A New Podcast Explores Literacy and the Science of Learning

In what way is education like a miracle drug? In an elementary school where 39 different languages are spoken, what happens when all students in a classroom read the same entire novel? What “amazing” thing did teachers see in a high-poverty school district after they adopted a method of explicit writing instruction?

If these questions pique your interest, check out the new six-episode season of the Knowledge Matters Podcast, called “Literacy and the Science of Learning,” part of which I’m hosting. My co-hosts are Dylan Wiliam and Doug Lemov, and each of us took responsibility for two episodes. Five of the episodes, including one of mine, are already out and can be accessed through the Knowledge Matters Campaign website or one of the major podcast platforms. My second episode, the final one of the season, drops on July 29.

Each of us co-hosts has a new book on cognitive science and literacy, and our episodes take off from our respective books. Dylan is a co-author, along with nine other prominent education experts, of Developing Curriculum for Deep Thinking: The Knowledge Revival, which is freely available for download online and is also available in hard copy form, for a price.

Dylan’s podcast episodes—Episodes 1 and 2—provide an engaging excursion into the evidence for the importance of knowledge not only to literacy but to all learning, drawing on interviews with John Sweller, David Geary, and other cognitive science luminaries.

Doug’s new book, which he co-authored with Colleen Driggs and Erica Woolway, is called The Teach Like a Champion Guide to the Science of Reading: Translate Research to Reignite Joy and Meaning in the Classroom. It will be published July 29 and is available for pre-order now.

In Episodes 3 and 4, Doug focuses on two important and often overlooked issues relating to literacy. In Episode 3, he explains the importance of reading fluency and what educators can do to foster it. In his subsequent episode he turns to the significant benefits of having students read whole books rather than just brief passages or excerpts, taking listeners to a Texas fourth-grade classroom where the reading experience has been transformed by having kids read entire novels together.

My two episodes build on my book, Beyond the Science of Reading: Connecting Literacy Instruction to the Science of Learning. I decided to dive into