Talking Engagement

Amy Berry
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  • EDUCATION

Join author and engagement researcher Amy Berry as she talks with educators who are making a real difference through the work they're doing to tackle the complex but rewarding challenge of supporting students to actively engage in learning. We have a lot to learn from the many stories of success that are around us. Our guests will share their experiences, their insights, and their top tips for success.

Episodes

  1. MAR 2

    Episode 4: Helping schools see beyond compliance with Stephanie Salazar

    In this episode, host Amy Berry talks with Stephanie Salazar, an instructional leadership consultant, coach, and former assistant principal who founded Sanctuaries of Learning. Stephanie works with school leaders and teachers across Australia to strengthen coaching practices, teaching, and student engagement. Key Discussion Points: The Engagement Problem Stephanie shares insights from her work facilitating instructional rounds across 25 schools in New South Wales. Despite focusing on various teaching improvements (feedback, learning intentions, questioning), she found that challenges always traced back to a fundamental issue: most schools equated engagement with compliance and behavioral management rather than genuine learning investment. Discovering the Engagement Continuum After encountering Amy's engagement continuum, Stephanie found it resonated immediately with educators. The framework provides clear, student-friendly language that helps everyone—teachers, students, parents, and leaders—develop a shared understanding of what engagement truly means beyond surface-level compliance behaviors. Real Impact in Schools The conversation highlights powerful examples from schools using the engagement continuum: Faulconbridge Public School increased student belonging from 39% to 71% over three years and won a NSW State AwardValentine Public School created a video with their students demonstrating and explaining the engagement continuum for their school communitySchools developed new definitions of engagement emphasizing student agency, curiosity, and active participation rather than compliancePractical Implementation Strategies Stephanie emphasizes starting with teachers themselves as learners, asking them to reflect on their own engagement experiences. She advocates for: Piloting with willing early adopters who are motivated and can lead the way for othersMaking small tweaks to existing initiatives rather than complete overhaulsUsing creative approaches like drama activities to explore the continuum with staff and studentsCapturing shifts in beliefs and attitudes as evidence of impactThe Teacher-Student Partnership While students need to develop self-regulation skills, teachers play a crucial co-regulatory role. The continuum helps teachers design lessons from students' perspectives and opens conversations about how both teachers and students can work together to enhance engagement. The episode concludes with Stephanie's top tips: see lessons from students' perspectives, check in genuinely about engagement, and reflect on your own professional engagement as a teacher.   Want to learn more? Join us in The Engagement Hub, our online community for educators interested in supporting engagement and empowering learners. You can connect with Amy and many of our guests there. Thanks for listening!

    48 min

  2. FEB 16

    Episode 3: Co-constructing engagement with students at Balmoral State High School

    In this episode, Amy talks with Balmoral State High School about their collaborative approach to transforming engagement in their school. The school focused on their core values of agency, innovation and belonging and used that as inspiration and motivation for change, with students firmly at the center of this transformational journey. From the beginning, students were involved in the discussions and decision-making as valued partners in engagement. Demonstrating their commitment to collaborating with students, the leaders brought along Year 9 student, Peter, to join in the conversation and share his insights and experiences as a student. In this episode, we will hear from: Timothy Barraud - Principal Zena Carusi-Lees - Head of Pedagogy and Performance Peter Donald - Year 9 student and Junior Secondary Captain Want to learn more? Join us in The Engagement Hub, our online community for educators interested in supporting engagement and empowering learners. You can connect with Amy and many of our guests there. Thanks for listening!

    52 min

  3. JAN 31

    Episode 2: Principal Chris Pyne on trusting your team and empowering meaningful change

    In this episode, Amy sits down with Chris Pyne, Principal of Faulconbridge Public School to discuss their remarkable journey transforming student engagement and school culture. When Chris arrived at the school four years ago, it was struggling - 60% of their staff had left and student belonging was at a rock-bottom 39%. Students felt disconnected from their school and disengaged from their learning. But through a collaborative approach to building belonging and empowering engagement, the school achieved extraordinary results. Student belonging soared to 81%, and in 2025, the school received the NSW Secretary's Award for Outstanding School Achievement for their work in improving engagement. What You'll Discover: The Crisis Point: How staff turnover created rising disengagement and students who were struggling to feel connected to their school and their learning. The Turning Point: How they discovered the engagement continuum and began making it their own. The Keys to Success: Why connecting new frameworks to existing practices made the difference.How building a shared language and vision within their community created lasting change.The importance of trusting your staff to drive innovation and empowering them to take ownership.Understanding that this is ongoing work that evolves and expands over time.This conversation offers practical insights and inspiration for school leaders and educators looking to create meaningful, lasting change in student engagement. Want to learn more? Join us in The Engagement Hub, our online community for educators interested in supporting engagement and empowering learners. You can connect with Amy and many of our guests there. Thanks for listening!

    45 min
  4. Episode 1: Finding connections and making engagement visible at Mawson Primary School

    JAN 15

    Episode 1: Finding connections and making engagement visible at Mawson Primary School

    Welcome to the first episode of the Talking Engagement podcast! Host Amy Berry sits down with an inspiring team of educators from Mawson Primary School in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) to explore their transformative two-year journey in reimagining learner engagement. Mawson Primary is one of only three bilingual schools in the ACT and the only one offering a Mandarin Immersion Program (MIP), where 50% of the curriculum is taught in Mandarin and 50% in English. This unique context adds fascinating layers to their engagement work. In this episode, you'll hear from: Lydia Kepich, Small Group TeacherOlivia Leonard, Kindergarten TeacherJoanne Hurley, Mandarin TeacherLorah Medley, Year 5/6 TeacherLeanne Harrigan, Year 5/6 Executive Teacher and engagement work leader  What You'll Discover: The team shares how they connected the Continuum of Learner Engagement with their existing Visible Learning practices, creating a powerful scaffold that gave both teachers and students the language and tools to move from knowing what learning should look like to understanding how to get there. Hear candid stories about: How kindergarteners learned to recognize when they've "fallen off the continuum" and developed agency in getting back on trackA Mandarin teacher's journey shifting from teacher-centered instruction rooted in Chinese educational culture to autonomy-supportive partnership with studentsSmall group students using engagement language to accept feedback and drive their own learning, even on the playgroundSenior students annotating their own "wall of engagement" to reflect on how their understanding has evolved over two years  Key Themes: This conversation goes beyond surface-level strategies to explore the cultural shifts required for meaningful change—the importance of curiosity over compliance, partnership over control, and creating psychologically safe environments where both teachers and students can struggle, learn, and grow. You'll discover why decoupling behaviour from identity matters, how to connect new initiatives with existing school frameworks without forcing artificial alignment, and why giving teachers time and autonomy to implement change at their own pace leads to deeper, more sustainable impact.   Why This Matters: With 87% of teachers seeing it as their job to promote driving learning engagement, close to 80% of students saying their teacher talks to them about learning engagement and 90% of students reporting they engage in their learning at school, Mawson's story offers practical wisdom for any school seeking to move beyond compliance-based approaches toward genuine learner agency and partnership. Whether you're just beginning your engagement journey or looking to deepen existing work, this episode provides honest insights, practical examples, and inspiration from educators who are living this work every day   Want to learn more? Join us in The Engagement Hub, our online community for educators interested in supporting engagement and empowering learners. You can connect with Amy and many of our guests there. Thanks for listening!

    1h 11m
  • 4 Episodes

About

Join author and engagement researcher Amy Berry as she talks with educators who are making a real difference through the work they're doing to tackle the complex but rewarding challenge of supporting students to actively engage in learning. We have a lot to learn from the many stories of success that are around us. Our guests will share their experiences, their insights, and their top tips for success.

Information

  • Creator
    Amy Berry
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Talking Engagement
  • Show Website
    Talking Engagement