Science, Retrieval Practice, and Passion with Adam Boxer, Mind the Gap, Ep. 43 (S2E18)

Episode Overview

• Adam Boxer discusses his decision to step down as Head of Science to create a more flexible, "hedonistic" career focused on teaching and his retrieval practice platform, Carousel Learning.
• The conversation explores the design of Carousel Learning, which aims to integrate homework with classwork to create powerful feedback loops for students and teachers.
• The discussion shifts to the emotional and practical challenges of behavior management, with Adam explaining why he is so passionate about defending teachers' experiences.
• Adam clarifies the purpose of his book, describing it not as a philosophical text but as a highly practical "IKEA manual" for teaching science effectively.

Key Concepts

• Career Hedonism: Prioritizing personal enjoyment and passion in career choices by eliminating disliked tasks, such as Adam stepping down from a leadership role to focus on teaching and platform development.
• Succession Planning: The importance of proactively training and appointing internal successors to ensure smooth leadership transitions within schools, a practice often neglected in education.
• Integrating Homework and Classwork: The core principle of the Carousel Learning platform is to make homework a meaningful part of the learning cycle, where data from homework directly informs the start of the next lesson.
• Motivational Loops: Teaching methods that give students agency and ownership over their learning process, fostering a sense of progress and motivation.
• The Gradual Nature of Learning: The idea that the impact of effective teaching and learning strategies is often slow and incremental, with significant progress only visible over long periods.
• The Emotional Toll of Behavior Management: The discussion highlights the severe emotional and psychological impact that challenging student behavior can have on teachers, fueling Adam's passionate defense of their experiences.
• Practical vs. Philosophical Resources: Adam's book is positioned as a dense, practical guide on how to teach, filled with tested methods, rather than a theoretical exploration of why to teach.

Quotes

• At 1:35 - "I'm a bit hedonistic at the moment. I just sort of follow the things that I like and think are important without thinking too much about it." - Adam Boxer explains his new philosophy on his career and life choices.
• At 3:25 - "I think one of the things we're not good at in schools is succession planning." - Adam Boxer highlights a systemic issue in education while discussing the smooth handover he has arranged for his Head of Science role.
• At 9:46 - "...what we've been really trying to work hard at is to use Carousel to integrate homework with classwork." - Adam Boxer explains a core principle of his platform, aiming to make homework a coherent part of the learning process.
• At 19:57 - "Change is slow, right? And the time scales here are long... you don't expect things to be better by the next day already when it comes to learning and memory." - Adam Boxer explains that seeing the true impact of teaching methods requires patience and a long-term view.
• At 22:56 - "You can't help but feel passionately, angrily at people who would belittle that experience." - Adam Boxer on why he gets so frustrated with those who dismiss the severe emotional impact that student misbehavior can have on teachers.
• At 32:34 - "I despise talking about behaviour. I hate it. I absolutely hate it... It is the single part of my job that I resent the most." - Adam Boxer shares his true feelings about behavior management, explaining he only discusses it out of necessity to help others.
• At 41:26 - "The main purpose of the book is to be useful... it's the IKEA manual. This is the science you've got to teach, this is the manual for how to deliver it." - Adam Boxer describes his book as a practical 'how-to' guide for teaching, rather than a philosophical exploration of 'why' to teach.

Takeaways

• Intentionally design your career path to maximize fulfillment by actively focusing on the tasks you enjoy and finding ways to minimize or delegate those you don't.
• Make homework more meaningful by creating a direct feedback loop where student performance on retrieval tasks is immediately used to inform and adapt subsequent classroom instruction.
• Acknowledge and validate the emotional struggles teachers face with student behavior; offering empathy and practical support is more effective than providing simplistic or dismissive advice.
• When creating educational resources, prioritize providing teachers with practical, classroom-tested strategies that they can implement immediately to improve their practice.