Good morning,

This week’s guest is Raheema Makhani, a teacher and Director of Digital Strategy and Innovation.

Raheema has been teaching for 12 years, initially as a Year 6 teacher before moving into digital leadership. Unsurprisingly, we talk about technology and AI, but what I enjoyed most about the conversation is that neither is treated as an end in itself. For Raheema, the question is always whether something helps teachers teach better or gives children another way to access, understand or express their learning.

That leads us into a much wider conversation about knowing the children in front of you, adaptive teaching, workload, school culture and the importance of being able to say when something is not working. There is a real willingness throughout to try things, learn from other people and change course when somebody has a better idea.

Hope you enjoy!

Barak Rosenshine, Principles of Instruction

Shaheen Myers, The Human Side of School Leadership: How Courage, Connection and Care Transform Culture

Cognitive Science Approaches in the Classroom

Next week, we’re bringing our mathematics professional development programme to Dublin, Belfast and Glasgow.

Over four sessions, we’ll consider how developing teachers’ subject and pedagogical content knowledge can lead to better decisions in the classroom, particularly when pupils find mathematics difficult. Rather than lowering expectations or simplifying the mathematics, we’ll explore how teachers can adapt their instruction to support deeper understanding and help more pupils succeed.

The first programmes begin on the 9th November, and we’d love you to join us.

You can find full details, including dates, venues, prices and booking information, here: https://alta-education.com/cpd-tour-26-27/

Thinking Deeply about Primary Education is heading to Edinburgh on 28 November!

We’re bringing together teachers, school leaders and some fantastic speakers for a day of thought-provoking conversations, practical ideas and professional learning that gets to the heart of what matters in education.

If you enjoy the podcast, we’d love you to join us and take those conversations beyond your headphones.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/thinking-deeply-about-primary-education-conference-edinburgh-tickets-1994538692922

And if you’re a teacher or school leader with ideas, experiences or insights you’d like to share, we have two more TDaPE conferences coming up in early 2027. Applications to speak at TDaPE London and TDaPE Cymru are open now, and we’d love to hear from you.

TDaPE London Sessions: https://forms.gle/475FYpCTb11Y4R716 

TDaPE Cymru Sessions: https://forms.gle/xqEB1uXEyJty8PPs8 

A huge thank you to everyone who shared last week’s episode. It’s always lovely to see these conversations reaching new people, and I really appreciate everyone who takes the time to pass them on. If this week’s episode makes you think of a colleague or friend, please do share it with them.

That’s all from me for now. As always, I’d love to hear what you made of the conversation, so feel free to leave a comment wherever you listen or simply reply to this email.

Until next time, thanks for listening.