Peps Mccrea

Shooting Azimuths

In this podcast I chat to Peps Mccrea, a teacher, writer and accomplished educator. We discuss the challenges faced by teachers, including the fact that teaching is a complex and difficult task, harder than brain surgery! Peps highlights that one of the main challenges faced by teachers is that some aspects of teaching are not intuitive and require research, practice and expertise to be understood, while another challenge is that a large part of teaching needs to be done automatically, which can make it difficult to change habits, so the more experienced the teacher, the more challenging it becomes to improve further.

Peps discusses how the lens of memory can help teachers understand how learning works and improve their teaching strategies. By understanding the main mechanisms at play, working memory and long-term memory, teachers can help students focus on the things they want them to learn and minimise distractions in the classroom. The focus for Peps is on "lean teaching" that eliminates waste and maximises learning time. Ultimately, learning memorising some facts is necessary for critical thinking, so teachers must find a balance between these two aspects.

Peps will be addressing the Embley Education Conference, which takes place on 14 April 2023. To find out more about the conference and to book your place, please visit www.embley.org.uk/conference

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