The Art of Teaching

Joel Birch is a creative facilitator, learning designer, educator, and self-described benevolent troublemaker who believes people do their best thinking through play.

After years supporting creativity in classrooms and helping schools navigate digital transformation, Joel shifted his focus to helping teams across industries think more openly, communicate more honestly, and collaborate with greater courage.

As a Certified Facilitator and Pro Trainer of LEGO® Serious Play®, Joel works with teams on strategy, innovation, vision, and change. Across education, enterprise, leadership, and youth programs, he helps people bring their ideas to the table and build something better together.

David is one of the world’s leading authorities on personal and organisational productivity. He is the creator of Getting Things Done, widely known as GTD, and the bestselling author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, Ready for Anything and Making It All Work. His work has helped millions of people manage commitments, reduce mental overload and create greater clarity in their work and lives.

David is the founder and chairman of the David Allen Company, which delivers GTD training and coaching around the world. More recently, he co-authored Team: Getting Things Done with Others, extending the principles of GTD into collaboration, leadership and shared work.

This is the second time I have had the privilege of speaking with David. In our first conversation, we explored the foundations and practical application of GTD. This time, we look back at the origins and evolution of his work, consider how we sustain clarity in an increasingly complex world, and reflect on meaningful goals, attention, direction and what matters most now.

Amber Fuller is a substantive Deputy Principal, currently working as a HALT Talent Pipeline Advisor with the NSW Department of Education. She is a Highly Accomplished Teacher and serves as a committee member of the NSW HALT Association.
 
Amber is committed to growing expert teacher capacity across the NSW public education system by supporting aspiring and accredited HALTs through innovative, practical approaches that embed the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers into everyday practice. She is passionate about teacher quality, professional learning, and developing teacher leaders who create lasting impact for students, colleagues, and schools.

Andy Brown is currently a Senior Education Officer in Education Scotland, with a specific interest in Mathematics.  Andy was appointed as the first National Specialist Adviser for Mathematics to the Scottish Government in 2024. In that role he bridged policy and practice, working closely with ministers, policy officials, academics, schools and settings, and wider stakeholders. Much of Andy’s current work focuses on the Curriculum Improvement Cycle for Mathematics in Scotland. Andy has been involved in education for over 20 years. He has held roles as a Secondary Teacher of Mathematics, Faculty Head, Depute Head, and Interim Head Teacher of two schools in the Highlands of Scotland. Andy has worked for Education Scotland since 2019 as a Senior Education Officer of Numeracy and Mathematics, and Senior Education Officer of Curriculum Innovation.  He was also appointed as Fellow of the Academy for Mathematical Sciences as part of their inaugural cohort.

Here are a few links to the resources we talked about in the episode: 

Curriculum Improvement Cycle – Education Scotland

Next steps in curriculum improvement - gov.scot

Curriculum Improvement Cycle (CIC): Early Draft Sample materials June 2026 – Curriculum Improvement Cycle

Glenn Solomons helps educational consultants scale and school systems design professional learning that works. He started his career as a high school teacher and school leader before moving into educational consulting, working with organisations including Catholic Schools NSW, the University of Sydney, and the Tasmanian Department of Education.
Today, Glenn runs Cheeky Learning, where he helps educational thought leaders design scalable online courses and learning systems that extend their impact well beyond the room. He's worked with more than 50 organisations to turn deep expertise into learning experiences that are practical, engaging, and built to last, because he's convinced that professional learning doesn't have to be dry to be rigorous, and that brilliant ideas shouldn't be gatekept by geography or budget