Brendan Lee: How Explicit Instruction Can Increase Student Learning

What does effective explicit instruction actually look like—and when should teachers move beyond it?In this episode, Dr. John Schembari sits down with Australian instructional coach Brendan Lee, founder of Knowledge for Teachers, to explore how cognitive science, explicit instruction, and the instructional hierarchy can help educators improve student learning and instructional decision-making.Brendan shares his own journey from struggling teacher to instructional coach and explains why understanding how learning happens is essential for improving classroom outcomes.What explicit instruction is—and what it is notWhy many lessons fail despite strong planningThe importance of prerequisite knowledge and retrieval practiceHow to use modeling, guided practice, and checking for understanding effectivelyWhy guided practice is where most learning occursThe role of feedback in accelerating learningHow fluency differs from acquisition and why both matterWhen students are ready for independent practiceThe Instructional Hierarchy: Acquisition, Fluency, Generalization, and AdaptationWhy teachers should differentiate support rather than curriculumHow understanding learning science can increase teacher efficacy and retentionExplicit instruction is critical when students are learning something new, but it is only the beginning. Effective teaching requires knowing where students are in the learning process and providing the right level of support, practice, feedback, and challenge to help them move from novice to expert.Brendan Lee WebsiteBrendan Lee LinkedIn PageMusic by Aylex