86. Richard Bustin - Powerful knowledge and the capabilities students need - West Sussex

In this episode, I’m speaking with Richard Bustin. Richard is a Geography teacher as well as being Director of Pedagogy, Innovation and Staff Development at Lancing College in the UK. Most recently, he has authored a book entitled: What Are We Teaching? Powerful Knowledge and a Capabilities Curriculum.It was an interview I’d heard between Richard and James Mannion that led me to Richard’s work and reading his book was of great interest to me as someone who works within the IB framework. Although nominally a Geography teacher, Richard’s book takes a broad look at the way we approach subjects in the secondary curriculum and considers where our priorities lie and what this means for what students actually learn.We discuss:How self-aware teachers are about their priorities when designing and teaching the curriculumWhat Richard understands ‘powerful knowledge to be’ and how it should be implemented in the curriculumWhat the term ‘capabilities’ covers for students’ educationAnd finally, whether there is a way to overcome the binaries of traditional progressive pedagogies in the age of social mediaThanks so much to Richard for taking the time to chat to me about striking a balance between the rigorous drive to provide students with empowering subject knowledge at the same time as recognising the role that interdisciplinary ideas and collectively achieved academic capabilties.If you’d like to be kept up to date on when chat like this happens, feel free to subscribe to the podcast and follow me on LinkedIn or X @chrisjordanhkAdditionally, if you would like a head start on how to prioritise your middle years English curriculum, head to the bottom of this podcast’s show notes or the top of my stream on X to find a beta copy of my forthcoming book: Make Middle Years English Matter. You can read as much as you want and even highlight elements that you like, dislike or find confusing.Links:Richard’s book What Are We Teaching?Richard’s conversation with James Mannion for the the Rethinking Education podcastBeta version of Make Middle Years English Matter