What impact does distractibility have on learning and development? How can digital tools help students manage digital distractions? What makes a supportive learning environment for students with ADHD? In this episode, Nina Alonso speaks to Assistant Professor Melissa Dvorsky about the impact of distractibility on learning and development. Melissa also discusses the rise of digital education during the pandemic and how that impacted students with ADHD.  Nina also meets Bryan Dinner, a social...

In this special mini episode, Nina celebrates World Teachers’ Day with a bonus episode of Teachers’ Voices. Listen for inspirational stories together with quick practical ideas and resources that educators and researchers have shared.  Guests Teachers Maree Karaka Ingrid Delange Monica Bhimwal Azmin Mistry Researchers Sarah Richardson and Sladana Krstic from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). Resources and recommendations  Read the summary of the ACER research conducted...

Why are curiosity and creativity so relevant for all learning? Can curiosity in the classroom be measured? How can researchers and educators work together to develop teaching strategies that encourage children to embrace creativity? Nina Alonso welcomes Sarah Richardson and Sladana Krstic from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) who have been conducting research in collaboration with International Baccalaureate (IB). They discuss partnering with teachers in the classroom to...

How can teachers promote gender equality? How easy is it to start challenging stereotypes in the classroom? Can gender responsive pedagogies help break down the barriers holding girls back? In this episode, two educators, from Zambia and Paraguay, share their stories of challenging stereotypes, and encouraging and empowering girls in the classroom. Nina also talks to Christina Kwauk, a social scientist and policy analyst specialised in girls’ education. Christina addresses the connection...

Today’s episode is a collaboration with Sophie Bailey, from the Edtech podcast. Nina and Sophie explore the theme of collaborative learning using education technology.  How are researchers collaborating with children to co-design new technology? What’s the role of teachers in working with technology? How can technology be utilised in more challenging teaching environments? To find out more, Nina and Sophie talk to Jason Yip, assistant professor of digital youth at The Information School at...

In this special mini episode of Teachers’ Voices, Nina Alonso recaps some of the resources her guests have shared with her so far this season. With a particular focus on teachers working to engage their students with environmental issues at local and global levels, listen in for tips, resources and sources of inspiration. Guests Terry Godwaldt is on Twitter and Linkedin. Manuela Valentim is on Twitter or visit her website. Resources The Centre for Global Education – Twitter Koen Timmers -...

Climate change can be an overwhelming concept for young people. But perhaps it can be made easier to understand and relate to by demonstrating local impacts and showing students how young people all over the world are dealing with similar issues.  How does youth activism support learning opportunities? What are the components of learning that best support ‘green life skills education’? How are teachers already helping students develop these skills, with vastly different access to...

How can we help young people find their voices through activism and collaboration? And why is this an important element of education? In this episode, Nina explores the many benefits that come from supporting youth activism – from building leadership skills to promoting empathy.  While each guest has a different international perspective – they are based in India, Canada and Trinidad – all three work collaboratively with schools and students at a local, regional and international level to...

Why is it so important to take a holistic approach to young people's sense of self? Nina explores how educators can be the connection between children, nature and the wider society with the aim of creating a community of learning. In this episode, two teachers, from Portugal and Japan, share how their work enables them to support collaborations between students, schools and communities to help protect the environment.  Nina also talks to Ross Hall about the tools and actions needed for...

Teachers' Voices, the podcast in which teachers tell their own stories, in their own words, is back for season two.   No matter the learning context - from Stockholm, to Uruguay - teachers are one of the most influential and powerful forces we have for equity, access and quality in education. And they’re an important part of sustainable global development.  Join Nina Alonso for inspiring interviews with experts about learning and child development. Guests come from all over the world and...

As adults we take it for granted that we have the ability to choose. But for children, they don’t always have the awareness that they have choices available to them.  Yet having agency, i.e. making choices based on active engagement in decision making, plays a vital role in developing a child’s self esteem as well as enabling their learning.  In this episode, we hear from Natalia Kucirkova, Professor of Early Childhood Education and Development about the role of children as independent agents...

Good school practices are the key to helping build better educational systems, says Renaud Comba, research manager at UNICEF, but detecting exemplary school practices is easier said than done: “For the first time we are paying attention to the already created, contextualized, cost effective local solutions that local stakeholders have created through practice and through understanding where they live and their context to really address global education challenges.” - Renaud  We also hear from...

Investing in children’s foundational educational skills is key to their learning and development, as these skills are the building blocks for other life skills and further education, says Professor Ricardo Sabates, a researcher dedicated to equipping out-of-school children in the global south with basic numeracy, reading and writing skills. “One of the challenges that we have is that when children are not able to reach these foundational skills, when the curriculum that the teachers are...

We all remember that one teacher from school who had a long lasting positive impact on us. In this episode, we hear once more from a variety of educators around the world, each one sharing why they’re so passionate about preparing children for their future. First we hear from Nadia in New York:  “The long impact that teachers have is we do things that we are passionate about, from our heart we pour into the lives of children not knowing where that would lead and we will not often have the...

Our world is evolving so quickly and the skills that students needed to thrive just a few years ago are fast becoming obsolete. So what 21st century core competencies do students need to learn to succeed in our modern world? In this episode we are joined by two inspiring teachers, Enzil and Samaya, who, despite working in very different places – The Bahamas and Nepal - and teaching very different subjects - drama and technology –  both prioritize strategies that develop 21st century...

One key aspect of children’s lives and development which many of the teachers we have spoken to for this podcast have mentioned, regardless of who they’re teaching and where they are, is the relevance of parental and family engagement in children’s education.  Their observations mirror the findings of today’s guest Sharon Wolf, an applied developmental psychologist interested in how young children’s social environments - specifically their families and schools - shape their...

Over the last 18 months teachers have had to find innovative ways to not only teach, but engage with students. For many, they’ve relied on technology to help them educate their students. But how do technology and play contribute to learning? In today’s episode, we explore the intersection between learning through play and technology. First we speak with Bo Stjerne Thomsen, Chair of Learning Through Play and the Vice-President of the Lego Foundation, about the increasing role technology has in...

Children need to develop reasoning skills in order to carry out problem solving in the real world, says Professor Lindsey Richland. But what are reasoning skills and why are they so important for children to learn, and what role can teachers play in helping develop them?  Lindsey explains:  “When we are learning how to reason and how to use that information, teachers are able to use those resources in really important ways so [children] can be productive in lots of different kinds of long...

Play is essential for learning and development. Typically, we associate play-based learning with young children, but, says Bo Stjerne Thomsen, Chair of Learning Through Play and the Vice-President of the Lego Foundation, an international expert on play, learning and creativity, play is beneficial for all ages. “Play is inherently about engagement, about motivation to engage in things that are difficult, through different types of play, but there are these mindsets, these states of mind we are...

In this special episode, Nina is joined firstly by Gemma Wirz, Editor in Chief of BOLD to discuss the show’s journey so far, and to pause and reflect once more on why it’s so important to listen to teachers’ voices: “I have always been fascinated by oral traditions and communication as a means of disseminating culture and education. I believe that teachers’ stories need to be shared. They deserve the power and intimacy of the voice.” - Nina Hear why Gemma joined the podcast, why she believes...

Why is literature and storytelling so important for children and adolescents? This is the topic we explore in this latest episode of Teachers’ Voices with our special guest, Evelyn Arizpe, an expert in children's literature and literacy. Evelyn pioneered research into children’s responses to picturebooks and visual literacy and, in the last decade, her research has focused on migration and displacement, building on this to develop a programme for migrant readers. “When you have nothing, when...

There are 3 major challenges that teachers around the world have had to respond to during the recent COVID-19 pandemic: changing pedagogy, the mission, and dealing with challenges in their own households while trying to teach online.  “Many of our concerns have been about kids, and how we make sure that they're still learning. It's wonderful to hear the discourse turn to thinking about those who are doing the teaching, who are providing that care and that education.” - Gillian Hayes In this...

If you’re an educator supporting children learning various languages, at different developmental stages and in different contexts and geographies, then don’t miss Kaja Jasinska, a cognitive neuroscientist interested in understanding how early life experience changes the brain’s capacity for language and learning.  “We found that school children who are learning two languages from birth actually outperform monolingual children on tasks that measure a child’s awareness of and ability to...

This episode has some discussion around bulimia and mental health issues. Listener discretion is advised.  If you’re an educator keen to learn more about motivation and self esteem in children’s learning, don’t miss Eddie Brummelman, a researcher studying children's growing understanding of themselves as individuals, how children develop self-views, how these self-views shape mental health and educational outcomes, and how interventions that target self-views can help at-risk children...

In this episode of Teachers’ Voices, we explore the challenges of teaching and learning under adverse conditions with special guest, Willem Frankenhuis. Willem is an expert in developmental psychology, and specialises in social and cognitive skills and abilities that might be enhanced in harsh and unpredictable environments. Willem discusses why it’s so important to take adversity into account when talking about supporting children's learning, and suggests techniques that teachers can learn...