When Teachers and Researchers Meet: Language, Learning, and Change

This episode of Leveraging Languages for Learning brings educators and researchers into conversation about how language, learning, and social change intersect. In this Podcast, four contributors — Anne Keary (Monash University), Ben Rampton (King’s College London), Jessie Sambell (Blackburn English Language School), and Dermot Bryers (English for Action, UK) — discuss their professional journeys and the value of collaboration between researchers and on-the-ground teachers.

From bilingual kindergartens in remote Indigenous communities to activist classrooms in London, the speakers trace how lived experience and theory continually reshape one another.  The discussion unfolds from personal journeys into deeper reflections: Why do these two worlds — teachers and academic researchers — often feel divided? What happens when members of the two worlds collaborate, co-teach, and co-write? The guests share the sparks, tensions, and friendships that make such partnerships meaningful.  

This conversation also offers a comparative lens on how language education is evolving in Australia and the UK — revealing shared challenges, different systems, and common hopes for multilingual, socially responsive classrooms.