Hub Chats

’Hub Chats’ is created by the Macquarie University Teachers’ Learning Hub, at Macquarie University in Sydney.
Episodes are released monthly.
’Hub Chats’ is created by the Macquarie University Teachers’ Learning Hub, at Macquarie University in Sydney.
Episodes are released monthly.
Welcome to Hub Chats, the podcast where we bring academic research directly to teachers in a casual and approachable way. Join us as we chat with expert academics from Macquarie University’s School of Education to unpack the latest findings and practical advice that can enhance your teaching practice.
Our goal is to translate complex research into actionable insights, helping you create engaging and effective learning experiences for your students. Tune in for valuable discussions that bridge the gap between academia and the classroom!
Episodes
Episodes



Dec 12, 2025
Dec 12, 2025
28 min
In this episode, Dr Jodie Torrington chats with The Gale History Museum at Macquarie University’s Education and Outreach Coordinator, Dr Yvonne Inall to explore practical ways teachers can integrate community resources like museums into their programmes. Yvonne shares tips on making the most of museum visits and discusses how the museums, such as the Gale Museum at MQ can be a powerful educational tool for your classroom.



Nov 6, 2025
Nov 6, 2025
16 min
In this episode, Professor Sheila Degotardi, the Director of the Centre for Early Childhood Education at Macquarie University chats with Dr Catherine Jones, who is the preschool room teacher and educational leader at Goodstart Kurri Kurri about the benefits and challenges of applying for external funding to support your ECE context.



Oct 22, 2025
27 | Social media and language learning
Oct 22, 2025
Oct 22, 2025
21 min
Have you thought about engaging your language learners by harnessing real-life examples that they view on social media? Listen to Dr Yeong-Ju Lee talk about how to use technological innovations in language education, and how you can promote informal language learning using TikTok and Instagram. She shares pedagogical strategies for teachers to integrate multimodal and real-life practices into language classrooms and encourages students to “play” with language using social media.
Here is the link to her book that we talk about in the episode: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003543541/social-media-language-learning-yeong-ju-lee
**Special 20% discount (valid until 31 Oct 2025): use code 25SMA3**



Oct 8, 2025
Oct 8, 2025
30 min
In this episode, Professor Fay Hadley chats with Sene Gede, Centre Director at Boundary Lane Children’s Centre and Akram Eshaghi, Centre Director at Uniting Airlie Preschool Oatlands as they share their advice and strategies about engaging with culturally and linguistically diverse families.



Sep 24, 2025
Sep 24, 2025
35 min
Professor Deborah Youdell, Dean of the Macquarie School of Education chats with Dr Tamara Bibby about psychoanalytic approaches in education. Tamara invites educators to think beyond rational “self-knowing” to the “incompleteness of knowing” in real, living classrooms using psychoanalytic ways of thinking. This episode is valuable listening for both new and experienced teachers.
For more teacher resources and education inspiration, visit the Macquarie University Teachers’ Learning Hub.

‘Hub Chats’ supports the Macquarie University Teachers' Learning Hub. We create high-quality professional learning microcredentials to support educators and enhance teaching across Australia. Our microcredentials are either 10-hours or 25-hours in duration, depending on the course.
Macquarie School of Education is a New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA) recognised PD provider.

Your host
‘Hub Chats’ is hosted by me, Dr Jodie Torrington. I am the project manager of Macquarie University Teachers' Learning Hub, and I also research and teach in the School of Education at Macquarie University. I'm an experienced primary school teacher, and I have taught across Australia and NZ. I am also an Honorary Fellow of the Teachers' Guild of NSW.
I am passionate about making sure that teachers know about new directions and advancements being made in educational research and providing busy teachers with this information in the easiest, and most useful way possible!
We hope this podcast is helpful to you and your teaching journey.
Want to connect? Contact us at
or visit our website here.



