Hoops of Steel

Julie Arnold
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A space where English teachers in Queensland and beyond can connect about the joy and point of learning, language, and literature.

Episodes

  1. Vacating the Floor with Marcus Luther

    08/13/2025

    Vacating the Floor with Marcus Luther

    Turn closed questions into open doors: Marcus Luther shows how to fuel thinking, talking, and learning. In this episode, Julie Arnold speaks with Oregon-based English teacher and podcaster Marcus Luther about building classrooms where curiosity crackles and every student’s voice matters. From quick wins that draw even the quietest students into conversation, to feedback moments that shift self‑belief, Marcus shares practical strategies wrapped in warmth and optimism. Along the way, Marcus champions the purpose of public education, celebrates the communities we build in our rooms, and offers a hopeful vision for what students can do when we trust them. Marcus Luther has taught high school English in Oregon for 14 years and co‑hosts The Broken Copier, a podcast and resource hub that centres teacher voices and shares practical tools for the classroom. His work is grounded in reflective practice, inclusive culture, and keeping collaboration at the heart of English teaching. Shownotes: More strategies and resources from Marcus on The Broken Copier.Kagan, S. (2013). Kagan Cooperative Learning. Kagan Publishing.Thompson, M. Annotation processes and questioning frameworksGallagher, K. (2006). Teaching Adolescent Writers. Stenhouse Publishers.Join our community at:  🔗 ETAQ Website Enter the conversation at:  🔗 ETAQ Facebook 🔗 ETAQ Instagram Send us a text

    45 min
  2. Healing, Teaching, Law with Wesley Enoch

    07/16/2025

    Healing, Teaching, Law with Wesley Enoch

    What stories shape us — and how do we learn to tell our own? In this episode, Julie Arnold speaks with playwright, director and creative leader Wesley Enoch about the power of storytelling in education, the importance of honouring lived experience, and the joy of building spaces where students feel seen and heard. This episode is a warm, wise, and energising conversation for teachers who want to help students express identity with clarity and confidence. Wesley Enoch AM is a playwright and director of Indigenous theatre. He hails from Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah), and is a Nunukul Nuugi man of the Quandamooka Nation. Wesley has been the Artistic Director of six major festivals across Australia including the Sydney and Brisbane Festivals, and was the Artistic Director of Queensland Theatre Company from 2010 to 2015. His play The 7 Stages of Grieving, co-written with Deborah Mailman, is a widely studied and performed landmark of contemporary Australian theatre. Wesley is currently Professor of Practice (Drama) at QUT and the inaugural Indigenous Chair in the Creative Industries. Shownotes: 📚 Recommended Reading:  • Boas, E. & Kerin, R. (2021). Novel Ideas: Teaching fiction in the middle years. AATE. • Shipp, C. (2023). Listening from the Heart. AATE. • Worrell, T. (2022). Profiles of practice: Influences when selecting texts to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in English. English in Australia, 57(1), 5–14. 📦 Where to buy books:  • Black Inc. • Magabala Books 🛠️ Classroom Resource:  • You Can Teach: Teaching First Nations Perspectives  Find out more about Wesley Enoch at:  🔗 Wesley Enoch’s page at QUT Join our community at:  🔗 ETAQ Website Enter the conversation at:  🔗 ETAQ Facebook 🔗 ETAQ Instagram Send us a text

    51 min
  3. Just because I don't like PD, doesn't mean I'm not a professional learner

    06/04/2025

    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 Learn Dan spoke extensively about teaching Hannah Kent's Burial Rites Dan’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

    38 min
  4. On storytelling, language, and history with Anna Funder

    05/05/2025

    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

    1h 7m
  5. The Paradox of Poetry with Sarah Holland-Batt and Kelli McGraw

    04/02/2025

    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

    42 min
  6. Agency in the Age of Accountability with Jeffrey Lewis

    02/28/2025

    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 Gíslason Friend 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 j7.arnold@qut.edu.au 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 Instagram Send us a text

    41 min
  7. The Sisyphean Task of Teaching English with Melanie Ralph

    01/30/2025

    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 Website Bare Bones Teaching on YouTube ---> Join our community at https://www.etaq.org.au/ Enter the conversation at ETAQ Facebook and ETAQ Instagram Send us a text

    27 min
  • 7 Episodes

About

A space where English teachers in Queensland and beyond can connect about the joy and point of learning, language, and literature.

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  • Creator
    Julie Arnold
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    7
  • Rating
    Clean
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    © 2025 Hoops of Steel
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    Hoops of Steel