Talking Teaching

Episode 1, Season 10 of Talking Teaching begins with a powerful conversation about one of education's most important challenges: creating schools where every student feels safe, connected, valued, and ready to learn.
Host of Talking Teaching, Sophie Specjal PhD is joined by Tom Brunzell, PhD (University of Melbourne) and Bryan Field (Principal, Monterey Secondary College) to explore how schools can move beyond reactive approaches to behaviour and towards relationship-centred practices that strengthen belonging, engagement, wellbeing, and achievement through Trauma-Informed Strengths-Based Education.
Drawing on decades of research, leadership experience, and whole-school transformation, Tom and Bryan unpack what trauma-informed education really means, why belonging matters so deeply for learning, and how educators can create environments where both students and staff flourish.
This episode highlights how schools can create the conditions for students to feel seen, supported, challenged, and capable, while building cultures that can transform school engagement.
Whether you're a teacher, school leader, system leader, researcher, parent, or policymaker, this conversation offers practical insights and hopeful possibilities for the future of education.
Access more resources and show notes and show notes on the Faculty Wepage: https://education.unimelb.edu.au/talking-teaching
Our Guests:
Associate Professor Tom Brunzell, PhD
Associate Professor Tom Brunzell is an educator, researcher, and educational leader in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne. His work focuses on trauma-informed education, wellbeing sciences, educational leadership, equity, belonging, engagement, and strengths-based approaches to teaching and learning.
Tom has worked extensively with schools, education systems, and community organisations across Australia and internationally to support evidence-informed approaches that improve student wellbeing, engagement, belonging, and learning outcomes. He created the Berry Street Education Model and has contributed significantly to the development of trauma-informed educational practices in schools across Australia and internationally.
His current research explores trauma-informed educational leadership, culturally responsive education, inclusion and disability-informed practice, educational equity, teacher wellbeing, and school transformation.
Bryan Field
Bryan Field is the Principal of Monterey Secondary College and a recognised educational leader in trauma-informed school improvement, educational equity, and school culture transformation and a Faculty of Education Alumni. 
With more than fifteen years of experience across youth work, social care, intervention services, and education, Bryan has led significant whole-school improvement initiatives focused on belonging, relational safety, engagement, attendance, wellbeing, and achievement.
Through the Frankston North Education Plan and the implementation of trauma-informed educational practices, Monterey Secondary College and its feeder primary schools have become recognised as a leading example of how research-informed approaches can be translated into sustainable school improvement and positive outcomes for students, staff, and communities.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
University of Melbourne Faculty of Education
https://education.unimelb.edu.au
Berry Street Education Model
https://www.berrystreet.org.au/learning-and-resources/berry-street-education-model
Frankston North Education Plan
https://www.vic.gov.au/frankston-north-education-plan
Master of Instructional Leadership
https://study.unimelb.edu.au/find/courses/graduate/master-of-instructional-leadership/

Special thanks to the Faculty of Education and Professor Marek Tesar for their support of thought leadership and for shaping these essential discussions and leadership of impactful work at University of Melbourne . Thank you to the UoM Law Faculty for our new studio & Greta Robenstone & John McCarthy.

In this episode of Talking Teaching, host Dr Sophie Specjal explores the story of Hester Hornbrook Academy, a fee-free, Independent Special Assistance School (SAS School) in Victoria supporting young people aged 15–25 who have experienced significant barriers to education, including trauma, mental health challenges, family violence, housing instability, or prolonged disengagement from schooling. 
The episode examines how learning and wellbeing are intentionally designed together to re-engage students and achieve successful outcomes and a sense of belonging. 
Joining host Sophie Specjal are Sally Lasslett, Executive Principal, and Elida Brereton, board member and long-serving former principal.
Together, they unpack what makes SAS schools like Hester Hornbrook distinctive: a healing-oriented approach to education, flexible learning environments shaped by student voice, and a multidisciplinary model that brings wellbeing and learning together without lowering expectations.
The conversation explores the realities of re-engaging students who may not yet feel safe in “traditional” schooling, the importance of staff support and supervision in high-complexity settings, and why personalised learning plans and applied learning projects can provide a powerful bridge back to achievement.
They also reflect on the sustained national growth of Special Assistance Schools in the diverse Independent School sector over the past decade, discussing why these models have expanded rapidly in response to increasing student complexity and disengagement, and what this means for the future of schooling in Australia.

 
More information and useful links are available via this ⁠⁠⁠⁠link⁠⁠⁠⁠.
 
Talking Teaching is available on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠, ⁠Spotify⁠, or wherever you get your podcasts.
 
We’d love to hear your feedback on the series, send your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to ⁠foe-news@unimelb.edu.au⁠ or contact host ⁠⁠Dr Sophie Specjal⁠⁠ sspecjal@unimelb.edu.au. Sophie would love to hear from you.

This podcast is produced by the ⁠Faculty of Education⁠, University of Melbourne.

In this episode of Talking Teaching, our host Sophie Specjal sits down with Dr Jennifer Buckingham Dr Jennifer Buckingham to explore the critical intersection of reading, reasoning, and artificial intelligence in contemporary education.
Drawing on decades of research and policy experience, Dr Buckingham explains why reading is far more than decoding words; it is foundational to comprehension, critical thinking, and lifelong learning. The discussion traces the evolution of reading instruction in Australia, highlighting the importance of systematic phonics and evidence-based practice in improving literacy outcomes.The conversation also turns to the challenges faced in secondary schooling when reading difficulties persist, the impact of screen-based reading on comprehension, and what the rise of AI means for literacy, learning, and thinking. Throughout, Sophie and Jennifer discuss the enduring importance of fostering a love of reading, building strong teacher knowledge, and ensuring all students have the opportunity to become confident, capable readers, now and into the future.
 
More information and useful links are available via this ⁠⁠⁠⁠link⁠⁠⁠⁠.
 
Talking Teaching is available on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠, ⁠Spotify⁠, or wherever you get your podcasts.
 
We’d love to hear your feedback on the series, send your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to ⁠foe-news@unimelb.edu.au⁠ or contact host ⁠⁠Dr Sophie Specjal⁠⁠ sspecjal@unimelb.edu.au. Sophie would love to hear from you.

This podcast is produced by the ⁠Faculty of Education⁠, University of Melbourne

What can Indigenous knowledge teach us about raising and educating children? Anishinaabe visiting scholar Professor Jan Hare, from the M’Chigeeng First Nation and Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, joins host Dr Sophie Specjal to explore how Indigenous principles can guide the way we care for and teach children. Professor Hare shares stories such as The Three Sisters, highlights the role of ceremony and learning with the land, and invites educators to see young children as ‘gifts.’ She also reflects on how these perspectives could help shape policy reforms in Australia.

https://education.unimelb.edu.au/talking-teaching

How do we measure what truly matters in education? Laureate Professor Emeritus John Hattie joins host Dr Sophie Specjal to reflect on five decades of research, leadership and global influence. From his pioneering work on Visible Learning to mentoring over 200 PhD students, Hattie explores the mentors, milestones and moments that defined his career, celebrates teacher expertise, and considers how schools can nurture curiosity and belonging. He also looks ahead to how AI may transform classrooms and learning.
 
More information and useful links are available via this ⁠link⁠.
 
Talking Teaching is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
 
We’d love to hear your feedback on the series, send your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to foe-news@unimelb.edu.au or contact host ⁠Dr Sophie Specjal⁠ sspecjal@unimelb.edu.au. Sophie would love to hear from you.

This podcast is produced by the Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne.