When Will They Learn?

This week, we begin with the remarkable story of Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy, exploring how one of England’s highest-performing schools found itself at the centre of controversy over discipline, behaviour, and what happens when a school is accused of being too strict. Greg takes us through the long and fascinating history behind the headlines, raising questions about whether the media really does present the full picture.
From there, we discuss the persistent gender imbalance in senior mathematics subjects, unpacking what the evidence says about why these patterns remain and the assumptions that often dominate public debate.
Finally, we turn to the use of parent/guardian behaviour contracts in schools, considering what they reveal about the changing relationship between schools and families, where responsibility for student behaviour begins and ends, and why these policies generate such strong reactions.
Get in touch on any of our socials below! We get a lot of listener requests, but will try to cover as many of your suggestions as possible.
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, education consultant and is doing her doctorate in cognitive science.
Substack – The Disruptive Educator
LinkedIn – Caiti Wade
X/Twitter – @caiti_wade
Episode resources
* The school punished for being too strict | Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy
* VCE maths enrolments: Victorian student numbers rebound after pandemic slump but gender gap persists
* Private school parent behaviour: Why elite schools are introducing mandatory contracts to combat rising entitlement
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 the lands of the Jagera and Turrbal Peoples, and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whenwilltheylearn.substack.com

This week, we’re talking education gossip - not the staffroom kind, but the stories that dominate headlines and social media before anyone has had time to think them through.
We start by discussing the debate surrounding school suspensions, isolation, and behaviour management, following on from last episode’s conversation. Along the way, we explore how schools are portrayed in the media and how public narratives can shape perceptions of education.
From there, we turn our attention to science education in Australasia before the conversation inevitably drifts into internet arguments, education social media, and why online debates seem so determined to turn every issue into a binary.
Finally, we wrap up with a discussion about working-class students in the UK, using a recent news story to reflect on disadvantage, opportunity, and the stories we choose to tell about education.
Have something you want us to discuss in a future episode? Or want to find us?
Get in touch on any of our socials below! We get a lot of listener requests, but will try to cover as many of your suggestions as possible.
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, education consultant and is doing her doctorate in cognitive science.
Substack – The Disruptive Educator
LinkedIn – Caiti Wade
X/Twitter – @caiti_wade
Episode resources
* Isolation as a form of discipline: how should schools manage poor student behaviour?
* No one pedagogy is best: science academics call out ‘binary’ debates in new blueprint — EducationHQ
* [Warning: EXPLICIT] How to Disagree | Paul Graham
* White working-class children 'failed by schools system'
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 the lands of the Jagera and Turrbal Peoples, and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whenwilltheylearn.substack.com

This week we’re diving into three topics that have generated plenty of headlines, strong opinions, and more than a few questionable cases of what we’ve termed ‘neurononsense’.
We unpack discussions around the Victorian' Government’s decision to give principals more powers to suspend students, finally talk about Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and its inherent similarities to learning styles (the neuromyth that keeps on giving!), and talk to technology in the classroom.
As always, we’re less interested in what’s popular than what’s supported by evidence - or what’s not.
Have something you want us to discuss in a future episode? Or want to find us?
Get in touch on any of our socials below! We get a lot of listener requests, but will try to cover as many of your suggestions as possible.
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, education consultant and is doing her doctorate in cognitive science.
Substack – The Disruptive Educator
LinkedIn – Caiti Wade
X/Twitter – @caiti_wade
Episode resources
* Victorian public schools suspend about 150 students a day | The Age
* Lessons (not) learned: The troubling similarities between learning styles and universal design for learning. | Guy Boysen
* ‘They can’t resist them’: teacher reveals extent of digital device distraction | Sarah Duggan
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 the lands of the Jagera and Turrbal Peoples, and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whenwilltheylearn.substack.com

In this episode of When Will They Learn?, Greg and Caiti tackle a stack of education policy debates - beginning with the most pressing and meta question of all: is it, in fact, all Ashman’s fault?
From claims that evidence-informed approaches have reduced teaching to “death by PowerPoint” and scripting, to the shift from the reading wars to the emerging learning wars, the conversation explores how policy, ideology and evidence continue to shape the education landscape.
The pair also unpack proposals to assess students’ use of AI in NAPLAN, asking what schools are actually for and why writing still matters in an age of generative technology. Finally, they discuss NAPLAN’s role as an accountability measure and whether it can help schools identify ineffective teaching practices.
It’s policy-heavy, slightly controversial, and somehow, it all comes back to Ashman.
Have something you want us to discuss in a future episode? Or want to find us?
Get in touch on any of our socials below!
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, education consultant and is doing her doctorate in cognitive science.
Substack – The Disruptive Educator
LinkedIn – Caiti Wade
X/Twitter – @caiti_wade
Episode resources
* Marty’s Blog with the long title on Ashman and Ochre (Warning: explicit language)
* Victorian schools: The reading wars are over. The learning wars are just beginning
* Principals call for NAPLAN writing test to be axed | The Educator K/12
* Reimagining schools where teachers and students thrive - 128_EDUCATOR_Autumn_2026.pdf
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 the lands of the Jagera and Turrbal Peoples, and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whenwilltheylearn.substack.com

This episode’s theme is “neuroscience!” Actually, it’s not, but it comes up a few times.
Greg and Caiti kick things off by unpacking a recent article discussing potential limitations of cognitive load theory. They talk about where these sit within the current cognitive load theory research.
The conversation then takes an unexpected turn into information theory. What is information? Can meaning actually be transmitted? And what is the meaning of meaning? Expect a detour into entropy, whether it might have a role to play in cognitive load theory, and an unexpected (brief) defence of PowerPoint.
Finally, Greg and Caiti dive into the much-discussed attainment grouping report from the Education Endowment Foundation and University College London on mathematics grouping. What do the findings genuinely tell us? What are the limitations? And, most importantly, what should teachers and school leaders actually do when thinking about how to group students?
Have something you want us to discuss in a future episode? Or want to find us?
Get in touch
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, education consultant and is doing her doctorate in cognitive science.
Substack – The Disruptive Educator
LinkedIn – Caiti Wade
X/Twitter – @caiti_wade
Episode resources
* Beyond Cognitive Load Theory - by Dr Peter Ellerton, PhD
* The Conversation Article [comment section]: Teaching how to think is just as important as teaching anything else
* Beyond Cognitive Load Theory: Why Learning Needs More than Memory Management - Published Paper
* The Transmission Trap: What information theory tells us about teaching - Christian Moore Anderson
* OSF | Cognitive load theory and informational entropy - Greg Ashman Unpublished paper
* Student Grouping Study | EEF and UCL
* Caiti’s Substack summary of the EEF and UCL Report - attainment grouping & the eef/ucl report: choose your casualty
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 the lands of the Jagera and Turrbal Peoples, and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whenwilltheylearn.substack.com