be seen in classroom practice Directed observation – how the subject you're studying narrows your focus of observation She gives an example of how a student t ..read more

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 topic being taught). Why, although important, there is much more to teaching than core practices, such as developing respectful and trusting relationships with students. As teachers gain experience, the ..read more

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this podcast I discussed social and emotional learning with Professor Sara Rimm-Kaufman from the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. 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 teachers: SEL from the Start From listening to respectful communication to respecting others’ perspectives Where social emotional learning fits in the regular school curriculum What service learning is and example ..read more

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 we discuss are: The word “count” is ambiguous; he prefers the terms verbal counting and object counting. Along with subitising, these are foundational for children’s sense of number. The rote portion ..read more

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 continuous enactment of moral values. What hand-raising and turn-taking reveals about classroom culture and establishing dialogue among students (teachers and their students coming closer and closer apart ..read more

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 adult voices How voice recognition software has been found to be biased in favour of some populations over others How she became interested in applying speech recognition technology to education after ..read more

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 cognitive psychology (reasonable assumptions) How cognitive science replaced behaviourism How cognitive science might inform the teaching of different subjects across the curriculum The relationship betwee ..read more

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 episode are the following: Different interpretations of what a life story is Life Studies by Robert Lowell Your intention for telling a life story What a life review is and why it can be done at ..read more