The Leading, Language and Literature Podcast

In this episode, I’m explaining What I Learnt From: Making Good Progress? The Future of Assessment for Learning by Daisy Christodoulou. This is the fourth episode that sees me go through my annotations and notes for a book that explores an area of English teaching or leadership.
This time, it’s a text that I think is absolutely fundamental to understanding assessment and therefore curriculum design in our schools. Even better, it is written by Daisy Christodoulou MBE, a former English teacher and one of the most prominent and important voices in education from the past twenty years. Much of the examples that she offers are written through the lens of her time as an English teacher and are therefore very instructive when it comes to improving our approach to teaching and learning.
Expect to hear:
Why assessment for learning or formative assessment has failed in many schools
The fundamental differences between summative assessments and formative assessments
Why descriptor-based assessments are problematic
How to create a model of progression in our curriculum
And finally, how to create the best system of integrated formative and summative assessments

This is an absolute monster of an episode and I did consider dividing it into two parts. However, as a regular listener of podcasts myself, I know that depending on everyone’s respective listening habits you will choose to either listen and relisten to the whole thing as desired or break it up according to your commute, runs, walks or whatever you do whilst listening.
If you’d like to be kept up to date on when chat like this happens, feel free to subscribe to the podcast and follow me on LinkedIn @chrisjordanhk or X @chrisjordanhk
Additionally, if you would like a head start on learning how to prioritise your middle years English curriculum, head to the bottom of this podcast’s show notes or top of my stream on X to find a beta copy of my forthcoming and newly renamed book: Reinforcing Middle School English You can read as much as you want and even highlight elements that you like, dislike or find confusing to help make it better.
Links:
Beta version of Reinforcing Middle School English
Making Good Progress? by Daisy Christodoulou

In this episode I am speaking to Gemma Keating. Gemma is a specialist in IBDP Mathematics, EdTech enthusiast and public speaker here in Hong Kong.
Our chat is the sixth conversation ina series of discussions designed to learn more about secondary subjects and their possible interdisciplinary links with English. My intrigue in doing these is to see whether there are possibilities for connections across subjects that are at least shared in passing during class or actually and more excitingly, the basis of complex interdisciplinary units.
We discuss:
The products, processes or texts that are at the heart of studying Maths
The deep concepts that an expert in Maths uses to make meaning from these phenomena
The potential links that Maths and English share from a conceptual or disciplinary point of view
And lastly, possible projects that students could work on to better understand both subjects, simultaneously.

Thanks so much to Gemma for walking me through the basics and higher order concepts of Maths, so that we could consider interdisciplinary links. Whilst I’m walking away with a better appreciation of the likes of probability and geometry, Gemma did message me afterwards and explain that she could’ve covered the concept of ‘number’ too but felt I’d probably heard of that one already.
If you’d like to be kept up to date on when chat like this happens, feel free to subscribe to the podcast and follow me on LinkedIn @chrisjordanhk or X @chrisjordanhk
Additionally, if you would like a head start on learning how to prioritise your middle years English curriculum, head to the bottom of this podcast’s show notes or top of my stream on X to find a beta copy of my forthcoming and newly renamed book: Reinforcing Middle School English You can read as much as you want and even highlight elements that you like, dislike or find confusing to help make it better.
Links:
Beta version of Reinforcing Middle School English

In this episode, I’m speaking to Richard Wheadon. Richard is a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching (FCCT), a former senior leader and author of Learning Habits: How to Develop Independent and Successful Learners.
It was regarding this book that I most wanted to chat with Richard in the first place. For a while I have been considering the role of metacognition and self-regulation in the classroom and Richard’s book was released in a timely manner for me to further my knowledge on this emerging aspect of school instruction.
We discuss:
The cognitive processes we need to be explicitly teaching students so they can harness such methods themselves
Why assemblies before Year 11 study leave are simply not enough when it comes to kids learning how to learn
How we implement such a programme in a pastoral and/or subject specific context
The role parents play in habit forming behaviours
And finally, Richard’s case for choosing this focus as a whole-school focus on improving students' learning

Thanks again to Richard for writing what is an excellent and instantly practical book as well as taking time to talk about implementation and lessons learnt in a insightful manner.
If you’d like to be kept up to date on when chat like this happens, feel free to subscribe to the podcast and follow me on LinkedIn @chrisjordanhk or X @chrisjordanhk
Additionally, if you would like a head start on learning how to prioritise your middle years English curriculum, head to the bottom of this podcast’s show notes or top of my stream on X to find a beta copy of my forthcoming book: Make Middle Years English Matter. You can read as much as you want and even highlight elements that you like, dislike or find confusing to help make it better.
Links:
Learning Habits: How to Develop Independent and Successful Learners by Richard Wheadon

In this episode, I’m speaking to Christopher Such. Chris is a primary school teacher by trade but has also served as a school leader, teacher educator and consultant. He has worked with many schools, multi-academy trusts and English organisations to develop teachers’ understanding of reading and implement evidence-informed classroom practice. He is also an author, having written The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading and Primary Reading Simplified: A Practical Guide to Classroom Teaching and Whole-School Implementation.
As a secondary English teacher, I was keen to chat to someone with Primary expertise to better understand the experiences younger children go through before entering a secondary classroom. Given the quality and applicability of his writing, Chris was arguably the best person for the job.
We discuss:
Chris’ broad explanation of what outstanding reading instruction entails in KS1 and 2.
The specific instructional routines Primary teachers use to develop fluency, vocabulary and other essential skills.
What struggles when reading aloud reveal about a child's needs.
What 'effective intervention' looks like.
And finally, the reciprocal relationship between reading and writing.

Thanks again to Chris for sharing vital ideas in terms of how to support students’ continual growth of literacy. His books, whilst including ‘Primary’ in the title, are equally effective when working with pupils who still require effective and efficient instruction in the secondary school.
If you’d like to be kept up to date on when chat like this happens, feel free to subscribe to the podcast and follow me on LinkedIn @chrisjordanhk or X @chrisjordanhk
Additionally, if you would like a head start on learning how to prioritise your middle years English curriculum, head to the bottom of this podcast’s show notes or top of my stream on X to find a beta copy of my forthcoming book: Make Middle Years English Matter. You can read as much as you want and even highlight elements that you like, dislike or find confusing to help make it better.
Links:
Chris’ books: Primary Reading Simplified: A Practical Guide to Classroom Teaching and Whole-School Implementation and The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading
Beta version of Make Middle Years English Matter

In this episode, I’m speaking to Costas Constantinou. Costas is the co-founder and Director of Education at Veema Education, an organisation that provides professional development and school improvement programs internationally. A former London-based school leader, he specialises in training, coaching, and supporting educators globally. He is also the author of "A School Leader’s Guide to Leading Professional Development".
Professional development is a fascinating phenomenon, given those in charge are tasked with building a shared language of excellence for staff, who might have ten different definitions of what a "good lesson" even looks like. On top of this, it’s culturally and contextually complex, and is arguably one of the most interesting design challenges in education right now. So, getting Costas into discuss best practice was a real privilege.
We discuss:
How and why schools should move from one-off events to multi-year CPD that establishes whole-school priorities while still being relevant at the department level
How can leaders can make CPD meaningful for both early career teachers and experienced subject specialists
How we foster 'disciplined inquiry,' where teachers identify their own professional needs
Moving from measuring teacher satisfaction to measuring its actual impact on student learning
And finally, how to simplify engagement with evidence so it feels practical rather than a chore

Thanks again to Costas, someone who’s spent years truly deconstructing the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of school improvement, for his insights into the rigorous, evidence-backed architecture PD can offer.
If you’d like to be kept up to date on when chat like this happens, feel free to subscribe to the podcast and follow me on LinkedIn @chrisjordanhk or X @chrisjordanhk
Additionally, if you would like a head start on learning how to prioritise your middle years English curriculum, head to the bottom of this podcast’s show notes or top of my stream on X to find a beta copy of my forthcoming book: Make Middle Years English Matter. You can read as much as you want and even highlight elements that you like, dislike or find confusing to help make it better.
Links:
Costas’ book: A School Leader's Guide to Leading Professional Development
Beta version of Make Middle Years English Matter