Emma & Tom Talk Teaching

Congratulations, fellow education specialists - we've made it to October half term! We're doing our bit for the Welsh lockdown and have fired up the remote recording gear to bring you our latest offering from our houses (so please accept our apologies for the odd glitch in the sound quality). Since we're at the half-time break in a very long and very strange term, we thought this would be another good time to model excellent practice by letting our hair down and putting something out that's a little lighter and looser than usual. As ever, Emma brings the substance, with a couple of book extracts and a tweet thread that muse on the nature of being a teacher. Tom brings us a blog, a heartwarming tweet about his previous life in the classroom, and the usual random news story with only the most tenuous link to education.EPISODE NOTES UPDATE (09/08/21): Please note that since recording this episode, The Guardian has reported that future editions of Kate Clanchy’s book (listed below) may be updated to remove widely criticised descriptions of her former pupils. The article, written by Lucy Knight, is accessible here. The fierce debate regarding the reaction to Kate Clanchy's book has since played out via a number of media outlets, including at least one article in Clanchy's defence by one of her ex-pupils. If you want to read any of the material from this episode, here are the links, in order of appearance:Myatt, M. (2020) Should it stay or should it go? Available at: https://www.marymyatt.com/blog/should-it-stay-or-should-it-go (Accessed: 27/10/20)Clanchy, K. (2019) Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me. London: PicadorSaunders, G. (2020) This year I have a lively Y9 class... [Twitter] 2 October. Available at https://twitter.com/Saunders__G/status/1312164724209938432 (Accessed: 27/10/20)Saunders, G. (2020) ...late night musings continued... [Twitter] 3 October. Available at https://twitter.com/Saunders__G/status/1312165642166960128 (Accessed: 27/10/20)Garrigan, M (2020) This memory popped up on Facebook... [Twitter] 16 October. Available at https://twitter.com/mandiegarrigan/status/1317027878358425603 (Accessed: 27/10/20)Franklin, A (2020) Swearing parrots removed from public view at popular Lincolnshire attraction. Available at https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/lincolnshire-wildlife-park-swearing-parrots-4554933 (Accessed: 27/10/20)Mackesy, C. (2019) The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. London: Ebury ----------Recorded remotely on 21st October 2020

In the first of a series of episodes this year on the loose theme of 'ethics in teaching', we're delighted to bring you an interview with Catrina Kirkland of the Holocaust Educational Trust. This episode is all about how we approach teaching difficult or sensitive subjects, and Cat has a wealth of strategies and thoughts to help us deal with one of the biggest, most sensitive and problematic subjects of them all - the Holocaust.In a fascinating and wide-ranging discussion, Cat explains the importance of the human angle, how to avoid unconsciously reinforcing problematic ideologies and ideas, and gives us an insight into her pedagogical approaches when working with teachers and student teachers. She also reflects on how the new Curriculum for Wales gives us opportunities to make connections that allow subject specialists to support one another to create a rich and deep learning experience for pupils - though you can also try this if you're outside Wales, of course!The Holocaust Educational Trust has a wealth of resources on its website: het.org.ukThis episode was recorded during the international Covid-19 pandemic, when travel was restricted, and so Cat joined us down the line from Reading. Apologies for the issues with the sound quality that we experienced during the recording!  ----------Recorded remotely on 2nd June 2020 

Do not adjust your set: there are some sound quality issues in the first half of this episode, as were recording in three different locations over the Internet. Sorry!This episode was recorded while we were in full-on coronavirus lockdown, and on the line linking Emma and Tom we also have Elizabeth MacGregor. Currently a doctoral student at the University of Sheffield, Elizabeth was described by Cambridge University's John Finney as 'a British philosopher of music education' in the wake of the publication of her article Justifying Music in the National Curriculum. The article is certainly a gripping read and has plenty to say to all of us in education, regardless of whether we're music specialists.Elizabeth has also had a second article published recently: Participatory performance in the secondary music classroom and the paradox of belonging, which is a great example of practitioner research.Over the course of this episode you can hear us enjoy a wide-ranging conversation with Elizabeth. While much of it is rooted in music and the performing arts, the themes are sufficiently broad and important that everyone should get something useful out of it, whether it's questioning how we achieve social justice in our teaching, or taking on board Elizabeth's impassioned call for teachers to engage in classroom-based research. We hope you enjoy it!Elizabeth's articles can be found at:Bate, E. (2020) 'Justifying music in the national curriculum: The habit concept and the question of social justice and academic rigour', British Journal of Music Education, 37(1), pp. 3-15.MacGregor, E. H. (2020) 'Participatory performance in the secondary music classroom and the paradox of belonging', Music Education Research, 22(2), pp. 229-241.  ----------Recorded remotely on 18th May 2020

With some excitement we find ourselves recording back on our beloved university campus - but outdoors to avoid having too many lines on our risk assessment! With suitably long wires plugged in, our podcast duo tackle the very topical concept of resilience, with the aid of a number of sources that we've mashed up to help us. Having become something of a hot buzzword even before we all found ourselves battling the coronavirus, resilience is a tricky concept to nail down, but very relevant to those of us in an education profession that can test our resilience to the maximum, whether we're at the start of our careers or grizzled old pros.This episode is illustrated with some carefully chosen snippets from the following sources, and we believe we're on the right side of the fair use copyright provisions, but are willing to stand corrected if either the BBC or Harvard want to tell us otherwise! Either way, we'd urge you to visit these sources to enjoy them in full:BBC Radio 4: The Science of Resilience https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07cvhrsHarvard University: The Science of Resilience https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-the-science-of-resilience/ Emma's book recommendation is:Eddo-Lodge, Renni (2017), Why I'm no longer talking to white people about race. London: Bloomsbury ...and her radio recommendation is:Desert Island Discs: Sinead Burke https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000j7q5  ----------Recorded at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed campus on 11th August 2020  

We're back! And to celebrate the start of season 3 we're back together in person, recording safely outdoors (complete with strange background noises) to bring you a bumper first episode to help you get thinking about your philosophy.As teacher educators, we sit in a sometimes uncomfortable place outside the schools where our students undertake their placements, and it's important for all of us to understand what we're for, what we do and why we don't just point student teachers at a school and let them get on with it. The Universities' Council for the Education of Teachers recently published a position paper setting out the principles on which we work, so we start by chewing that over with our good friends Dr Judith Kneen and Jordan Allers.After that, we respond to a comment by our student teachers themselves that they'd like to know more about our own philosophies as teachers - we've got a collection of short pieces from colleagues around campus, and we explain our own philosophies as teachers.Hopefully this will give you a nice bit of food for thought for the new school year. As we all get to grips with going back to school, having had a lot of assumptions and norms challenged over the past six months, this is a great moment to pause and ask yourself: what's my philosophy?You can find the UCET paper here: https://www.ucet.ac.uk/11675/intellectual-base-of-teacher-education-report-updated-february-2020Thanks to our colleagues who contributed to today's episode: Jordan Allers, Fiona Heath-Diffey, Dr Judith Kneen and Julia Longville. ----------Recorded at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed campus on 11th August 2020 

Just a week to go until Emma & Tom's PGCE Podcast returns for its third season! Here's a little trailer to whet your appetite. Tune in on Friday 4th September for our first episode, in which we discuss philosophies of teaching and teacher education. See you soon!

It's a momentous day for the PGCE podcast! This week we managed to meet and record in person, which was the first time we'd seen each other outside of a screen for FIVE MONTHS. And it's doubly momentous because this is our first episode sound-edited by Emma!Using some suitably social-distance-friendly long cables, we produced our first al fresco recording, to bring you a quick reflection and reminiscence on season 2 of the podcast, plus a look forward to some of the goodies we've got planned for you in season 3.We hope everyone's having a wonderful summer, and are keeping well and safe. Enjoy the rest of it, and we'll be back with our first full episode of season 3 on Friday 4th September, bright and early as usual. Bye for now!  ----------Recorded at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed campus on 11th August 2020

It's the final episode for this season of the PGCE podcast, and we've got a fascinating discussion that gives our listeners plenty to chew over, whether you're a brand-new member of the profession or a high-powered senior leader.We're joined again by Dr Judith Kneen to discuss an article she has lead-authored, entitled Pioneer teachers: how far can individual teachers achieve agency within curriculum development?We hear a lot about the need for teachers to have more agency - the power to do things, essentially - and this is a major change in direction after decades in which teacher agency has been reduced by the introduction of a central National Curriculum and an increasingly challenging accountability culture. Here in Wales, our pioneer teachers, who met to co-construct the new curriculum documents for the Curriculum for Wales were essentially also pioneers of a major shift in teacher agency. Judith was there during the process to see what it looked like.Judith's article asks some powerful questions about the extent of teachers' agency at primary and secondary, and how the view changes if you look at the individual, school or national level.The findings raise some challenging topics of conversation about where the potential sticking-points for teacher agency lie, and where we need to look to address potential obstacles to giving teachers the agency they need.In a final run-out for the regular slots this year, Tom returns to the celebrated Daisy Christodoulou for a book recommendation (and is a lot more positive than last time), the team reflect on how we use our existing teacher skills to navigate the brave new world of coronavirus-lockdown remote teaching, and Emma's wellbeing recommendation is a stock-take of all the things we've stopped doing during the pandemic. Do we really need to start doing them all again once things are back to normal?Judith's article will be published somewhere once the academic peer-review process reaches its slow and stately conclusion; we'll update these show-notes with a reference once publication is complete.That's it for this academic year. Thanks for sticking with us, especially while we worked out how to keep recording while in separate locations - apologies for the lapses in sound quality. Our very best wishes to all our listeners, and especially the Initial Teacher Education students of Cardiff Metropolitan University (PGCE and BA) who have been loyal and supportive listeners this year, and many of whom had to deal with the shutdown of their schools mid-placement.Once we've recovered from the insanity that is the end of the PGCE year, we'll record a few bits and bobs to see you through the summer, so keep an eye on your podcast feeds. Please do rate and review us, and tell your friends about the podcast. We'd love to hear your suggestions for topics for next year (we will be back!) so feel free to tweet us: @ethayer_cmu and @thomasbreeze.Have a wonderful summer, keep well and we'll be back very soon!All the best from Emma and Tom ----------Recorded remotely on 27th May 2020We're joined again by Dr Judith Kneen to discuss an article she has lead-authored, entitled Pioneer teachers: how far can individual teachers achieve agency within curriculum development?We hear a lot about the need for teachers to have more agency - the power to do things, essentially - and this is a major change in direction after decades in which teacher agency has been reduced by the introduction of a central National Curriculum and an increasingly challenging accountability culture. Here in Wales, our pioneer teachers, who met to co-construct the new curriculum documents for the Curriculum for Wales were essentially also pioneers of a major shift in teacher agency. Judith was there during the process to see what it looked like.Judith's article asks some powerful questions about the extent of teachers' agency at primary and secondary, and how the view changes if you look at the individual, school or national level.The findings raise some challenging topics of conversation about where the potential sticking-points for teacher agency lie, and where we need to look to address potential obstacles to giving teachers the agency they need.In a final run-out for the regular slots this year, Tom returns to the celebrated Daisy Christodoulou for a book recommendation (and is a lot more positive than last time), the team reflect on how we use our existing teacher skills to navigate the brave new world of coronavirus-lockdown remote teaching, and Emma's wellbeing recommendation is a stock-take of all the things we've stopped doing during the pandemic. Do we really need to start doing them all again once things are back to normal?Judith's article will be published somewhere once the academic peer-review process reaches its slow and stately conclusion; we'll update these show-notes with a reference once publication is complete.That's it for this academic year. Thanks for sticking with us, especially while we worked out how to keep recording while in separate locations - apologies for the lapses in sound quality. Our very best wishes to all our listeners, and especially the Initial Teacher Education students of Cardiff Metropolitan University (PGCE and BA) who have been loyal and supportive listeners this year, and many of whom had to deal with the shutdown of their schools mid-placement.Once we've recovered from the insanity that is the end of the PGCE year, we'll record a few bits and bobs to see you through the summer, so keep an eye on your podcast feeds. Please do rate and review us, and tell your friends about the podcast. We'd love to hear your suggestions for topics for next year (we will be back!) so feel free to tweet us: @ethayer_cmu and @thomasbreeze.Have a wonderful summer, keep well and we'll be back very soon!All the best from Emma and Tom ----------Recorded remotely on 27th May 2020

In an episode which was bumped from its original position in the schedule by the global Coronavirus pandemic, we've gathered together two of our international student teachers - both from Canada - to talk about what it's like to train as a teacher in Wales when you've come to us from another country. From the practicalities of explaining to the pupils where you're from to the differences between education systems, Rachel and Ben have got first-hand advice for anyone looking to take the plunge and hop on a plane!We certainly hope you'll consider coming to train in Wales soon!Our regular slots this episode focus heavily on how to stay happy and well when you've come to a new country to do a challenging course, so keep listening to the end for some great advice.If you're in Canada and want to teach abroad, you can check out canteach.net, and anyone outside the UK can contact our wonderful international office at cardiffmet.ac.uk/international ----------Recorded in S1.04 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed campus on 7th February 2020

Our recent mega-episode on curriculum design featured, amongst other stars, Dr Kevin Smith from Cardiff University. His presentation to our student teachers encouraged them to think about their values and beliefs, and question everything, while also giving them a rucksack-full of book recommendations. We decided it would be good to invite Dr Kevin back for a longer discussion about curriculum theory and, undeterred by the Coronavirus lockdown, we got him on the line from his house to expand on his ideas. We hope you enjoy our discussion! Dr Kevin Smith’s blog can be found here: https://blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/drkevinsmith/ Reading List Curriculum Theorists:Elliot EisnerPaulo FreireHenry GirouxWilliam PinarJoseph SchwabRalph Tyler Books:March, C. J., & Willis, G. (2007) Curriculum: alternative approaches, ongoing issues. Upper Saddle River, NJ: University of Rhode IslandPinar, W., Reynolds, W., Slattery, P., & Taubman, P. (1995). Understanding curriculum: An introduction to the study of historical and contemporary curriculum discourses. New York: Peter Lang.Tyler, R.W. (1949) Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction. London: The University of Chicago Press.  ----------Recorded remotely on 16th April 2020