Episodes

One of the principles underlying the Curriculum for Wales is that we should situate learning within authentic contexts in order to make it more meaningful. We thought it was worth digging a little more into what that might actually look like, so we convened a panel discussion for our PGCE Secondary student teachers, bringing in guests with experience of doing this from different perspectives. While logistical pressures on the day meant we weren't able to record the panel discussion live, two of...

For this episode, we welcome back Professor Brendan Cropley, and since we’re no longer in the grip of Covid restrictions, we can actually meet face to face this time! Brendan works at the University of South Wales where his background is in sport psychology, and his particular specialism is reflective practice. Digging a little deeper into the specifics this time, we wanted to look at what the world of sport makes of reflective practice, and what that world can tell us over in education. Brend...

The autumn term is a long one, and to mark half-time in the long march to the Christmas break, we like to kick back with one of our 'light' episodes (though to be fair they're not always entirely light!) in which we bring some randomly-selected pieces of content with which to surprise, delight and horrify one another. Regular listeners may remember that we will be hearing less of Emma during season 8, so this is an ideal opportunity to soft-launch her 'stunt double', Sian Wickersham into a low(...

It’s time to take another dive into what makes a classroom subject tick, and this time around we’re going for art. In a slight twist to the usual format, we’ve paired a discussion with a subject specialist with an excellent example of how professional enquiry coupled with top-notch subject knowledge can lead to meaningful impact on pupils. We’re joined by Daisy Wilson from our friends at Yr Athrofa, an ITE partnership at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, to discuss what art is all ab...

Planning and evaluating lessons is at the core of what teachers do. Deciding what we want our pupils to know or be able to do, how we'll know whether they've managed it, and how we'll be able to tell is the key to selecting a sequence of activities that will get them there and allow us to judge how they're doing. But this is one of the hardest skills for a new teacher to grasp, as an experienced teacher looks like they're just stringing together activities and it's all just happening as if by m...

Just as we were shutting up the podcast shop for the end of the academic year, Estyn (the school inspectorate in Wales) published a thematic report on the teaching of maths in Wales's schools. It concluded that there was too much variability in the quality of teaching, and not enough subject-specific support for those teaching maths. This reminded us in some ways of the ITV news story back in September 2024 which prompted us to turn around a rapid-reaction episode. In this case, we decided to ...

Welcome to season 8 of the podcast! So…. You want to become a teacher? You’ve come to the right place. In the third iteration of this popular topic, we’re joined by our colleague Rhian Wyn Griffiths to talk about becoming a teacher. While we’re quite focused on how to come and be a teacher with us in Wales (after all, it’s what we know best), there’s plenty here that’s relevant to people elsewhere. So pour yourself a cuppa and settle down to hear us discuss why you’d want to do it, what the job ...

One of our podcast traditions is to take a moment to reflect on the season that's just been (season 7) and get ready for the one that's about to land in your feeds (season 8)! After a hasty move across campus to avoid our power-tool wielding enemies, this episode was recorded in a temporary studio at the end of four straight days of recording. We've got plenty we're pleased with from the last year, and lots of interesting things lined up for your ears from 5th September onwards. Emma's not goin...