We Are In Beta Podcast

There have been people working on decolonizing the curriculum for a very long time now.

In early 2020 after George Floyd’s death decolonizing the curriculum came to the forefront of the discussion. People who had never considered it, or even understood what it meant, had to grapple with its implications. This whole episode is about exactly that.

Havelock Primary school was by no means behind the curve when It came to things like this but when they decided to decolonize their curriculum (starting late 2019) they realized just how deep-rooted the problem was

Thank you to Jon, Amy, Aisha and Karen for sharing their story

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A few years ago Solihull was a small, relatively affluent borough in Southeast Birmingham, but they had one big problem. Many factors had aligned to create a situation where Solihull had more permanent exclusions than 90% of the country.

This is when Stephen Steinhaus, the soon-to-be principal of this new school, caught wind they were building a new school in the borough. A school that was attempting to find a solution to their permanent exclusion problem. Making a school like that isn't easy but where there's a will, there's a way. 

BIG thank you to Stephen and Josie for sharing her story in the episode. 

If you enjoyed this episode please share on Twitter, subscribe, and leave a comment.

It really means a lot.

Click here If you are interested in joining the We Are In Beta Community and/or the Curriculum Thinkers Community 

Email our producer Jay@weareinbeta or fill out this submission form if you want to share your story on the podcast

One of the fundamental lessons teachers learn is ‘how to motivate their class’. Historically, For many, this comes down to the Skinnerian model of behaviorism, which is essentially positive and negative reinforcement. John Camp (the Lead of the Compass trust) was taught this too. He began to see things differently when his own headteacher showed him another way of motivation. One called intrinsic motivation. 

As Trust leader John has had the chance to share intrinsic motivation with his colleges. Katie Cutajar is the Co-headteacher of Alderwood Primary. She wasn’t sold on ‘intrinsic motivation’ at first. 

In this episode, we'll talk about the negative effects of relying on rewards and punishment, How John and Katie have changed their thinking, and what it looks like in their schools.

BIG thank you to John and Katie for telling their story in the episode.

If you enjoyed this episode please share on Twitter, subscribe, and leave a comment, out of the kindness of your heart

It really means a lot

Click here If you are interested in joining the We Are In Beta Community and/or the Curriculum Thinkers Community.

Resources
The authors that helped inform John Camps view on reward and motivation:

Simon Sinek Start With Why
Alfie Kohn Punished By Rewards

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Classically, CPD brings all the staff together to learn about a single subject of improvement. By contrast, Instructional coaching has aspects that make bespoke to what each teacher needs at the moment.

So this all sounds good in theory but how does it work? Where do you start? What do you do when it doesn’t go to plan?

When Josh Goodrich became the head of teaching and learning at Oasis South Bank, he was determined to bring instructional coaching to life; but it wasn’t easy.

BIG thank you to Josh, Anna, Carly, and Sarah for sharing her story in the episode.

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Also here are the links to the Pupil premium spending plans and reviews from 19 schools and MATs and the resources from all of our other webinars 

Email our producer Jay@weareinbeta or fill out this submission form if you want to share your story on the podcast

During Lucy’s first maternity leave, she felt alienated from her profession. People would tell her that she would lose interest in working full time but she didn’t. In her second MAT leave, she was determined not to be on the outside looking.

While attending an event put on by the MPTP project, for the first time she became aware that she could go on school visits during her MAT leave. Over the next couple of months, Lucy goes on several school walk-throughs with her young child Roland. She learned a lot about how to make this happen and the benefits of visiting schools during her MAT leave. Frances Ashton is the Assistant Headteacher of Dicot Girls School, which is one of the schools Lucy listed. Frances tells us how to prepare for a school with a teacher on MAT leave.

BIG Thank you to Lucy and Frances for sharing their story. This is the tweet Lucy sent to get this all started. Plus, her blog about this story on WAIB.

If you enjoyed this episode please share on Twitter, subscribe, and leave a comment
It really means a lot

Click here If you are interested in joining the We Are In Beta Community and/or the Curriculum Thinkers Community 

Email our producer Jay@weareinbeta or fill out this submission form if you want to share your story on the podcast

Many teachers who gravitate towards schools that have fallen on hard times, have been taught in similar schools, and in this way, Sajid Gulzar isn’t very different. 

As a headteacher, Sajid has continued to be interested in the schools that require a lot of care; but doing this can eventually spread you too thin if you're not careful. As with most of us, there is a real tension between what needs doing and what WE can do. Sajid and Prince Albert Community Trust find themselves right in the middle of that tension.

BIG thank you to Sajid and Phillip for sharing her story in the episode. This is the blog that started this episode and their 2015 Ofsted

If you enjoyed this episode please share on Twitter, subscribe, and leave a comment
It really means a lot

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Education should prepare students for the world they are going to live in. That world will require more awareness of the impact humans have on the planet and each other. In 2015 the United Nation set out 17 sustainable development goals, with their mission statement being, “A blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all by 2030”.

Rachel Tomlinson and Karl Cross have become enthusiastic about making this goal a reality and developing their students to become leaders on sustainable development. To do this, they’re weaving the 17 SDGs throughout the whole curriculum at Barrowford Primary, but how do teach primary school students about sustainability and what can they do about it?

BIG thank you to Rachel, Karl, Lisa, and Esmae for sharing her story in the episode.

If you enjoyed this episode please share on Twitter, subscribe, and leave a comment
It really means a lot

Click here If you are interested in joining the We Are In Beta Community and/or the Curriculum Thinkers Community 

Email our producer Jay@weareinbeta or fill out this submission form if you want to share your story on the podcast

Yamina grew up in the majority Bangladeshi area of Tower Hamlets. When her family moved to Canary Wharf things changed; 9/11 happened and the overt racism began. When she became a teacher years later, she didn’t go back to Tower Hamlets, she went to teach in Lewisham. It was in Lewisham where the prejudice she faced as a kid was still present in her students. This time she made it her responsibility to teach them, not only about English but also how to treat people with respect.

BIG thank you to Yamina for sharing her story in the episode. Her current school, Forrest Gate Community School, have their own podcast about Teaching and Learning check it out.

If you enjoyed this episode please share on Twitter, subscribe, and leave a comment

It really means a lot

Click here If you are interested in joining the We Are In Beta Community and/or the Curriculum Thinkers Community 

Email our producer Jay@weareinbeta or fill out this submission form if you want to share your story on the podcast

The We Are In Beta podcast is back.

We -schools, Are In Beta- Always learning. Over the past year, we have done a lot of that learning very quickly and through our own trial and error.

The WAIB podcast shares stories from the experience of teachers in schools, so we can learn from them, challenge our own thinking and see things from an others perspective.

In this season we have stories of change. People changing others, people changing the system, and people changing themselves. From rethinking CPD to Turning around a failing school; each story will feature teachers who saw an opportunity for change…and took it

This season will be eight episodes

Out Every Thursday

Starting March 18th

In this episode, we speak with Kiran Mahil - History and politics teacher in East London. Obviously, things have changed a lot due to covid19, but what might not be obvious is how we will regain the things we’ve lost over this period. Kiran and friend (and fellow teacher) Hannah Dalton, have come up with a document that allows schools to understand what has been lost and consider how they will respond. It’s called the Roadmap to Renewal. We talked to them about it.