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Just because I don't like PD, doesn't mean I'm not a professional learner
How does a English teacher transform professional learning into great classroom practice? How do you take a set text, pick the bits that are going to engage your students and prepare them for what comes next? From medieval Icelandic sagas to Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites, Dan joins Julie to talk about how deep reading, writing, and meaningful classroom encounters help students grow and keep teachers loving what they do. Dan has taught English in public schools for most of this century and long enough to know the essentials don’t change – fads, policies and strategies notwithstanding. He is trepidatious about each new syllabus and prescribed book lists (especially if they prevent him teaching Hamlet), but he’ll work with them because he loves good books and thinks we have a duty to share them with children. He also loves the way languages work, Shakespeare, and all things Icelandic.Show notes:Dan learnt a lot from The Secret of Literacy: Making the Implicit, Explicit by David Didau and Reading to LearnDan spoke extensively about teaching Hannah Kent's Burial RitesDan’s next read is The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams (with Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko still waiting patiently on the shelf)Join our community at:🔗ETAQ Website: https://www.etaq.org.au/Enter the conversation at:🔗ETAQ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/ETAQLD🔗ETAQ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/etaqld/ Send us a text
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On storytelling, language, and history with Anna Funder
How can literature help students see history as something alive and full of meaning for our present?In this episode, recorded at the ETAQ State Conference, Julie Arnold speaks with acclaimed author Anna Funder about the joy and challenges of writing stories that bring the past into sharp, human focus. In a conversation ranging through her best known work, they explore how literature can uncover hidden lives, question power, and spark fierce curiosity in the classroom.Anna Funder is one of Australia's most acclaimed and awarded writers. Her books Stasiland and All That I Am are prize-winning international bestsellers, translated into many languages. Wifedom, hailed as a 'masterpiece', has been chosen as a Notable Book of 2023 by the New York Times and a Book of the Year by The Times, The Economist, the Financial Times, the Daily Telegraph and The Telegraph. Anna's novella The Girl With The Dogs reimagines love in the age of the tracking device.Find out more about Anna Funder at:🔗Anna Funder's website: https://www.annafunder.com/Join our community at:🔗ETAQ Website:  https://www.etaq.org.au/Enter the conversation at:🔗ETAQ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/ETAQLD🔗ETAQ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/etaqld/ Send us a text
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The Paradox of Poetry with Sarah Holland-Batt and Kelli McGraw
Teaching poetry is a balancing act—can we nurture intellect and emotion while tackling curriculum and student pushback? Sarah Holland-Batt and Kelli McGraw explore the challenges of teaching poetry—how it tests us, yet sparks creativity, deep thinking, and meaningful connections.Sarah Holland-Batt is an award-winning poet, editor and critic. Her books have received a number of Australia’s leading literary awards, including the Stella Prize for her most recent book, The Jaguar, and the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry for her second volume, The Hazards. She is also the author of a book of essays on contemporary Australian poetry, Fishing for Lightning, collecting her poetry columns written for The Australian. She is presently Professor of Creative Writing at QUT, and also serves as Chair of Australian Book Review, and a member of the Council of the National Library of Australia.Kelli McGraw is an English teacher and academic, working as a senior lecturer at QUT and part-time teacher at Kelvin Grove State College. Currently teaching secondary English education and poetry at the university, her prior experience includes growing up and teaching in Southwest Sydney, NSW. Kelli researches the fields of English curriculum studies, teacher identity, digital literacy, and poetry education. She is the Editor of AATE’s scholarly journal Australian Journal of English Education.Show notes: Sarah’s next read is Tintinnabulum by Judith Beveridge.Her website is https://www.sarahhollandbatt.com/Kelli’s next read is Emily Wilde's Map of the Overlands or the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett.Her website is https://kellimcgraw.net/Join our community at https://www.etaq.org.au/ Enter the conversation at ETAQ Facebook and ETAQ Instagram Send us a text
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Agency in the Age of Accountability with Jeffrey Lewis
It feels risky to invite students to experiment and make choices when there's so much pressure on student performance. Jeffrey Lewis talks about how to make space in the curriculum for students to find their own ways to get inspired.Jeffrey Lewis is currently Assistant Head of English at Brisbane Grammar School. He has previously held positions on the ETAQ Management Committee, including Director of Professional Learning and Secretary. He is an avid reader, amateur playwright, and committed Pokémon fanatic.Show notes:Jeffrey's next read is Running with Pirates by Kári GíslasonFriend of the pod Professor Jennifer Alford has suggested some clever reads for English teachers on the topic. These two are open access: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/etpc-08-2024-0127/full/pdf?title=the-last-bastion-of-democracy-teachers-perceptions-of-the-democratic-potential-of-english-curriculum Curriculum guidelines for the development of student agency in secondary education: A systematic review https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/curj.318?af=R And if you're super, keen, contact Julie at [email protected] for access to one or mor of these great titles:McCarthy, M., Riddle, S., & Hickey, A. (2025). The teacher as double agent: performative compliance, allegiance and survival in the contemporary classroom. Teachers and Teaching, 1–15.Chisholm, J. S., Alford, J., Halliday, L. M., & Cox, F. M. (2019). Teacher agency in English language arts teaching: A scoping review of the literature. English Teaching: Practice & Critique, 18(2), 124-152.Brown, M., McKnight, L., Yager, K., & O'Sullivan, K. A. (2021). Empowering english teachers: teacher agency in Australia. English in Australia, 56(1), 26-33.Join our community at https://www.etaq.org.au/Enter the conversation at ETAQ Facebook and ETAQ InstagramSend us a text
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The Sisyphean Task of Teaching English with Melanie Ralph
"Booklets... stay with me". Melanie Ralph believes that keeping things simple is the key to creating a joyful classroom. Her innovative teaching resources help lighten the load for her colleagues. Mel's values-driven, pragmatic approach is great for students; and it can help teachers hold onto the joy and the point of learning in English.Show notes:Mel's WebsiteBare Bones Teaching on YouTube--->Join our community at https://www.etaq.org.au/Enter the conversation at ETAQ Facebook and ETAQ InstagramSend us a text
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