For this brand new episode of the Rethinking Education podcast, I spoke with the brilliant Hywel Roberts about an idea he calls botheredness – a way of teaching that draws pupils into learning by creating context, curiosity and tension.
The power of story
Hywel’s starting point is simple: human beings are wired for stories.
Almost every compelling story contains three elements:
People
Place
Problem
Without a problem, nothing happens. With a problem, knowledge becomes useful.
He gives the following example:
Let’s say we are Roman soldiers standing on a beach in what we now call Kent. The ship that brought us here has just sailed away. It’s raining. We don’t know the land. And we need to survive.
Immediately the knowledge has a purpose:
What’s it like to be a Roman?
How do we organise our army?
What equipment do we carry?
How do we build settlements?
Instead of answering abstract questions, students are now solving problems within a narrative.
It’s drama as a vehicle for exploration.
‘Protecting children into learning’
Hywel uses a phrase I find very powerful: protecting children into learning.
What he means by this is creating a classroom climate where pupils feel safe enough to participate, imagine, speculate and explore ideas.
Stories help to create that space.
When a lesson has a shared narrative – when the teacher and pupils are in it together – the dynamic shifts. The knowledge is no longer something being delivered cold from the front of the room. It becomes something the class needs in order to move forward.
In other words, story gives knowledge a job to do.
Making botheredness stick
Hearing a great idea in a podcast or a training session is one thing.
Making it part of everyday classroom practice is another.
That’s why Hywel and I are running a programme together this year called Implementing Botheredness 2026.
The aim is to combine:
Hywel’s pedagogy of botheredness
My implementation know-how
In other words, we want to move from inspiration to sustained change.
The programme runs across six sessions from May to November 2026, with time in between to test ideas in classrooms, reflect on what works, and refine practice with support from the group.
Four sessions will be face-to-face in central London (always on a Friday, followed by a social), and two will take place online. Each day ends with an optional social so that participants can continue the conversation informally.
The focus is practical:
designing narrative hooks for lessons
using ‘let’s say’ scenarios
teacher-in-role techniques
protecting pupils into learning
embedding the approach across departments and schools
Listen to the episode
If the idea of botheredness is new to you, this podcast episode is a good place to start.
In the conversation we explore:
why pupils so often ask ‘Why are we learning this?’
how stories create curiosity and tension
the idea of people, place and problem
what it means to protect children into learning
the barriers that stop imaginative pedagogy becoming routine practice
You’ll also find it wherever you get your podcasts - just search for Rethinking Education.
Interested in the Implementing Botheredness 2026?
Places are limited, and the early bird deadline is Friday March 27. You can secure your place here:
Or, if you’d prefer to talk things through first, you can book a free 20-minute call with me and Hywel:
Sometimes a quick conversation is the easiest way to decide whether something will be useful in your context.
