Inside Education On 103.2 Dublin City Fm

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney Theme tune by David Vesey The guest on this week's programme is Dr. Tara Concannon Gibney who is an assistant professor in Dublin City University. The interview is to mark the launch of Tara's new book Teaching Essential Literacy Skills in the Early Years Classroom: A Guide for Students and Teachers, which is published by Routledge. Among the topics we discuss this week are the following: Why she wrote the book Phonological awareness and how to develop it using games Using big books to teach literacy (e.g. Owl Babies) How to teach phonics Sequence for teaching phonics Developing fluency Teaching concepts of print Tier 2 vocabulary Comprehension strategies – Gradual release of responsibility model High frequency – Dolch - words Guided reading literacy centres Role of play in developing language and literacy    

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. Theme tune by David Vesey. On this week's programme, the guests were two of the keynote speakers from the 2019 annual conference of the Irish Primary Principals' Network, the IPPN, Adam Harris and Patrick O'Shea. Adam Harris is the Chief Executive Officer of AsIAm, an organisation set up to give people with autism a voice. My conversation with Adam included the following topics: His message for primary school principals The importance of school culture The “scattered skill sets” of people with autism The value of focusing on a student’s strengths Disclosing the having of autism Support for students with autism A student’s relationship with their SNA The work of As I Am Awareness of versus Understanding People with autism Coping mechanisms for difficult situations and places Being diagnosed as having autism   Professor Patrick O'Shea was appointed President of University College Cork in 2017 following a three-decade career in academia in the United States. My conversa

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney Theme tune by David Vesey. This week I bring you the first of my interviews recorded at the 2019 annual conference of the Irish Primary Principals' Network. The theme of the conference was Sustainable Leadership: Challenges and Opportunities. My interview today is with the Chief Executive Officer of the Network, Páiric Clerkin. Among the various topics discussed this week are: Relief from teaching duties on one day a week for teaching principals Restoration of posts of responsibility in larger schools Establishment of the Primary Education Forum (Calendar of reform) Problems in schools arising from children who are homeless or in direct provision His priorities for the year ahead (mentoring and the Centre for School Leadership; redeveloping online services) Members’ positive response to the address by the Minister for Education and Skills Applying for a position as School Principal Prioritising for principals and making school leadership "doable" Teachers’ developing th

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney Theme tune by David Vesey On this week's programme I bring you the second part of my interview with Paul O'Donnell, Principal of St. Patrick's National School in Slane. Among the topics we discuss on this week's programme are: His work with the CPSMA Numbers applying for principalship Principals acting as gatekeepers Challenges of being a principal with full teaching duties What schools are for (and a sense of place) What inspires him Being outdoors in poor weather Outdoor education in the United States Questions to ask yourself before applying for principalship Favourite book, writer Among the books he recommends are The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli and Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday on leadership and Messy Maths by Juliet Robertson. He follows Tom Bennett (@tombennett71) and Pasi Sahlberg (@pasi_sahlberg) on Twitter.

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney Theme tune by David Vesey On this week's programme I speak to Paul O'Donnell who is principal of St. Patrick's National School in Slane, Co. Meath. He is the author of Wild Teaching: Cross-curricular Lessons Outdoors for Agoraphobic Teachers which is published by Meath County Council. Among the topics we discussed are: How his upbringing fostered a love of the outdoors The influence of Paddy Madden on his work as a teacher How tempting it is to teach indoors all the time Having students gather resources for lessons Specific lessons in Wild Teaching Making the transition from teaching to being principal Challenges of principalship Eliciting voices of children in running the school Learning about life and death through keeping hens in school The school garden Minimising rubbish in the school Earning six green flags for the school

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney Theme tune David Vesey On this week's programme I speak to two teacher educators, Anja Swennen from the University of Amsterdam and Professor Kay Livingston from the University of Glasgow. Kay Livingston talks about innovative teaching with specific reference to a cross-European research study she is conducting with colleagues in her Research Development Community of the Association of Teacher Education in Europe. Anja Swennen continues the discussion which was begun on last week's programme and among the topics discussed are the following: How she goes about her work as a scholar of the history of education Using “memorial books” to write about the history of institutions Teacher education in the Netherlands during the Second World War. Returning to “normal” after the Second World War Teachers who had significant impacts on her How her father inspires her Why she likes the work of Michael Apple and especially his book Education and Power and John Loughran, whose book i

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney Theme music by David Vesey On this week's programme I discuss teacher education with Anja Swennen from the VU University, Amsterdam. I met up with her at the annual conference of the Association for Teacher Education of Europe in Gavle, Sweden in August 2018. Among the topics we discuss in this part of the interview are the following: Jean Murray’s idea of first-order and second-order practitioner The move from expert teacher to novice teacher educator Recruiting a teacher educator The curriculum for a course in Teacher Education Preparing for registration as a Teacher Educator in the Netherlands Identity of Teacher Educators (Subject specialist; pedagogue; a teacher in higher education; researcher; and teacher) Teacher Educators and researching practice and research in schools How history of education can help teachers understand their work

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney Theme music composed and arranged by David Vesey This week I bring you the second part of my interview with Katie Ashford Deputy Head of Michaela Community School in Wembley Park in London. The wide range of topics we discuss include the following: Michaela Community School Building The Teach First Programme Starting a blog, which led to a job offer Personalised Instruction and whole class instruction Her blog posts A typical day Family Lunch (at school) What she likes most/least about teaching Her ideal English lesson What schools are for Teachers who had a significant impact on her Who inspires her Katie also referred to Tom Bennett's blog and to books by Daisy Christodoulou and Daniel Willingham.

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. Theme music composed and arranged by David Vesey. On this week's programme I speak to Katie Ashford who is Deputy Head and Director of Inclusion at Michaela Community School in Wembley Park London. Her blog is called Tabula Rasa. We talk about school culture and other aspects of teaching. In the course of our discussion Katie mentions how she is inspired by people such as Rafe Esquith and Erin Gruwell. Different kinds of school culture Identifying problems in a school Changing School Culture Why teaching is tiring The kind of records UK teachers need to keep Marking children’s work The approach used by teachers in Michaela Community School: teacher as authority  

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney Theme music composed and arranged by David Vesey On this week's programme I bring you the second part of my interview with Professor Anne O'Gara, former President of Marino Institute of Education and current board member of Tusla. Among the topics we cover in this part of the interview are: The role for inspectors in our education system Giving and receiving feedback Recognising learning The Home School Community Liaison Scheme – Establishment and Purpose Dr Concepta Conaty’s vision for the Home School Community Liaison Scheme Her primary teaching experience What schools are for A teacher who had a significant impact on her

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney Theme music composed and arranged by David Vesey On this week's programme I speak to my friend and former colleague, Professor Anne O'Gara. Professor O'Gara was President of Marino Institute of Education from 2006 to 2018. Prior to that she taught in primary schools for several years before becoming Assistant National Coordinator of the Home-School-Community Liaison Scheme, and subsequently an inspector at the Department of Education and Skills. In this first part of our interview we focused on leadership in education. Among the topics discussed were: Entering an institution as a new leader Identifying priorities as a leader Bringing about Change and Resistance to Change Doing courses, lifelong learning and coaching Developing new courses Changing your leadership style 360-degree feedback Preparing for difficult conversations Partnerships with stakeholders What she misses and does not miss about the work

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney Theme tune composed and arranged by David Vesey On this week's programme I bring you new excerpts from guests who featured on recent programmes: Frank McNally who is the main contributor to the Irishman's Diary column in The Irish Times, was a keynote speaker at the annual conference of the Literacy Association of Ireland. David Powell from the University of Huddersfield and Arjen Wals from the Wageningen University both contributed to the annual conference of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe. In the course of his interview David Powell referred to the research team led by Stephen Kemmis. Arjen Wals named a number of concepts, people, websites and publications related to sustainability and education. Doughnut Economy Martha Nussbaum Gert Biesta Michael Apple Peter McClaren Naomi Klein This Changes Everything Website: transformativelearning.nl Transgressive learning.org The Global Education Monitor Report (2016) Education for People and Planet: Creating Su

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's programme I speak to the main author of An Irishman's Diary in The Irish Times, Frank McNally. Frank was a keynote speaker at the 42nd annual conference of the Literacy Association of Ireland. Among the topics covered in the interview are the following: Why Frank's family members were known by the nickname the “College” McNallys. Among native English speakers, why only the Irish and the Scots use the expression “Amn’t I?” Doing two Leaving Certificates and no Inter Cert Doing a masters degree without doing a bachelors degree How he goes about writing An Irishman’s Diary in The Irish Times The books he read while attending the “University of Life” Two English teachers who had a significant impact on him

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney Theme tune composed and arranged by David Vesey On this week's programme I speak to Ray Gallon of the Transformation Society about education outside the formal settings of school. I interviewed Ray at the 2018 annual conference of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe. Among the topics we discuss are the following: How the phrase “knowledge is power” has changed meaning Educating outside formal school settings Working with different sized groups Presenting webinars How he organises his own learning Effective presentations How teaching is changing Ingredients of a good radio programme Difference between a radio programme and a podcast What inspires him personally and professionally

 Presented and produced by Seán Delaney Theme music composed and arranged by David Vesey. On this week's programme I speak to Arjen Wals from the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands where he is Professor of Transformative Learning for Socioecological Sustainability/UNESCO Chair. He was a keynote speaker at the 2018 annual conference of the Association for Teacher Education of Europe, which was held in Gävle in Sweden in August. Among the topics we discussed were the following: Why a sustainable approach to teaching is important Why teachers alone cannot bring about sustainable living How to promote sustainable choices in education How sustainable choices may vary from one place to another Why making teachers more accountable discourages them from taking risks CSI – Critical Sustainability Investigations (example with old mobile phones) Students taking photos of things that bother them in their environment and sharing them “Alternative” pedagogies (experimental learning, embodied learning, place-based

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. Today I speak to Dr. David Powell from the University of Huddersfield about teacher education. I met up with David at the 2018 annual conference of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe. Among the topics we discuss are: The soul of teacher education The apprenticeship model of learning to teach Observing teaching using the "Viewing Frame"

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney This week I'm delighted to bring you the second part of my interview with Niamh Dunphy, the teacher behind the blog and social media resource Irish Primary Teacher. Among the topics we talk about on the programme this week are: Plans for developing Irish Primary Teacher Where she gets her lesson ideas Using the store to encourage users to remain on the website How she reviews products for the Reviews section Clothing and teaching What she likes most and finds most challenging about teaching Differences between teaching in England and teaching in Ireland Her favourite subject to teach What she has learned from teaching to date What are schools for? A teacher who had a significant impact on her Who inspires her Why she finds Instagram better than books A change she would make in her current school And much more!

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's programme I speak to Niamh Dunphy, the person behind the hugely popular Irish Primary Teacher, blog, Facebook page and Instagram account. Among the topics we discuss in this first part of our interview are: Why she set up the blog, and pages on Instagram and Facebook Her positive and negative experiences of teaching in England What she knows about her audience Dividing content among various social media platforms How teachers support each other through social media What posts are most popular Dealing with trolls and negative comments How much time it takes

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week's programme I speak to Catherine O'Connor about making the transition from post-primary school to college. Catherine is author of the book, Cracking the College Code: Making the Most of the First Year College Experience. To get your own copy of Catherine O’Connor’s book Cracking the College Code: Making the most of the first year college experience, you can enter the competition on the programme this week. Either send your name and where you’re listening from, by e-mail to insideeducation@dublincityfm.ie. Or else retweet the link to this week’s programme on Twitter and include the hashtag #collegecode. Enter by midnight, Irish time on Monday, 8th October 2018.

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney This week I speak to my colleague in Marino Institute of Education, Dr. Denis Robinson, about leadership in education and specifically leadership in Christian Education. Denis Robinson is the Coordinator of the Masters in Education Studies course, Leadership in Christian Education, a degree accredited by Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin. Among the topics we discuss in the interview are: His conception of leadership What leader inspires him The value of daily reflection for leaders The course he offers on Leadership in Christian Education at the Marino Institute of Education How he has learned about educational leadership from Parker Palmer What is distinctive about leadership in Christian Education What school is for This is the final Inside Education in the current series. A new series will begin in October 2018.