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!

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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

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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!

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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Recorded in studio B2.10A at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 28th February 2025