Welcome to Chalk Dust 🎙️
🎙️ Chalk Dust is the podcast that gives you a front-row seat 🎫 to some of the best classrooms in the world 🌏.
We’re Dr Nathaniel Swain and Rebecca Birch—two educators passionate about bridging the gap between research 🧠 and real classroom practice 🏫. Each episode, we slow things down ⏸️ and analyse real classroom footage 🎥, unpacking the teaching moves that make a difference ✨, and connecting them to what we know about how students learn best 📚.
Rebecca is the Academic in Residence at an independent girls’ school in Sydney 🇦🇺 and currently undertaking a PhD exploring the links between explicit teaching and student wellbeing ❤️🧑🏫. Nathaniel is a teacher and teacher educator at La Trobe University 🎓, with a background in primary teaching 👶📘 and a deep interest in instructional coaching and school improvement 🚀.
There are lots of great podcasts on evidence-based practice—but this one is different 🔍. We focus on classroom practice in action 🎬. You’ll hear us pause and replay key moments 🔁, reflect on the research 🗣️, and discuss the craft of teaching with clarity and curiosity 🎨🔬.
Whether you’re watching the video version 📺 (for all the visual detail 👁️) or tuning into the audio version 🎧 (with classroom sound 🔊 and commentary), you’ll build your expertise in observing great teaching—and applying those insights to your own work ✏️📈.
Spotify 🎵🟢
YouTube ▶️📺
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