Good morning,

This week’s guest is Ben Cooper, a primary headteacher currently working in Panama, having previously taught and led schools in the UK and Dubai.

Ben’s career has taken him a long way from the classroom he first struggled to manage as an early career teacher, but what comes through throughout this conversation is that he has never really moved away from teaching and learning. He talks about the importance of modelling practice, supporting teachers to solve the problems in front of them and creating school systems that make it easier, rather than harder, to teach well.

We also get into something I think matters a great deal at the moment: the danger of becoming so focused on individual teaching strategies that we lose sight of the learning they are supposed to support. Ben makes a strong case for giving teachers a toolkit, helping them understand the fundamentals and then developing the judgement to know when and how to use them.

Another thoughtful contribution to Season 7.

Hope you enjoy!

Oliver Caviglioli & David Goodwin, Organise Ideas: Thinking by Hand, Extending the Mind

Merlin Donald, Origins of the Modern Mind

Ben Parr, Captivology: The Science of Capturing People’s Attention

Sarah Cottinghatt, work on adaptive expertise and teacher decision-making

Alistair Bryce-Clegg

Ben Cooper, A Learning Model with the Environment in Mind

WAGOLL Teaching

This autumn, 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 in 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 big 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.