On the recent school holiday break, our ACEL WA Leadership Book Club met to discuss James Nottingham’s new book Teach Brilliantly: Small Shifts that Lead to Big Gains in Student Learning. This was a departure from our usual leadership-focused selections, often broad and beyond the classroom. Instead, this book brought us back to the heart of education — the classroom, where small instructional shifts can significantly impact student learning.
As instructional leaders, everyone in the room had valuable insights to share — takeaways from reading the book that they planned to bring back to their teams. We began by watching a video message from James Nottingham, recorded especially for our group, in which he posed thought-provoking questions aligned with the book’s six key themes: teaching, engagement, challenge, feedback, expectations, and equity. The discussion that followed was rich and inspiring. While I could fill pages with what we explored, I’ll instead share just one small shift that resonated deeply with me — one that I see could lead to big gains in our context at Dayton Primary School.
This shift relates to questioning. Nottingham (p. 30) writes, “When used effectively, questioning can draw attention to whatever you want your students to think about. This, in turn, engages them in the right thing.” Traditionally, questioning follows the Initiate–Respond–Evaluate (IRE) model. Nottingham encourages us to replace that with a more dialogic approach: Initiate–Respond–Explore. Instead of simply confirming or correcting an answer, we invite deeper thinking with prompts like: “Tell us more about that,” “What clues led you to that idea?” or “What else could explain this?”
This subtle change can transform classroom culture from focusing on ‘right answers’ to fostering curiosity, critical thinking, and collaborative dialogue. It shifts the emphasis from performance to process, helping students embrace uncertainty as a space for growth and exploration.
At Dayton, our instructional framework includes the EDI strategy TAPPLE to check for understanding, where “E” stands for Echo, Elaborate, or Explain. My key takeaway from Teach Brilliantly is the potential power in changing this “E” to Explore. Instead of echoing a correct answer, we explore how the student reached it. Instead of elaborating on a near-correct answer, we explore their reasoning. And rather than explaining why an answer is wrong, we explore diverse perspectives and alternative thinking.
As instructional leaders, we influence our learning ecosystems through coaching, mentoring, and professional development. This one small shift — from evaluate to explore — could significantly impact how our students think and learn.
I have also been reflecting on how this shift might improve my conversations with colleagues. In coaching and collaborative settings, choosing to explore rather than evaluate keeps the dialogue open, respectful, and focused on growth. Instead of offering my opinion straight away, I can ask, “What led you to that idea?” or “What other options are you considering?” or “What matters most to you right now?” These types of questions support a culture of curiosity, trust, and shared learning.
Personally, this shift challenges some deep-rooted beliefs I have held about the need to be right and to have the answers. Letting go of that mindset creates space for genuine curiosity and aligns with the principle of Ubuntu that we often talk about at Dayton: “I am because we are.” Embracing uncertainty and seeking to understand others more fully can help build a culture where everyone feels valued, respected and heard.
It is remarkable how much can come from one small change in thinking. I hope this reflection encourages you to consider how you might shift from evaluate to explore in your own context, and to imagine the benefits that could follow.
REGISTER NOW: Leading Innovation in Education - May Meet up
innovation /ɪnəˈveɪʃn/: noun – the introduction of new things, ideas or ways of doing something...
Join us to meet with educational leaders from different schools and sectors, across all learning stages from early childhood to adult education, to discuss all things innovation in education and to hear about new ideas for improvement. Come along to hear from fabulous speakers who share case studies of leading innovation in different contexts.
Confirmed speakers:
- Joanne Willesee, Principal Hammond Park Secondary College
Topic: Building culture and leadership agility from a new school perspective
- Wayne Revitt, Head of Junior School, Penrhos College
Topic: Building a culture that values positive rebels over the damaging stereotype of the ‘good (compliant) girl
- Kate Johnston, Learning Analytics Consultant and Nick Smith, School Support Team Leader, Catholic Education WA
Topic: Implementing a data analytics platform that identifies student data insights and leverages AI to provide targeted WA-curriculum aligned learning experiences
- Professor Karen Murcia, Curtin University School of Education
Topic: Leading STEM Education Innovation in the Early Years
📆 Thursday 22nd May 2025
🕗 4:00pm to 6:00pm
📍 Hammond Park Secondary College,
🎫 No cost
REGISTER NOW
SAVE THE DATES
Term 2 Hot Topic Event – Pathways to Leadership
📆 Wednesday June 11th 2025
🕗 5:00pm to 7:00pm
📍 TBC
🎫 No cost for members, $10 for non-members
July ACEL WA Book Club – Book TBC
We have yet to decide on our book, so please fill in this form to indicate the book of most interest to you before this Friday 9th May.
📆 Thursday July 17th 2025
🕗 10:00am to 12:00pm
📍 TBC
🎫 No cost
New ACEL WA Members
We want to extend a warm welcome to our new (or reinstated) ACEL members in WA who joined this past month - we look forward to connecting with you during the year and hope to see you at an event soon.
- Lisa Ledger, Baynton West Primary School
- Krystal McKnight, Ballajura Community College
- Michelle Fitzpatrick, St Mary’s Anglican Girls School
- Rob Thomas, Wesley College
Thank you for either joining our community or rejoining, and we encourage you to invite your colleagues to be part of this fabulous group of passionate and dedicated educators and leaders.
ACEL WA Executive Team Spotlight – Krystal Mcknight
This month our ACEL WA executive member spotlight shines on Krystal McKnight, Head of Arts at Ballajura Community College. Krystal’s profile is below and she has shared her thoughts on rethinking creativity in the linked article.
READ Rethinking Creativity: More Than a Talent by Krystal Mcknight
A big thank you to Krystal for sharing these words of wisdom with us all, it definitely gives us something to think about in relation to the value we place on creativity in our own context, and how important we perceive it to be in the learning process — as Krystal says, it is not knowledge alone, but imagination and creative courage that will shape the future. Do connect with Krystal on LinkedIn and comment on her article in the Members’ Lounge to share your own thoughts and open a dialogue on creativity.
We hope to see many of you out and about at upcoming events this term and wish you well on your leadership adventures.
As always, I am reachable by email if you have any questions, comments or just want to connect.
Rachael Lehr
ACEL WA Branch President