Emma & Tom's PGCE Podcast

We've reached the end of another year of podcasting, and ready to give you all a summer break from our dulcet tones. To wrap up our seventh year in front of the microphones, we're delighted to welcome back Richard West from Stanwell School. Richard's here to contribute to our occasional series of episodes unpacking the nature of different subjects as they are experienced by pupils in the classroom. This time around, it's the turn of physics: a subject with a fearsome reputation, a shortage of teachers and a whole host of myths that Richard's keen to take on. In the course of our in-depth discussion, Richard shares his passion for the subject, his pitch for why we should study it, a call for more physicists to consider teaching it, and plenty of interesting goodies to make us all think. Thanks to Richard for giving up his Friday evening to record, and to you for sticking with us for another year of podcasting. We'll be back (hopefully…) in September with version 3 of our So You Think You Want to be a Teacher episode. Join us then!——————————————————Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 9th May 2025

When we heard that Finola Wilson from our friends at Impact Wales had published a book, our first reaction (after congratulations!) was to realise how ridiculously long it's been since we last spoke to our fellow Welsh education podcasters. Long-time listeners will know that we visited their HQ in Caerphilly (and Tom has particularly fond memories of hauling the sound equipment through an incredible downpour of rain) just before Covid to talk about the sterling work that they do in schools. Now, Finola has made a trip in the opposite direction to visit our studio and talk about how we support disadvantaged pupils to achieve the best they can. As she explains, disadvantage covers so much more than poverty (though this is an important angle, as several of our past episodes cover) and the keys to mitigating disadvantage lie not only with those in charge of strategy and policy, but with individual teachers in their classrooms. In this extended interview, Finola gives us some golden bits of information from the book, as well as a few controversial opinions. Enjoy it!Finola's book is Closing the Disadvantage Gap in Schools: A Visual Workbook, and is out now, published by Routledge. You can find Finola and Jane on the web at impact.wales———————————Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 21st May 2025

It's something of a tradition to haul Emma in for a doctoral progress check, and today she's digging into her chosen research approach: participatory research.If you listened to Emma's last episode, you'll remember that she examined her own research worldview and values, and concluded that she couldn't find out what she needs to know without making her participants into co-researchers, which makes for a complicated setup! Today she's telling us what her participants said about what and how she needs to go about discovering how new drama teachers learn to be teachers. If you're not a drama person, there's plenty in the discussion about how to involve the subjects of your research in shaping the project, and that's likely to be relevant for the increasing number of teachers doing their own research and enquiry, whether for an MA, doctorate or as part of improving their teaching. Thanks to Emma for the update!-------------------------------------------------------------Recorded in studio D0.18 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 25th November 2024

We welcome Dr Fiona Heath-Diffey to the studio today to talk us through her doctoral research into the experiences of primary student teachers getting to grips with the idea of teaching PE. Fiona has previously joined us to talk about physical literacy - the idea that PE lessons should give pupils a lifelong healthy relationship with exercise and their bodies, rather than teachers taking an elitist view centred around creating elite sports people. In her research, Fiona uncovered some compelling stories about primary student teachers as they worked on their PE teaching skills, and about how their own lived experiences of sport and exercise had a bearing on their learning. Thanks to Fiona for battling through some serious lurgy to tell us all about it!——————————————————————Recorded in Studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 7th March 2025

For teachers it's the Easter break, and so we like to bring you another of our selections of the interesting, humorous and strange things we have been reading or otherwise consuming lately. This time around, Tom's taking a look at what it's like to be a 'progressive activist', while also musing on the power of the legally-enforced lunch break. Meanwhile, Emma has a book recommendation and a bit of a rant about the dusty old tropes wheeled out every time a TV drama is set in a school. Many laughs were had along the way, and we hope it whiles away a bit of time for you too. (And don't tell our colleagues where we hide when we're trying to get work done!) Normal service will be resumed in two weeks' time. ---------------------------------------------Recorded in Studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 11th April 2025

Back in our non-camera-enabled studio, we've got some thoughts for you today about how observation can be made more purposeful. Often found as an initial activity at the start of student teacher placements, it can sometimes be a missed opportunity if student teachers simply stand at the back and try to make sense of what's going on in a busy classroom in an unfamiliar school. That's why we got some top-quality school colleagues in to discuss the challenges of making observation purposeful, and some simple strategies to give things a little more structure. They produced some clips, and we're bringing you those today. After that, we flip things around and look at those moments where mentors are observing student teachers and giving feedback. What can we do to make those experiences even richer? We hope there's something in there to get you thinking if you work with student teachers, whether inside or outside Wales. Thanks to all our colleagues who helped with this project: Sioned Dafydd, Lucy Donovan, Nia Lockett, Lauren Rees, Scott Morgan, Rhian Staples and Rhian Wyn Griffiths. -------------------------------------Recorded in Studio B2.10A at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 28th February 2025.

Back in our normal studio, we welcome Professor David Egan back to the podcast. David was last with us taking about the poverty gap in education, and today he's here to tell us about a report he's written into the recruitment and retention of secondary school teachers.The report ranges widely around lots of important questions about what is shaping up to be something of a crisis for the profession, not just here in Wales but across the UK and, increasingly, internationally. David and his team have tried to find out why primary seems more attractive than secondary for people seeking to learn to be a teacher (despite primary teaching being really hard work), and what goes on once teachers get a job in a school. Are secondary school working conditions fit for a 21st century world of WFH, and do school leaders have the tools they need to develop their teachers professionally throughout their careers?All these questions and more make for an interesting discussion with David. You can read the whole report from David and the team here: https://issuu.com/cardiffmet/docs/a_future_teaching_profession_for_wales--------------------------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 3rd March 2025.

We're in the 'other' studio today which, to our delight, is not bristling with cameras! Apologies to the very small club of people who watch our episodes on YouTube.Emma was recently asked to review a book for the National Drama subject association: Teaching and Learning Shakespeare through Theatre Based Practice. Today we bring you an extended chat about the book, what it brings to those who want to use theatre based practice to help pupils access the work of Shakespeare, and what wider themes we can draw out for teachers in general. Thanks to Emma for doing all the hard work on this episode, and we'll be back with our normal camera-enabled service next time. ------------------------------------------Recorded in studio B2.10A at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 28th February 2025

We make no apology for having based several of our episodes around the person that many student teachers report is the single most important person in their teacher education journey: the mentor. They're the school-based colleague who looks after the student teacher on placement, gives them advice, feedback and support, and assesses their teaching. It just so happens that one of Emma's many jobs is to be on the team that supports those all-important mentors, and today we're joined by Sian Wickersham, who's another member of that mentor support group. In this episode, we chew over some of the difficult issues that arise in trying to define the role of mentor, how the university can support them, and what research tells us about some of the tricky contradictions that sit at the heart of the job. --------------------------------Recorded in Studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 12th February 2025.

Today we welcome Kelly Bubbins from Willows High School in Cardiff. Willows is located in a part of Cardiff that's not without its challenges, and as Kelly tells us, assumptions about what that means for the aspirations pupils can have for themselves were a big problem for the school. This translated into poor behaviour and low aspiration, and the school decided to have a reset of its policies to see if something could be done about it. Kelly explains to us how, after the school looked outwards to other organisations, and to research, it settled on a strategy that was Marmite to some, but quickly showed results for the pupils and teachers. After initially importing approaches from elsewhere, the school then evolved these so they were a better fit for their own context. The results of that are in in the form of a glowing Estyn report hot off the press, and we're grateful to Kelly for helping to explain the story behind what happened. --------------------------------------------------------Recorded in Studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 17th January 2025

Today we're all on our own without a guest, because we're presenting original Cardiff Met research! But our colleague Sioned Dafydd is with us in spirit as she was a key member of the three-person research team that carried out this work. Today we're looking at what happens when student teachers change from one school placement to another, and when they move from their initial teacher education into their first job. In particular, we're focusing on the part that Wales's Professional Standards for Teaching and Leadership have to play, but many of the issues we uncovered are universal for all of us who work with new members of the profession. Using the results of interviews with student teachers and their school-based mentors over the course of a year (plus a final interview with three of our participants once they had secured jobs), we pieced together what goes on when new teachers make the transition from one school to another. With a little help from theories by Wenger, Maton and Korthagen & Lagerwerf, we try to explain what causes those tricky moments in new schools when people feel they've gone backwards, and propose some ways to make things easier. --------------------------------------------Recorded in studio D0.18 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 16th December 2024

We interrupt our normal service with a callout to all our listeners who are secondary school teachers in Wales!Dear teacher,  Cardiff Met is working with Canterbury Christ Church University on a research project to explore teacher-teacher dialogue around Curriculum for Wales. As a first stage of the project, we're releasing a survey aimed at secondary school teachers across Wales. We would really appreciate you, as a secondary school teacher in Wales, taking the time to complete this survey. It should take 15 minutes. We also ask you to have a conversation with your teaching colleagues about the survey so that they have a reminder to complete it. We're hoping to understand the conversations you have before launching some research interventions later in the project. We plan to donate money to some Welsh charities in line with responses to the survey. Go to our website to find out more about our project and sign up for updates. nicer.org.uk/cultivating-dialogue  Here's the survey in EnglishDyma'r Arolwg yn GymraegThank you / Diolch! 

In a very impressive move to win 'most dedicated podcast guest', today we welcome Dr Rachel Shanks from the University of Aberdeen to our studio in person! For obvious reasons, our original request to Rachel involved a down-the-line interview, but we were very happy indeed to be able to instead welcome her to Cardiff after an epic train journey from Scotland.Rachel has had a major impact on school uniform policy in Scotland following her work with students to analyse the policies of a huge number of schools in the country, and today she joins us to discuss this often under-appreciated aspect of school life. As we found, the more you dig in to what seems like a relatively simple topic, the more interesting cans of worms get opened, and regular listeners to the podcast will know that's just the way we like it!The discussion ranges across Rachel's around such knotty issues as affordability, sustainability, comfort, and why schools feel the need to have uniforms in the first place. If you want to find out more about Rachel's work, you can check out her web page here.------------------------------------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 18th November 2024.

It's that festive time of year again, and hopefully anyone involved in the world of education is relaxing after a very long Autumn term.We're back with our usual Christmas offering - though we're out of our normal studio as our friends in the Sport Broadcast and Media programmes are having a busy last week of term up on the second floor. In a partially successful attempt to cut the duration of our epic Christmas special, we've limited ourselves to four items each, and as ever, neither of us knows what the other one is about to bring to the table in a white knuckle ride of an episode recorded as close to the end of term as we dare…We hope you enjoy the resulting chat, and it whiles away a post-Christmas walk or two. We'll be back with our normal service in two weeks' time. Merry Christmas from Emma & Tom!——————————————————Recorded in studio D0.12 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 19th December 2024.

One of the perks of hosting the podcast is that we get to invite people who've influenced us to come on as guests, and in our world of teacher education, there are few people who've had more influence on us than Professor Trevor Mutton from the University of Oxford. Co-author of a huge number of articles and books that have shaped our thinking about how new teachers learn, we've been privileged to work with Trevor for a number of years. Now, we've managed to get him into the studio to discuss an article he's co-authored about Initial Teacher Education, whether we as a profession have a clear story to tell about how we educate new teachers, and why that matters. But the discussion ranges more widely than the article, looking at how teacher education policy in England has moved in a different direction from that in Wales, and chewing over some of the really tricky questions around what we believe about what it means to be a profession. The article we were talking about in the main discussion is: ‘Learning to think, perform and act with integrity: does teacher education have a signature pedagogy, and why does this matter?' by Clare Brooks, Joanna McIntyre and Trevor Mutton. The article mentioned by Trevor in something interesting is ‘Educative mentors? The role of classroom teachers in initial teacher education. A New Zealand study' by Helen Trevethan.----------------------------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 6th November 2024.

Teaching people to be teachers can feel like a bit of a head-spinner - it can get meta quite quickly! But teacher educators (in school or in university) are also part of a wider group of slightly unusual people who teach people to become public-service professionals like social workers, youth workers or police officers. In all of these cases, these educators have moved from a professional role to a role teaching people to do that job. While our colleagues looking after students in their work placements still do their original job too, in the case of university-based educators, they have left their original job role entirely and are trying to carve out a new position - not quite a 'normal' university lecturer, but not a teacher/social worker/whatever any more, either. We're delighted to be joined once again by Dr Louise Allen-Walker, together with Dan Williams who's making his podcast debut. They've been investigating clinical supervision - a supportive process which is a key part of many of these professions (but interestingly not teaching) - and asking whether it might be possible to create a 'safe space' for university-based educators to work out how they support students in university without treading all over all sorts of red lines and boundaries. We think this is also an interesting one for school-based teacher educators to consider in terms of what shift in identity takes place once you move from teacher to mentor. Thanks to Louise and Dan for joining us! We'll be back next time with more to get you thinking. -----------------------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 18th October 2024.

It's time for another 'delve' (!) into the world of AI, and how large language models have found their way into the world of education. Following our episode last year with Karl Jones, today we welcome Mark Lester from the library service into the studio. Mark's been keeping an eye on all things AI for a number of years now, and has some interesting thoughts for us on where it might make life more productive for students and those who teach them. He's also got some insights for us into the challenges and risks, where some of those red lines might lie, and some unexpected down-sides of the rise of the machines. Thanks to Mark for joining us, and as always we'll be back with you in a fortnight!--------------------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 6th August 2024

It's October half term, and therefore time for one of our ‘light' episodes! To entertain you with something a little different, we've gone a bit rogue and found three interesting things each. As ever, we don't tell one another what's coming in advance (though if you listened to the last episode with Emma, it's fair to say that Tom had a good idea that an epistemology quiz was in his immediate future…). We also quietly drop our usual 60 minute limit on episode length in order to chew things over a bit more expansively. Today we have a Hollywood actor, an ex Prime Minister, a rising star of feline academia, some bad habits, and some other bits and bobs to keep you amused and make you think. Normal service will be resumed next time, when we welcome a colleague to the studio to discuss AI in education. ————————————————Recorded in Studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 9th August 2024

Tom is joined in studio B2.15 today by Megan Cole from PGCE Primary, who talks us through her research into how learning through play can enhance the experience of older primary school pupils. ---------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 29th April 2024

In the second half of our EdD work-in-progress double bill, Emma moves on from defining her worldview to realising that she needs to carry out her research using participatory methods. This is something a bit new to Emma (and quite a few of us in education) so today we take a dive into what it involves, how it differs from many of the approaches we're used to as education specialists, and look forward to what Emma's going to do next. Thanks to Emma for lots of interesting food for thought!—————————————Recorded in Studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 8th August 2024

For this episode, we welcome a very special guest to the studio… Emma! She's still working away at her EdD and has been concentrating on the research design. This includes not only piloting her project on a small scale, but also getting to grips with tricky things such as her worldview, paradigm, ontology, epistemology and axiology - all long words to strike fear into researchers. In discussing her work in progress with Tom, she ended up providing enough content for two episodes! In this first one we concentrate on ontology, epistemology and axiology, and how understanding those things help the researcher come to understand their worldview and what that means for how to undertake a research study. We hope you find this a non-threatening look at plenty of big words! Next time, we'll bring you the second half of the discussion, in which Emma concludes that she needs to dip her toe into the exciting world of participatory research. ———————————Recorded in Studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 8th August 2024

ITV National News* have just dropped a hard-hitting report about standards of literacy in Welsh schools. I you haven't seen it, you can get the text and video here. We wanted to put together a reaction piece to unpack the issues around phonics and reading (without getting embroiled in any reading wars!), but also zoom out a bit and see whether this first really prominent news investigation into the Welsh education reforms might be pointing to wider questions or concerns with the Curriculum for Wales. Thanks to Rhys Williams at ITN, Gareth Rein at St Peter's RC Primary School in Cardiff, Dr Gareth Evans at UWTSD and the various people who gave me background information and understanding, especially about systematic synthetic phonics!If you were hoping to hear Emma's dulcet tones on this episode, apologies - she was teaching all day and we wanted to turn this episode around in a single day. She'll be back next week!* This story was put together and broadcast by ITV National News, part of ITN, and not ITV Wales, as I wrongly state twice in the episode. Sorry! - Tom-------------------------------------------------Recorded in various locations in Cardiff on 27th September 2024

For today's snippet of student teacher research Tom is joined by Ella Cleary from PGCE Secondary Biology. Ella was interested in how to use assessment for learning strategies to create an equitable biology classroom.-----------------------------------------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 29th April 2024

For today's episode, we return to a comment made by Professor David Egan in a previous episode, where he identified community focused schools as important in supporting pupils and their families living in poverty.To dig a little deeper into what they are and what they do, we've invited Dr Jan Huyton to the studio. Jan has done a lot of work on this, and also uses a multi-agency approach when teaching on the MA in Education here at Cardiff Met.Jan tells us what community focused schools can be, what they do, and what obstacles we need to overcome to join up various types of organisations which seek to support children and families.--------------------------------------------------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 24th April 2024

English language listeners: a reminder that we also produce occasional episodes in Welsh! This is the beginning of a new block of PGCE Research Bites, and English-speaking listeners can get their fix in a fortnight!

Welcome back for our seventh season of the podcast!We're opening the new academic year with another of our live panel sessions - this one was recorded in June this year at our PGCE research conference. Joining us to discuss what enquiry can look like in schools, and how we can make it work for us as teachers, is a quartet of people with a claim to have something to say on the subject! Emma Aston and Sarah Cason join us from Whitchurch High School and Palmerston Primary school - both schools with excellent track records. Louise Muteham was previously heard this time last year asking a great question and now joins us as a panellist - she's from the Central South Consortium. And Dr Matt Hutt is a colleague from just down the road at the University of South Wales. We hope you enjoy what they have to say, and their answers to the questions provided by our audience. As ever, we'll be back in a fortnight with more goodies for you. ———————————————Recorded live in Lecture Theatre 1 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 10th June 2024. 

Hello to all our listeners, and we hope you're enjoying the tail end of a well deserved summer break!We recently popped in to the studio to have a brief look back at season 6 and discuss some of our favourite moments that you might want to listen to if you missed them. Then it was time to lift the lid on a few things you can look forward to in season 7, which kicks off on the 6th September. If you've stuck with us for the long haul, thanks for being with us, and if you're a new listener, welcome and we hope you enjoy our podcast. Don't forget you can watch us on youtube - our channel is at youtube.com/@talkteachingpod and our handle on Twitter/X is @talkteachingpodIf you like what you hear, why not leave us a rating or review? See you on the 6th!Best wishes from Emma and Tom--------------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 9th August 2024

We've reached the end of season 6 of the podcast, and thanks to all our listeners for coming along for the ride!Today we bring you a live recording of a panel discussion we put on for our PGCE Secondary student teachers. The panellists were the international curriculum consultant and bestselling author Lucy Crehan, former educational journalist Dr Gareth Evans who's now director of education policy at Yr Athrofa, UWTSD, and Matthew Maughan who's deputy headteacher at Bassaleg School in Newport. We asked them to tell our student teachers where they need to look and what they need to prioritise as they join the profession early in the implementation of the new Curriculum for Wales. But if you're listening from outside Wales, there are plenty of universal bits of advice to help everyone make their way as teachers!Thanks to all our panellists, and to the student teachers who asked the questions. We'll be back in the new academic year with season 7 - see you there!-----------------------------------------------------Recorded live in Lecture Theatre 1 on 20th March 2024 (panel discussion) and studio B2.15 on 24th April 2024 (Emma and Tom opening and closing sections) at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus.

Strap in and prepare yourselves for another roller-coaster ride as regular guest Dr Kevin Smith from Cardiff University is back in the studio, and this time he's brought sweets!Kev is here to talk about Currere, an approach to considering curriculum which might be refreshing to those of us who work in the world of education. We'll leave it to Kev to explain all about it, but you can also find a list of resources and links below. Dr Kev says:https://www.currereexchange.com/currere-exchange-journal.html - this is the Currere Exchange Journal. It is a journal solely dedicated to Currere work and welcomes submissions from everyone teachers, academics, etc. They also offer a 'Currere exchange' event where people take part in, and learn about, the currere method. This year it is a virtual event (here are the details: https://www.currereexchange.com/registration.html).  https://journal.jctonline.org/index.php/jct - this is the link to the Journal of Curriculum Theorising. My friend/colleague Tom Poetter is currently the editor, but he is stepping down this year after a long, six-year stint. They have just released the older issues from the 70s/80s that had key publications in critical, reconceptualist approaches to curriculum, so definitely worth browsing! They also have an annual conference (http://www.jctonline.org/conference/ in October.). Bill Pinar, who developed the currere method and introduced 'reconceptualist' approaches to curriculum is one of the keynote speakers. Also, here is the URL to my blog that has a few posts related to 'currere' as well as other topics we've discussed in other episodes: https://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/drkevinsmith/ and this is the link to my paper Ambulare: https://cej.lib.miamioh.edu/index.php/CEJ/article/view/209. ----------------------------------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 24th April 2024

Conferences are a great opportunity to find new guests for the podcast, and last November's Scottish Educational Research Association (SERA) conference in Edinburgh didn't disappoint! Dr Lisa Reed from the University of Dundee joins us down the line to discuss how we can ensure we're being ethical when carrying out school-based research, especially when we're also working in that school as a teacher. With more and more teachers engaging in research and enquiry in their own classrooms and schools, it's increasingly important to take a step back and think carefully about how we navigate the blurred lines between our identities as researcher, teacher and colleague in these situations. Thanks to Dr Lisa for joining us, and anyone wanting to follow her on Twitter/X can find her at @phdindeed We'll be back with more in a fortnight!----------------------------------------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus (with remote guest) on 28th February 2024

For today's episode, we're bringing you a panel discussion about equity and diversity in the classroom, which was originally broadcast live on YouTube as part of our PGCE programme. Our panel of experts, Dean Pymble from Show Racism the Red Card, Marc Lewis from Ysgol Gyfun Cymraeg Plasmawr, and Mark Williams from Cardiff Met, joined Tom and our colleague Lisa Fenn in the studio to answer questions from our student teachers. We hope you find the discussion interesting and useful!Huge thanks to our panel and also to our colleagues from the MSc Sport Broadcast programmes here at Cardiff Met who helped us get on the air.———————————————————————Originally broadcast live from studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 19th January 2024. 

Those of you who listened to our epic Christmas special in December will remember Tom reading out a stream of tweets from Dr Emily MacLeod, who had just completed her doctorate about teacher recruitment. Well, now we have Dr Emily in person, speaking to us down the line, to delve deeper into the fascinating study she undertook which seeks to understand what motivates (and demotivates) people to become teachers. Using a massive treasure trove of longitudinal data from the ASPIRES project at the Institute of Education, Emily takes us through some of the really interesting things she's found out, and what the implications might be for the ever more difficult task of recruiting new members of our wonderful profession. ————————————Recorded at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 28th February 2024

Welcome to our not-very-light Easter holiday special! As ever, we bring you some random things to liven up your school holiday, and as usual for our Easter special we've ended up with something a bit less than fluffy…Nevertheless, we hope you find it interesting, useful or just a break from our usual service!Emma's three things:Getting Started with Key ConceptsTaking a stand against the pedagogy of professional declineThings fell apart: the most mysterious deathsTom's three things:Fighting ChoirsThousands of AI authors on the future of AIZombie leadership: dead ideas that still walk among us———————————————Recorded in studio D0.12 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 20th February 2024

It's always a special podcast episode when we get our student teachers into the studio, and today's discussion is no exception! Just after Christmas this year, we spent an exciting couple of weeks digging into the details of our expressive arts subject disciplines, and the potential for making powerful connections between them.Today, some of those student teachers are here to tell us and our listeners what they found out! Chloe Griffiths and Tianna Hancock (PGCE secondary drama), Serena Hancock (PGCE secondary art and design) and April Pinch (PGCE secondary music) tell us what they've come to know about their own subjects, each other's subjects, and the pleasures and pitfalls of bringing them together. For our listeners in Wales, hopefully this is a great working example of the sort of meaningful conversations that areas of learning and experience (AoLEs) can have when designing a curriculum, and for our listeners further afield it's interesting to consider how this might enhance your own practice and understanding. It's also a brilliant insight into how knowledgeable, perceptive and passionate our student teachers are - we're very lucky to work with them! Huge thanks to them for giving up part of their hard-earned half term to come in and record with us. -----------------------------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 12th February 2024.

Artifical Intelligence: is it going to revolutionise learning and the world of work? Or take our jobs and then kill us all? We've had our eye on doing an episode on AI for quite a while, but needed a guest who would give us an education angle and avoid the sensationalist stuff... step forward Karl Jones from Cardiff Met's School of Technologies! Karl was previously in Initial Teacher Education with our colleagues in Trinity Saint David, Carmarthen, so knows his way round a classroom as well as a computer. He joins us in the studio to discuss what teachers need to know about AI, where it can help, what the traps are, and how they should open a discussion with pupils about what's a legitimate application for everyone involved. Thanks to Karl for coming in, and this feels like a topic we'll be returning to more than once in the coming few years!-------------------------------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 29th November 2023

Today we welcome back our colleague Dr Anne Hodgson, who's here to talk to us about adverse childhood experiences and trauma-informed practice in schools. It's a wide ranging discussion with some hard-hitting facts about the challenges facing many of the children in our classrooms. As Anne says, being informed about the impact of these adverse factors is everybody's business, and we can all make a difference.Thanks to Anne for joining us again!----------------------------------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 20th November 2023

For this episode we welcome (and bow down to) our colleague Kerry Bevan! Programme leader for PGCE secondary languages, but also still a practising languages teacher in school, Kerry recently completed her thesis for the National MA Education (Wales) programme and stormed to a mark in the 90s for her research into perceptions of decolonising the languages curriculum. In today's discussion, Kerry tells us about the subject-specific issues around a white, Euro-centric approach to languages, and what her research told her about new teachers' perceptions of the problems and potential future advances that could contribute to Wales's ambition to be an anti-racist country.--------------------------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 20th November 2023

We always like a good collaboration here on Cardiff Met's initial teacher education (ITE) programmes! Today we welcome to the studio our colleague Sioned Dafydd, and podcast veteran (from all the way back in season 1, no less) Sarah Cason from Palmerston Primary School. Since she joined us last time, Sarah has been upgraded to headteacher, and has a key role in partnership with Cardiff Met, creating the best possible experiences for our student teachers. The project, funded by two regional school improvement consortia (CSC and EAS), aimed to improve people's understanding of Wales's very aspirational, holistic professional standards for teaching and leadership (PSTL), but ended up giving us wider insights into how professional dialogue helps new members of the teaching profession to learn and develop. Hopefully, whether you're in Wales or further afield, you'll get useful ideas and pointers about setting up really meaningful professional dialogues which make the complex work of teaching accessible, and open up paths to improvement for new teachers. If you find this useful in your own context, why not give us a shout - we're @talkteachingpod on X (or Twitter as we can't stop calling it) and would love to hear from you. You can find all the project videos at https://youtube.com/@sharedunderstandingThis episode can be watched on YouTube over on our channel: https://youtube.com/@talkteachingpodPodcast artwork: Beth Blandford (blandoodles)Music: Cameron StewartEditor: Tom BreezeStudio Manager: Adrian Rapps---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed campus on 12th November 2023.

Happy new year! Despite Emma and Tom both being performing arts specialists, we've never had an episode on the podcast about dance. Having recently met and collaborated with National Dance Company Wales, we didn't want to miss an opportunity to invite them to our studio to talk all about this very special art form. Paul Kaynes and Maris Lyons from NDCW talk to us about what makes dance unique, the challenges and opportunities of incorporating dance into the curriculum, and how NDCW support schools with exciting events and resources to dip their toe into what can be an intimidating subject to some. You can find the company and their resources at ndcwales.co.uk and their performances at the Dance House in the Wales Millennium Centre and on tour around the country and the world!----------------------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 7th December 2023

Merry Christmas one and all! Yet again we find ourselves between Christmas and New Year, hopefully enjoying a well-earned break. And for the sixth time we have entered the studio with a total of twelve (one for each day of Christmas) weird and wonderful gifts for our listeners. This year we have everything from poetry to scary sounds, from the joys of solitude to a nostalgic unsung hero of music, to join you while you recharge the batteries or set out on some nice long walks to blow away the cobwebs. We hope you enjoy this extra-long light episode, and wish you all the best for a restful break and a happy new year. You can watch us recording this episode on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/DLhu7LRIq88 - and we make good use of the shiny new big screen, so if you haven't checked out our vide versions yet, take a look!PS - we have truncated Anna Lapwood's recording from the Albert Hall to try and stay on the right side of 'fair use' copyright provisions. If you want to hear the whole thing, you can watch on YouTube here.Best wishes from Emma & Tom ---------------------------------------Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 13th December 2023

To celebrate our five (and a bit) years on the air, we've gathered together 24 of our favourite light episode items to brighten up the end of this long autumn term!These festive gifts will disappear after Christmas, so enjoy them while they're here!Today, we join our friends and original inspiration: Becky and Amy from And Then What? The Podcast All About Stories, to hear a Brothers Grimm fairy tale that didn't quite make the cut... Merry Christmas from all of us at the podcast!

To celebrate our five (and a bit) years on the air, we've gathered together 24 of our favourite light episode items to brighten up the end of this long autumn term!These festive gifts will disappear after Christmas, so enjoy them while they're here!Today we hear an article from The Guardian about the dark side of #kindness videos. Is it about being kind, or making money?! Tom takes up the story...

To celebrate our five (and a bit) years on the air, we've gathered together 24 of our favourite light episode items to brighten up the end of this long autumn term!These festive gifts will disappear after Christmas, so enjoy them while they're here!Today we have an extract from one of our Christmas episodes, which takes us back to the dark days of the Covid pandemic, when everyone was getting used to being online, and one of the few joys available was judging one another's video call backgrounds. Tom brings us a twitter account called Rate My Skype Room.

To celebrate our five (and a bit) years on the air, we've gathered together 24 of our favourite light episode items to brighten up the end of this long autumn term!These festive gifts will disappear after Christmas, so enjoy them while they're here!Tom's hatred of social media is well known to regular podcast listeners. Today, he's got an article about what a six hour Facebook outage tells us about people's attitude towards Mark Zuckerburg's mighty website.

To celebrate our five (and a bit) years on the air, we've gathered together 24 of our favourite light episode items to brighten up the end of this long autumn term!These festive gifts will disappear after Christmas, so enjoy them while they're here!Today we have some evidence-based research from the medical profession, which gives us pause for thought about where the line is drawn between research and common sense.

To celebrate our five (and a bit) years on the air, we've gathered together 24 of our favourite light episode items to brighten up the end of this long autumn term!These festive gifts will disappear after Christmas, so enjoy them while they're here!Today we look at what happens when an important project or piece of knowledge is imperilled by the Bus Factor...

To celebrate our five (and a bit) years on the air, we've gathered together 24 of our favourite light episode items to brighten up the end of this long autumn term!These festive gifts will disappear after Christmas, so enjoy them while they're here!Today Emma brings us a post by the mighty Tom Sherrington which takes aim at that beloved educational foodstuff, Wellbeing Cheese.

To celebrate our five (and a bit) years on the air, we've gathered together 24 of our favourite light episode items to brighten up the end of this long autumn term!These festive gifts will disappear after Christmas, so enjoy them while they're here!Long-term listeners will know that we were originally inspired to start our podcast by Becky and Amy of the podcast And Then What? The Podcast All About Stories. This is an extract from one of Becky and Amy's episodes, in which they tell a story called 'Seagulls'.

To celebrate our five (and a bit) years on the air, we've gathered together 24 of our favourite light episode items to brighten up the end of this long autumn term!These festive gifts will disappear after Christmas, so enjoy them while they're here!Today Tom brings us a tweet which causes our podcast duo to ask: do I have an intimidating personality?