November 15, 2025 • 21 mins
This podcast episode argues that while PowerPoints became widespread during COVID and helped reduce teacher cognitive load, over-reliance on them can hinder teachers' development. The key takeaway: if we are removing all obstacles, how are teachers learning from experience?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jocelyn (01:16):
Hi there, welcome to this episode of the Structured
Literacy Podcast.
I'm Jocelyn and I'm so happy tohave you here.
I want to start byacknowledging something that's
been making headlines recently.
The Victorian Department ofEducation has announced that
from 2027, students will belimited to 90 minutes of screen
(01:36):
time in Years 3 to 6 and minimalscreen time in Foundation to
Year 2, beyond what's needed toteach the digital curriculum.
This announcement has generatedquite a bit of discussion and
controversy, as these thingsnaturally do.
But I think the intent behindthis announcement is genuinely
(01:58):
great.
There's a growing body ofresearch evidence showing that
excessive screen time negativelyimpacts learning.
So much so that we even haveresearchers like Jared Cooney
Horvath bringing out new bookson the topic.
His book, The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms (02:12):
undefined
Our Kids' Learning and How toHelp Them Thrive Again, is
coming out in early December.
Now, just to be clear, I'm nota sponsor of that book.
I haven't read the book.
I get no money if you look thebook up, but I respect the work
of Dr.
Cooney Horvath and I'm lookingforward to reading this one.
(02:36):
While I do have thoughts aboutstudents and screens in general,
that's actually not what thisepisode is about, but it has
been prompted by theannouncement from Victoria.
Today I'd like to explore adifferent aspect of technology
use in our classrooms, one thatI think is equally important and
perhaps even more pressing forteacher capability.
(03:00):
I want to talk about the use ofPowerPoints as a primary method
of content delivery and theunintended consequences of
relying on them too heavily inour classrooms.
Let's go back in time a little.
COVID really did a number on usin education.
(03:20):
It created massive disruption,and it also sparked something,
which was the widespreadadoption of PowerPoints.
When we had to be ready toteach online at the click of a
button, teams preparedpresentations that everyone
used.
And then, as we transitionedback to the classroom, or stayed
(03:41):
in the classroom, as the casemay be, we just kept using them.
During that time of heighteneduncertainty, something
interesting happened.
Teachers used PowerPoints andfelt an extraordinary sense of
relief.
The cognitive load lifted fromthe teaching, and that ease,
(04:04):
that lightening of burden,became incredibly attractive.
It still is.
At the same time, something elsewas shifting in schools.
We were beginning to be awareof the importance of consistency
on a large scale.
Where previously many schoolsoperated under each teacher's
(04:26):
choice about what they taughtand how they taught it, schools
were moving towards theexpectation that everybody
teaches the same content in aconsistent way.
And I'm not criticising that,consistency creates credibility,
it builds collective efficacy,it enables collective problem
solving.
It has many benefits forstudents.
So these two things converged: the use of PowerPoints prompted (04:50):
undefined
by COVID, and the drive forconsistency.
And these two things haveremained connected ever since.
Now, I want to be transparent,I make PowerPoints.
My team creates presentationsto help guide teachers through
(05:11):
lessons.
It's a resource we provide.
And while we do it, I'll behonest, I've never been a
hundred percent comfortable withit.
Yes, having a presentation isthe easiest way for us to
communicate to a teacher what todo.
But I will say that, let's takea text-based unit, for example,
so much of that content is forthe teacher and does not have to
(05:35):
be displayed for the students.
I've always maintained that whenwe're learning how to teach
something, phonics, for example,the learning to teach is
incredibly important.
Building our capability is avital factor in our student
success.
(05:56):
And that's where I want to takeus today when we consider this
topic.
We've all heard criticisms thatprepared resources de-skilled
teachers, that they removeautonomy, that explicit teaching
is somehow bad for bothteachers and students.
Now, I don't agree with thatargument, and if you've been
listening to this podcast forany length of time, you know
(06:19):
where I stand on evidence-basedexplicit instruction.
But I think we'd be remiss toignore one part of that critique
altogether.
Because here's the thing (06:29):
the ease that PowerPoints bring, the
sense of comfort, thelightening of cognitive load,
while beneficial in the shortterm, can actually become a
barrier to teachers developingtheir own capability.
I also think that there'sconfusion, because it seems to
(06:53):
me that we're sending themessage that explicit teaching
is scripted, it does havePowerPoints, that teachers do
click buttons.
That's not actually whatexplicit teaching is at its
core.
Teaching is a thinking process.
It requires reflection, itrequires adjustment, it requires
(07:17):
responsiveness to our students'needs.
When success becomes measuredby how efficiently we get
through the pre-prepared lessonand how quickly we tick boxes,
how fast we reach the end of theunit, we miss the actual point.
Because the point ofinstruction is for students to
(07:38):
learn.
And nobody knows the studentsin a class like the classroom
teacher does.
I create programs, yes.
My team creates resources,absolutely, but we don't pretend
to know your students.
We know that you know yourstudents.
Our role in this is to give youa guideline for you to follow
(08:02):
and adapt as is needed.
I heard a saying recently, andit was originally about
parenting, but it applies sobeautifully here.
When we do too much for someoneelse, we boost our own
confidence by stealingtheirs. I'm gonna let that sink in for a little minute. Cause when I first heard it, I thought "Whoa, that is a massive Aha! moment."
And when I think about it froma teacher development
(08:35):
perspective, I have more to add.
When we do too much for alearner, and in this case, the
teacher is the learner, when werescue them from discomfort,
from effort, from struggle, westeal from them the opportunity
to learn.
We steal from them theopportunity to develop
(08:57):
confidence.
Because here's what's true: confidence comes from (08:58):
undefined
experience, it comes fromsaying, "I didn't know that
before, but now I do."Confidence comes from overcoming
achievable obstacles.
Struggle and effort are naturalparts of the learning process.
(09:19):
And that's not a bug, it'sactually a feature.
When we create reallycomfortable conditions for
something, when we essentiallyremove the thinking from the
instruction, we also remove therequirement and the opportunity
for teachers to learn,regardless of their stage of
(09:40):
career.
And let me paint a scenario foryou.
School leaders tell meregularly that one of their
biggest obstacles is supportingtheir teams to build capability
and not become overly reliant onPowerPoints.
We all know that scaffolds aresupports that need to be removed
(10:01):
as soon as possible.
If you leave a scaffold inplace for too long, whether it
be for the adults or thestudents, it creates dependence.
It impedes the learner'sability to think and act for
themselves.
And here's my big pictureconcern.
We may be creating a wholegeneration of teachers, and
(10:23):
that's anyone who learned toteach first up from 2020
onwards, who don't know what todo when the screen doesn't work.
When someone walks in andremoves the technology, when
there's only a teacher, awhiteboard marker, and a
whiteboard, we have to know whatto do.
Now, how do we know we have anexpert team of teachers?
(10:46):
Because an expert has the skillto provide quality instruction
when the scaffolds are removedand the context gets a little
bit hairy.
Now, I'm not suggesting weshould abandon prepared
resources entirely.
A while back I recorded anepisode called Can Great
Teaching Be Scripted?
(11:06):
And I followed that up with apresentation at the Sydney
Morning Herald School Summitwith the same title.
What I said there was, scriptedlessons are like worked
examples for novice students.
They do lighten cognitive load,they do help you learn the
steps, they do help you buildfluency with routines, and
(11:27):
that's terrific for someonewho's beginning the work,
whether that be beginningteaching in general or beginning
to learn a new way ofinstruction.
But the support that helps anovice doesn't help an expert.
And there's something calledthe worked example effect, and
part of that is that thescaffold that helps the novice,
(11:48):
the worked example that helpsthe beginner, actually places
greater cognitive burden on theproficient person.
Because you have to stop andrethink something that you
already do automatically.
It puts pressure on yourworking memory.
It actually increases cognitiveload.
I think there's a middle ground.
(12:09):
Let's unpack that.
I recognise the benefit ofwhole school approaches, I think
we all do.
With a whole school approach,we get collective efficacy,
consistency, collective problemsolving.
These things matter, and I'mnot suggesting we abandon them.
I'm also not suggesting weprovide nothing for teachers to
use.
(12:30):
There's a step in between thescript and hey, it's you and the
whiteboard marker.
And it reflects how we'vealways designed our core
teaching programs, ReadingSuccess in Action and Spelling
Success in Action.
That is, fully guided programswith zero requirement for a
(12:51):
screen.
The teaching is done by theteacher with a whiteboard marker
and a whiteboard.
The learning is done by thestudent with hard copy
materials.
The teacher learns how to teachit and the students learn what
they needto. For the teacher, they're learning to formulate the language that's needed, the language use and the steps become internalised, not oursourced.
Teachers learn to observe theirstudents and adjust in the
(13:20):
moment over time.
They learn to think about howto reframe things so that they
stick.
And it's in that space, thelooking the students in the eye,
being more active in thinkingabout language, reflecting on
student responses and thinkingabout how to help them
understand that we develop ourcapability as teachers.
(13:41):
It's in the whoopsie-daisiesand the mistakes and the errors
that the opportunities forgrowth appear.
As I've said, I'm not sayingthat we take PowerPoints out
entirely, and I'm not sayingthat we should remove technology
from the front of the room.
There are absolutely times whenscreens are fantastic.
When we're teaching vocabulary,for example, being able to show
(14:05):
students an image or a photo ordiagram, you know, that's gold.
Illustrating a point in sciencewith a short video clip or
drawing something as we unpackan idea, well, that's gold too.
So I'm suggesting that what wecould do as a team is to do a
bit of a SWOT analysis ofPowerPoints and screen use in
(14:26):
the classroom.
What are the strengths?
What are the weaknesses?
What are the opportunities?
What are the threats?
What you'll likely find isthere's consistency across
schools in some of the factors.
But there'll also bedifferences based on context.
Whether you have a very youngstaff or a more established one
matters.
But you don't plan yourschool's approach based on Jim,
(14:49):
Jeremy, and Jenny.
You plan for teacher one, two,and three, not knowing who they
might be.
That's how we create long-termstrategic plans that hold up
over time.
I'm recording this episode as athought provoker, not as a
declarative statement.
I'm inviting you and your teamto have this conversation, to
(15:11):
rumble, as Brene Brown wouldsay, with the complexity of this
topic, because it isn't easy tomake nuanced decisions for the
long term.
I absolutely believe that it'swithin everyone's capability, as
a group of professionals, toplay out this scenario to
various logical conclusions andmake some plans.
(15:36):
The screen time limits cominginto effect in Victoria for 2027
are going to have a real andpositive impact on students long
term, but they're going tocreate some real pain points for
teachers in the short term.
My bold prediction is thatstudent behaviour will get worse
before it gets better.
(15:56):
Students who are used tolooking at screens will find it
difficult to focus for a while,and that's ok.
With intention and effort,we're going to get them through
that.
More experienced teachers mightsay, well, good, we prefer just
to teach.
And that's because they knowhow, they have that experience.
But for our early careerteachers or those who have
(16:17):
slipped into the comfort zone ofpressing the button on the
PowerPoint, this is going to bea significant point of
challenge.
Not because people aren'tintelligent or they're
incapable, but because we'vepotentially begun our careers in
a way that has createddependence, or we've leaned into
(16:38):
the comfortable space and nowwe don't want to get out.
But it's that dependence thatcould just be stifling our
capability to build our skillsas teachers.
It's in this point of challengethat there's learning for us in
how we support our colleaguesand support our teams.
(16:59):
It's in having a coach who cantalk through what's happened,
who can help us reflect,identify patterns, and help us
grow in our teaching.
We have to invest in thecapability building of our
staff.
That's the number one thing weneed to do.
Yes, programs are necessary,especially really well-written
(17:21):
ones, but the best dollar weinvest is the dollar we invest
in people.
This year we've had 15 schoolsin our Leading Learning Success
program working to build ashared vision of what it means
to teach in a way that respondsto the reality of human
cognition that reflects howbrains learn.
(17:42):
And what we're seeing is soencouraging.
Teachers are reflecting andsaying things like, in the past,
I'd have my students open theirlaptop the moment they walked
in, and then I'd spend forevertrying to get their attention.
Even when I did, their eyeswere still on the screen.
Now the laptop stays closed atthe start of the lesson.
We begin with full attention,and that's from a secondary
(18:05):
teacher.
Now that shift that we'reseeing, that's capability
building.
It's so easy to fall into blackand white thinking and black and
white discussions when it comesto issues like technology.
But let's not slide into techversus no tech, PowerPoint
versus no PowerPoints, and intothose pendulum-swinging
(18:27):
discussions that always end upin us missing the point.
Let's have the nuancedconversation with our teams,
with our leadership groups, andwith each other about what this
means for our students and forus as teachers.
Remember that the end goal isnot that you followed the steps
precisely according to what wason the page.
That might be where we start.
(18:48):
But the end goal of instructionis student outcomes and student
learning.
We are the engineers of successfor our kids.
And leaders, we're theengineers of success for our
teams, to work with them, tocreate the conditions that
enable them to lean in andinvest themselves for their own
(19:10):
development.
So let's prioritise capabilitybuilding for our teachers and
our students so that we can helpcreate the future we know is
absolutely possible.
I believe strongly in thecapability of teachers and the
promise of our profession.
Let's keep our eye on that.
Let's create expert teams ofteachers who can teach
(19:32):
brilliantly whether there's ascreen in the room or not.
And as I've said, since I'veworked in the desert in the
Northern Territory, you canteach a child to read and write
with a stick in the dirt if youhave to.
Let's be thankful that wedon't.
Thanks so much for listening tothis episode.
(19:53):
I can't wait to bring you moreof the Structured Literacy
Podcast.
Until next time, happyteaching, everyone.
Bye.
Hi there, welcome to this episode of the Structured
Literacy Podcast.
I'm Jocelyn and I'm so happy tohave you here.
I want to start byacknowledging something that's
been making headlines recently.
The Victorian Department ofEducation has announced that
from 2027, students will belimited to 90 minutes of screen
(01:36):
time in Years 3 to 6 and minimalscreen time in Foundation to
Year 2, beyond what's needed toteach the digital curriculum.
This announcement has generatedquite a bit of discussion and
controversy, as these thingsnaturally do.
But I think the intent behindthis announcement is genuinely
(01:58):
great.
There's a growing body ofresearch evidence showing that
excessive screen time negativelyimpacts learning.
So much so that we even haveresearchers like Jared Cooney
Horvath bringing out new bookson the topic.
His book, The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms (02:12):
undefined
Our Kids' Learning and How toHelp Them Thrive Again, is
coming out in early December.
Now, just to be clear, I'm nota sponsor of that book.
I haven't read the book.
I get no money if you look thebook up, but I respect the work
of Dr.
Cooney Horvath and I'm lookingforward to reading this one.
(02:36):
While I do have thoughts aboutstudents and screens in general,
that's actually not what thisepisode is about, but it has
been prompted by theannouncement from Victoria.
Today I'd like to explore adifferent aspect of technology
use in our classrooms, one thatI think is equally important and
perhaps even more pressing forteacher capability.
(03:00):
I want to talk about the use ofPowerPoints as a primary method
of content delivery and theunintended consequences of
relying on them too heavily inour classrooms.
Let's go back in time a little.
COVID really did a number on usin education.
(03:20):
It created massive disruption,and it also sparked something,
which was the widespreadadoption of PowerPoints.
When we had to be ready toteach online at the click of a
button, teams preparedpresentations that everyone
used.
And then, as we transitionedback to the classroom, or stayed
(03:41):
in the classroom, as the casemay be, we just kept using them.
During that time of heighteneduncertainty, something
interesting happened.
Teachers used PowerPoints andfelt an extraordinary sense of
relief.
The cognitive load lifted fromthe teaching, and that ease,
(04:04):
that lightening of burden,became incredibly attractive.
It still is.
At the same time, something elsewas shifting in schools.
We were beginning to be awareof the importance of consistency
on a large scale.
Where previously many schoolsoperated under each teacher's
(04:26):
choice about what they taughtand how they taught it, schools
were moving towards theexpectation that everybody
teaches the same content in aconsistent way.
And I'm not criticising that,consistency creates credibility,
it builds collective efficacy,it enables collective problem
solving.
It has many benefits forstudents.
So these two things converged: the use of PowerPoints prompted (04:50):
undefined
by COVID, and the drive forconsistency.
And these two things haveremained connected ever since.
Now, I want to be transparent,I make PowerPoints.
My team creates presentationsto help guide teachers through
(05:11):
lessons.
It's a resource we provide.
And while we do it, I'll behonest, I've never been a
hundred percent comfortable withit.
Yes, having a presentation isthe easiest way for us to
communicate to a teacher what todo.
But I will say that, let's takea text-based unit, for example,
so much of that content is forthe teacher and does not have to
(05:35):
be displayed for the students.
I've always maintained that whenwe're learning how to teach
something, phonics, for example,the learning to teach is
incredibly important.
Building our capability is avital factor in our student
success.
(05:56):
And that's where I want to takeus today when we consider this
topic.
We've all heard criticisms thatprepared resources de-skilled
teachers, that they removeautonomy, that explicit teaching
is somehow bad for bothteachers and students.
Now, I don't agree with thatargument, and if you've been
listening to this podcast forany length of time, you know
(06:19):
where I stand on evidence-basedexplicit instruction.
But I think we'd be remiss toignore one part of that critique
altogether.
Because here's the thing (06:29):
the ease that PowerPoints bring, the
sense of comfort, thelightening of cognitive load,
while beneficial in the shortterm, can actually become a
barrier to teachers developingtheir own capability.
I also think that there'sconfusion, because it seems to
(06:53):
me that we're sending themessage that explicit teaching
is scripted, it does havePowerPoints, that teachers do
click buttons.
That's not actually whatexplicit teaching is at its
core.
Teaching is a thinking process.
It requires reflection, itrequires adjustment, it requires
(07:17):
responsiveness to our students'needs.
When success becomes measuredby how efficiently we get
through the pre-prepared lessonand how quickly we tick boxes,
how fast we reach the end of theunit, we miss the actual point.
Because the point ofinstruction is for students to
(07:38):
learn.
And nobody knows the studentsin a class like the classroom
teacher does.
I create programs, yes.
My team creates resources,absolutely, but we don't pretend
to know your students.
We know that you know yourstudents.
Our role in this is to give youa guideline for you to follow
(08:02):
and adapt as is needed.
I heard a saying recently, andit was originally about
parenting, but it applies sobeautifully here.
When we do too much for someoneelse, we boost our own
confidence by stealingtheirs. I'm gonna let that sink in for a little minute. Cause when I first heard it, I thought "Whoa, that is a massive Aha! moment."
And when I think about it froma teacher development
(08:35):
perspective, I have more to add.
When we do too much for alearner, and in this case, the
teacher is the learner, when werescue them from discomfort,
from effort, from struggle, westeal from them the opportunity
to learn.
We steal from them theopportunity to develop
(08:57):
confidence.
Because here's what's true: confidence comes from (08:58):
undefined
experience, it comes fromsaying, "I didn't know that
before, but now I do."Confidence comes from overcoming
achievable obstacles.
Struggle and effort are naturalparts of the learning process.
(09:19):
And that's not a bug, it'sactually a feature.
When we create reallycomfortable conditions for
something, when we essentiallyremove the thinking from the
instruction, we also remove therequirement and the opportunity
for teachers to learn,regardless of their stage of
(09:40):
career.
And let me paint a scenario foryou.
School leaders tell meregularly that one of their
biggest obstacles is supportingtheir teams to build capability
and not become overly reliant onPowerPoints.
We all know that scaffolds aresupports that need to be removed
(10:01):
as soon as possible.
If you leave a scaffold inplace for too long, whether it
be for the adults or thestudents, it creates dependence.
It impedes the learner'sability to think and act for
themselves.
And here's my big pictureconcern.
We may be creating a wholegeneration of teachers, and
(10:23):
that's anyone who learned toteach first up from 2020
onwards, who don't know what todo when the screen doesn't work.
When someone walks in andremoves the technology, when
there's only a teacher, awhiteboard marker, and a
whiteboard, we have to know whatto do.
Now, how do we know we have anexpert team of teachers?
(10:46):
Because an expert has the skillto provide quality instruction
when the scaffolds are removedand the context gets a little
bit hairy.
Now, I'm not suggesting weshould abandon prepared
resources entirely.
A while back I recorded anepisode called Can Great
Teaching Be Scripted?
(11:06):
And I followed that up with apresentation at the Sydney
Morning Herald School Summitwith the same title.
What I said there was, scriptedlessons are like worked
examples for novice students.
They do lighten cognitive load,they do help you learn the
steps, they do help you buildfluency with routines, and
(11:27):
that's terrific for someonewho's beginning the work,
whether that be beginningteaching in general or beginning
to learn a new way ofinstruction.
But the support that helps anovice doesn't help an expert.
And there's something calledthe worked example effect, and
part of that is that thescaffold that helps the novice,
(11:48):
the worked example that helpsthe beginner, actually places
greater cognitive burden on theproficient person.
Because you have to stop andrethink something that you
already do automatically.
It puts pressure on yourworking memory.
It actually increases cognitiveload.
I think there's a middle ground.
(12:09):
Let's unpack that.
I recognise the benefit ofwhole school approaches, I think
we all do.
With a whole school approach,we get collective efficacy,
consistency, collective problemsolving.
These things matter, and I'mnot suggesting we abandon them.
I'm also not suggesting weprovide nothing for teachers to
use.
(12:30):
There's a step in between thescript and hey, it's you and the
whiteboard marker.
And it reflects how we'vealways designed our core
teaching programs, ReadingSuccess in Action and Spelling
Success in Action.
That is, fully guided programswith zero requirement for a
(12:51):
screen.
The teaching is done by theteacher with a whiteboard marker
and a whiteboard.
The learning is done by thestudent with hard copy
materials.
The teacher learns how to teachit and the students learn what
they needto. For the teacher, they're learning to formulate the language that's needed, the language use and the steps become internalised, not oursourced.
Teachers learn to observe theirstudents and adjust in the
(13:20):
moment over time.
They learn to think about howto reframe things so that they
stick.
And it's in that space, thelooking the students in the eye,
being more active in thinkingabout language, reflecting on
student responses and thinkingabout how to help them
understand that we develop ourcapability as teachers.
(13:41):
It's in the whoopsie-daisiesand the mistakes and the errors
that the opportunities forgrowth appear.
As I've said, I'm not sayingthat we take PowerPoints out
entirely, and I'm not sayingthat we should remove technology
from the front of the room.
There are absolutely times whenscreens are fantastic.
When we're teaching vocabulary,for example, being able to show
(14:05):
students an image or a photo ordiagram, you know, that's gold.
Illustrating a point in sciencewith a short video clip or
drawing something as we unpackan idea, well, that's gold too.
So I'm suggesting that what wecould do as a team is to do a
bit of a SWOT analysis ofPowerPoints and screen use in
(14:26):
the classroom.
What are the strengths?
What are the weaknesses?
What are the opportunities?
What are the threats?
What you'll likely find isthere's consistency across
schools in some of the factors.
But there'll also bedifferences based on context.
Whether you have a very youngstaff or a more established one
matters.
But you don't plan yourschool's approach based on Jim,
(14:49):
Jeremy, and Jenny.
You plan for teacher one, two,and three, not knowing who they
might be.
That's how we create long-termstrategic plans that hold up
over time.
I'm recording this episode as athought provoker, not as a
declarative statement.
I'm inviting you and your teamto have this conversation, to
(15:11):
rumble, as Brene Brown wouldsay, with the complexity of this
topic, because it isn't easy tomake nuanced decisions for the
long term.
I absolutely believe that it'swithin everyone's capability, as
a group of professionals, toplay out this scenario to
various logical conclusions andmake some plans.
(15:36):
The screen time limits cominginto effect in Victoria for 2027
are going to have a real andpositive impact on students long
term, but they're going tocreate some real pain points for
teachers in the short term.
My bold prediction is thatstudent behaviour will get worse
before it gets better.
(15:56):
Students who are used tolooking at screens will find it
difficult to focus for a while,and that's ok.
With intention and effort,we're going to get them through
that.
More experienced teachers mightsay, well, good, we prefer just
to teach.
And that's because they knowhow, they have that experience.
But for our early careerteachers or those who have
(16:17):
slipped into the comfort zone ofpressing the button on the
PowerPoint, this is going to bea significant point of
challenge.
Not because people aren'tintelligent or they're
incapable, but because we'vepotentially begun our careers in
a way that has createddependence, or we've leaned into
(16:38):
the comfortable space and nowwe don't want to get out.
But it's that dependence thatcould just be stifling our
capability to build our skillsas teachers.
It's in this point of challengethat there's learning for us in
how we support our colleaguesand support our teams.
(16:59):
It's in having a coach who cantalk through what's happened,
who can help us reflect,identify patterns, and help us
grow in our teaching.
We have to invest in thecapability building of our
staff.
That's the number one thing weneed to do.
Yes, programs are necessary,especially really well-written
(17:21):
ones, but the best dollar weinvest is the dollar we invest
in people.
This year we've had 15 schoolsin our Leading Learning Success
program working to build ashared vision of what it means
to teach in a way that respondsto the reality of human
cognition that reflects howbrains learn.
(17:42):
And what we're seeing is soencouraging.
Teachers are reflecting andsaying things like, in the past,
I'd have my students open theirlaptop the moment they walked
in, and then I'd spend forevertrying to get their attention.
Even when I did, their eyeswere still on the screen.
Now the laptop stays closed atthe start of the lesson.
We begin with full attention,and that's from a secondary
(18:05):
teacher.
Now that shift that we'reseeing, that's capability
building.
It's so easy to fall into blackand white thinking and black and
white discussions when it comesto issues like technology.
But let's not slide into techversus no tech, PowerPoint
versus no PowerPoints, and intothose pendulum-swinging
(18:27):
discussions that always end upin us missing the point.
Let's have the nuancedconversation with our teams,
with our leadership groups, andwith each other about what this
means for our students and forus as teachers.
Remember that the end goal isnot that you followed the steps
precisely according to what wason the page.
That might be where we start.
(18:48):
But the end goal of instructionis student outcomes and student
learning.
We are the engineers of successfor our kids.
And leaders, we're theengineers of success for our
teams, to work with them, tocreate the conditions that
enable them to lean in andinvest themselves for their own
(19:10):
development.
So let's prioritise capabilitybuilding for our teachers and
our students so that we can helpcreate the future we know is
absolutely possible.
I believe strongly in thecapability of teachers and the
promise of our profession.
Let's keep our eye on that.
Let's create expert teams ofteachers who can teach
(19:32):
brilliantly whether there's ascreen in the room or not.
And as I've said, since I'veworked in the desert in the
Northern Territory, you canteach a child to read and write
with a stick in the dirt if youhave to.
Let's be thankful that wedon't.
Thanks so much for listening tothis episode.
(19:53):
I can't wait to bring you moreof the Structured Literacy
Podcast.
Until next time, happyteaching, everyone.
Bye.
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