Teachers, Educators and the Balancing Act

Evidence-based approaches to literacy and curriculum

This free one-day seminar is designed for teachers, teacher educators and policy makers who are interested in gaining a deeper understanding of research in literacy and curriculum framing.

Visiting Professor Dominic Wyse from University College London (UCL) will present the need for balance and what it means for teachers and educators in the changing policy environment.

Referring to the polarising debates about phonics and evidence-based practices, the opening keynote will showcase why the model of the Double Helix of Reading and Writing is more effective than narrow phonics approaches. The research informed balanced approach will be essential understanding for teachers, educators, pre-service teachers, teacher educators and policy makers.

There are three panels during the day:

Curriculum Panel: An evidence-based approach to teaching across the curriculum

The focus of this panel is how teachers and educators balance the work of enacting mandated curriculum in the context of fast policy changes. Drawing on their discipline and learning context, the expert panel members will answer questions about evidence-based approaches to teaching across the curriculum. This panel will examine the why and how of translating research into practice to provide insights into balancing teaching and educating across mandated curriculum.

Curriculum Panel: An evidence-based approach to teaching across the curriculum

The focus of this panel is how teachers and educators balance the work of enacting mandated curriculum in the context of fast policy changes. Drawing on their discipline and learning context, the expert panel members will answer questions about evidence-based approaches to teaching across the curriculum. This panel will examine the why and how of translating research into practice to provide insights into balancing teaching and educating across mandated curriculum.

Teacher Panel: Translating into practice the lived experience of educators and teachers

Drawing on their extensive lived experiences as educators and teachers, this panel will show how research and practice come together when balancing the diverse demands of a classroom or centre. The panel comprised of experienced teachers and educators will show how negotiating policy and teaching demands can be sustained with an ethic of care.

This free, in-person event will not be live-streamed or recorded. Lunch will be provided.

Keynote speaker

Professor Dominic Wyse
Professor of Early Childhood and Primary Education

Professor Dominic Wyse is recognised for his expertise in national curriculum policies and pedagogy, particularly in the teaching of reading and writing. His book The Balancing Act Initiative on literacy education features prize-winning research, including the theory of the 'Double Helix of Reading and Writing', which received the Wiley Research in Literacy Education Award. He is the founding director of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy (0–11 Years) (HHCP), a research centre focused on primary and early years education. Dominic served as president of the British Educational Research Association (BERA) from 2019 to 2022 and is a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS). From 2012 to 2018, he was an editor of The Curriculum Journal and, before that, an editor of the Cambridge Journal of Education.

At the UCL Institute of Education (IOE), Dominic served as Head of the newly established Department of Learning and Leadership from 2012 to 2019. Before that, he was director of research, consultancy and knowledge transfer in the Faculty of Children and Learning. He also has a strong background in music, beginning with undergraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music. Before joining IOE, Dominic was a senior lecturer at the University of Cambridge, where he was also a fellow of Churchill College, director of studies for education, and the first director of music-making. Earlier in his career, he was a reader at Liverpool John Moores University and a teacher in the infant and junior phases in London, Bradford and Huddersfield.

Event location

NIKERI Institute, Building KC, Deakin University, Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus