Beyond Good

Matt Findlay and Femi Adeniran

A podcast about teaching. We discuss teaching and learning, pedagogy, lessons and classroom practise, management and leadership, teaching of mathematics, training and trainees, mentors and mentoring, behaviour management, being a head of department and running a faculty, SLT and much much more!

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27 episodes
Avg 40 min
English

Episodes 27

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S4 · E7
Saturday · 34 min
Scaffolding support for middle leaders?
Do meeting proformas handed down from SLT to middle leaders help or hinder? Is a checklist better? How well do SLTs leaders model running high-quality meetings and line management? Matt and Femi discuss.
S4 · E6
October 17 · 50 min
September's Inset Day
Nothing advertises SLT being detached from reality more than forcing staff to spend entire day(s) sat listening to speakers in the hall. Matt and Femi discuss alternatives.
S4 · E5
October 10 · 36 min
Saying what you actually want to say!
Femi and Matt discuss what it takes and means to be clear with staff and say what it is that actually want to say!
S4 · E4
October 3 · 59 min
QA'ing Books
Matt and Femi discuss issues around QA of books, including the importance of a clear, shared understanding of what a book is for! Amongst much else, they touch on whether there are subject-specific variations, what qualities you might look for in work, and the crucial understanding that marking is one of the tools that can be used to give and gather feedback as opposed to a stand-alone dimension of teaching.
S4 · E3
September 19 · 33 min
Inclusive Teaching
Matt and Femi discuss the terms 'inclusive teaching', 'adaptive teaching' and 'responsive teaching'. The point is also made that great teaching is, by definition, inclusive teaching: if not all of your students are making great progress then it's hard to claim that the teaching is 'great'.
S4 · E2
September 12 · 46 min
Believing in students
Reflecting on a lovely message received from a former student, Matt and Femi discuss what it means to believe in our students and how that belief plays out in our actions and behaviour.
S4 · E1
September 5 · 53 min
Reduce change to increase improvement
Welcome to Season 4! After brief introductions for new listeners Matt and Femi discuss the first part of Viviane Robinson's book 'Reduce change to increase performance'. In particular they focus on the distinction between change and improvement, problem and goal clarity, the importance of understanding the beliefs and values that underpin the status quo, the concept of double loop learning, and the idea that true engagement requires both parties to have access to the other's thinking. We welcome listener feedback and enquiries - you can reach us via email: beyondgoodpod@gmail.com
S3 · E72
August 1 · 41 min
Are my lessons challenging enough?
Femi reflects on the last year with one particular class in mind and asks: "Are my lessons challenging enough?"
S3 · E71
July 11 · 49 min
A maths teacher's reflections on teaching science
Femi has been teaching a Science class and shares his approach and reflections with Matt. They discuss 'learning to learn', booklets, AI, rounds of teaching and CFU, shed loads of practise, feedback and self-checking answers, precision and rigour and much more!
S3 · E70
June 13 · 34 min
A dearth of good models!
Amongst other things, Femi and Matt talk about how hard it can be as a middle leader to lead on change without strong models to refer to.
S3 · E69
June 6 · 26 min
Gently testing the boundaries...
Matt and Femi discuss the subtle ways students can often make life difficult for teachers, and why this happens in some classrooms but not in others.
S3 · E68
May 30 · 35 min
Seating plans, seating reset and Intangibles
Matt and Femi have a chat about teachers using seating plan resets as a strategy, debate breaking down intangible aspects like 'feel' into granular concrete components when coaching, and the role and possible negative effects of prior information when it comes to planning seating plans and thinking about a new class.
S3 · E67
May 16 · 31 min
More practice needed!
Matt and Femi talk about coaching, and how teachers working on their craft will often need to stick with a particular focus and practice it with reflection and feedback to master it.
S3 · E66
May 9 · 43 min
Class Reset
Matt discusses with Femi a recent conversation he had with a teacher that he supports regarding resetting a challenging class in which norms had severely slipped from previous high standards. The conversation will be of particular interest to heads of department supporting colleagues in their team.
S3 · E65
April 25 · 34 min
Economy of language
Matt and Femi discuss economy of language during explanations and the advantages of keeping teacher talk lean. Contact us at: beyondgoodpod@gmail.com
S3 · E64
April 18 · 42 min
When the new knowledge enters the room
Matt and Femi discuss a couple of really common issues that undermine teachers' ability to deliver powerful, clear and memorable explanations.
S3 · E63
April 11 · 37 min
This class doesn't retain things!
Matt and Femi discuss what to do with a comment often heard by the coffee machine... "This class doesn't retain things!" beyondgoodpod@gmail.com
S3 · E62
April 4 · 43 min
Humanities Teaching with James Gisby
Matt and Femi talk to James Gisby about the challenges and intricacies of teaching History, and what good History lessons could look like.
S3 · E61
March 28 · 38 min
Effective often looks boring!
Matt and Femi discuss why effective learning can often look somewhat boring from the outside, and why that can sometimes be problematic in schools. beyondgoodpod@gmail.com
S3 · E60
March 21 · 45 min
Ruck speed!
Matt and Femi discuss the importance of very prompt transition moments in lessons. Reach out by emailing beyondgoodpod@gmail.com

Showing 1–20 of 27 episodes