Episode #8 The Autonomy Debate

In this episode, Greg and Caiti discuss recent research into mobile phone bans in schools, exploring whether they’re actually effective and why schools may choose to implement them in the first place. They also unpack debates around teacher autonomy, low-variance teaching and standardised curriculum resources, questioning whether shared approaches are truly a threat to professionalism or a way to improve consistency and reduce workload. Finally, they explore critical thinking in the Australian Curriculum and the relationship between knowledge, thinking and evidence-informed practice.

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Greg Ashman

Greg is a school leader at Ballarat Clarendon College and holds a PhD in instructional design from UNSW.

Substack – Filling the Pail

LinkedIn – Greg Ashman

X/Twitter – @greg_ashman

If you’re interested in working with Greg at Ballarat Clarendon College, please see here for open roles and expressions of interest.

Caiti Wade

Caiti is a leader of pedagogy at a boys’ secondary school in Brisbane and is doing her EdD in applications of cognitive load theory to secondary mathematics.

Substack – The Disruptive Educator

LinkedIn – Caiti Wade

X/Twitter – @caiti_wade

Episode resources

* Five Things to Know About Largest Cellphone Ban Study – The 74

* “Are you on slide 8 yet?” | National Education Union

* Australian teachers let down by flawed critical thinking capability: instructional coach — EducationHQ

* Greg Ashman’s journey to misrepresenting Hattie case - The Wreckage

* Greg’s response to the above article from ‘The Wreckage’

Acknowledgement of country

We would like to acknowledge The Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we record this podcast, the lands of the Wadawurrung People, and those of the Jagera and Turrbal Peoples, and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.