Emma & Tom Talk Teaching – Details, episodes & analysis

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 @talkteachingpod

If 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.

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

Croeso’n ôl i Tameidiau o Ymchwil TAR – rydyn ni’n lledaenu’r ymchwil gorau gan athrawon dan hyfforddiant o’n rhaglenni TAR yn Gymraeg. Mae Nia Davies yn fyfyriwr ar ein rhaglen TAR Cynradd, ac mae hi wedi bod yn ymchwilio i’r addysgeg Darllen er Pleser yng nghyd-destun dysgu cyfunol.

Mae crynodeb gweledol Nia a grëwyd ganddi er mwyn cyflwyno i’w hysgol yma, a diolch yn fawr i Nia am roi caniatâd inni ei rannu. Os ydych chi’n awyddus i ddarganfod mwy, mae ei chwe phrif ffynhonnell llenyddiaeth isod.

Diolch i Nia a Sioned am ymddangos ym mhennod yr wythnos hon! 

• Reimer, F.M. a Schleicher, A. (2020) Schooling Disrupted Schooling Rethought: How the Covid-19 Pandemic is Changing Education. OECD.
• Cremin, T. et al. (2014) Building communities of engaged readers: Reading for Pleasure. Routledge.
• Cai, R a Wang, Q (2020) A Six-Step Online Teaching Method Based on Protocol-Guided Learning during the Covid-19 Epidemic. Best Evid Chin Edu Cyf 4(2) (tt. 529-534)
• Clark, C. a Picton, I. (2020) Children and young people’s reading in 2020 before and during lockdown. London: National Literacy Trust.
• Merga, M.K. a Mat Roni, S. (2018) ‘Empowering Parents to Encourage Children to Read Beyond the Early Years’. Reading Teacher Cyf 72 (tt. 213-222)
• Scottish Book Trust (2018) ‘Evaluation of the First Minister’s Reading Challenge’

A warm podcast welcome back to Dr Rhiannon Packer, who joined us just after Christmas in a double-act with Dr Susan Davis, but is now back for a solo appearance! Rhiannon has just published a book: All Change! Best Practice for Educational Transitions, and is here to talk to us about all things transitional.

The lives of our learners are full of transitions, and managing these so that they are a positive experience is hugely important for all of us who work in education. Rhiannon has plenty of pointers for us in today's deep discussion, and hopefully you'll leave with some new things to consider when approaching these pivotal moments for whoever you teach.

Top marks to Rhiannon for coming back so soon with another set of homework slots, too!

Rhiannon's book is published by Critical Publishing and is well worth a read!

--------------------

Recorded remotely on 25th February 2021

PGCE research bites 4 features Lydia Bundy, a student teacher on our PGCE Primary programme, and also a guest appearance by Jo Bowers from the primary team.

Lydia researched into the Reading for Pleasure pedagogy, something that Jo has talked to us in detail about on the podcast in the past, and its potential for enhancing the wellbeing of primary pupils. In this research bite she runs through her findings and conclusions. Jo, meanwhile, gives us some perspective from the point of view of a primary specialist and a Reading for Pleasure veteran!

Lydia's six main literature sources were:

• Clark, C. and Teravainen-Goff, A. (2018) ‘Mental wellbeing, reading and writing’. National Literacy Trust. Pp 1-37.
• Mak, H.W. and Fancourt, D. (2020) ‘Reading for pleasure in childhood and adolescent healthy behaviours: Longitudinal associations using the Millennium Cohort Study’. Preventive medicine, 130, p.105889.
• Ledger, S. and Merga, M.K. (2018) ‘Reading Aloud: Children's Attitudes toward being Read to at Home and at School’. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 43(3), pp.124-139.
• Elley, S. (2014) ‘Examining the Use of Bibliotherapy in a Third Grade Classroom’. Texas Journal of Literacy Education, 2(2), pp.91-97.
• Chou, M.J., Cheng, J.C. and Cheng, Y.W. (2016) ‘Operating Classroom Aesthetic Reading Environment to Raise Children's Reading Motivation’. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 4(1), pp.81-97.
• Stairs, A.J. and Burgos, S.S. (2010) ‘The power of independent, self-selected reading in the middle grades’. Middle School Journal, 41(3), pp.41-48.

For this episode we welcome one of our lead partnership school colleagues, Abi Chase. Abi is associate headteacher at Bassaleg School just outside Newport. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Abi had the exciting task of revamping and redefining the school's vision and values around pedagogy. When Covid-19 hit, Abi's work had its ultimate test!

In this conversation, Abi explains how she worked to 'rebrand' the school's priorities, and how she then used these to keep a steady ship as the school was challenged by the need to move to remote teaching and learning almost overnight in the Spring of 2020.

There are plenty of interesting insights into leadership and strategy, as well as where we go from here as educators now that there is (hopefully) some light at the end of the coronavirus tunnel.

A huge thank you to Abi for taking the time to speak to us!

--------------------

Recorded remotely on 25th February 2021

Croeso i bennod arall o Dameidiau o Ymchwil TAR, yn dod â’r ymchwil gorau gan athrawon dan hyfforddiant o Bartneriaeth Caerdydd ar gyfer Addysg Gychwynnol i Athrawon.

Yr wythnos hon rydym ni’n lledaenu’n Gymraeg, ac yn croesawu Beca Harries o’r cwrs TAR Uwchradd Ieithoedd Tramor Modern a fydd yn sgwrsio gyda Dr Gina Morgan.

Mae Beca wedi bod yn ymchwilio strategaethau i annog cyfranogaeth ar lafar mewn gwersi ieithoedd tramor modern. Bydd Beca yn cyflwyno chwe phapur allweddol ac yn rhannu ei chasgliadau.

Mae Beca eisoes wedi cyflwyno’r ymchwil yma i’w phrif ysgol partneriaeth ar ffurf crynodeb weledol, ac wedi rhoi caniatâd i ni rannu ei ffeithlun, y gallwch chi ei weld drwy glicio yma.

Os hoffech chi ddarllen mwy, mae cyfeirnodau ar gyfer y chwe phapur allweddol i’w weld isod.

Diolch yn fawr i Beca am rannu ei ymchwil, ac i Gina am gyflwyno!

• Christie, C., 2013. Speaking spontaneously in the modern foreign languages classroom: Tools for supporting successful target language conversation. The Language Learning Journal, 44(1), tud.74-89.
• Sherrington, T (2019) Rosenshine’s Principles In Action. John Catt Educational Ltd., tud.27-34.
• Namaziandost, E., Homayouni, M. and Rahmani, P., 2020. The impact of cooperative learning approach on the development of EFL learners’ speaking fluency. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 7(1), p.1780811.
• Bunaya, Mulya & Basikin, Basikin. (2019). Improving Speaking Confidence by Using Think Pair Share (TPS) Teaching Strategy to High School Students. 10.2991/iccie-18.2019.59.
• Lemov, D. 2015. Teach Like A Champion 2.0 : 62 Techniques That Put Students On The Path To College. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco, USA
• Dallimore, E., Hertenstein, J. and Platt, M., 2012. Impact of Cold- Calling on Student Voluntary Participation. Journal of Management Education, 37(3), pp.305-341

It's time for us to turn our gaze up to the dizzy heights of educational leadership! Whether you're a student teacher or a hard-bitten old cynic like Tom, let's pause and consider the challenges and delights of being in charge. Lisa is Director of Initial Teacher Education at our friends the University of South Wales, another teacher education institution from just down the road. She's been a listener to the podcast for quite a while, and has answered the call we put out in our Easter special 2020 for anyone from senior leadership in education to come and tell us what makes them tick.

In a wide-ranging conversation, we explore the difference between leadership and management, how to keep hold of our core moral purpose in the challenging world of education, and how to lead collaboratively. Plus, has the research-informed revolution reached the world of educational leadership, and how should a brand-new entrant to the profession set their sights on leading?

Many thanks to Lisa for coming on, and do take a look at her reading recommendations below.

• Adair, J. (2009). Effective Leadership: How to be a successful leader (New ed.). London: Pan
• Cochran-Smith, M. and Lytle, S. l. (1999). ‘The teacher research movement; A decade later’, Educational Research 28 (7); 15-25
• Fullan, M. (2020). Leading in a Culture of Change. New Jersey, USA. Jossey-Bass.
• Fullan, M. (1993). Why Teachers Must Become Change Agents. Educational Leadership, 50 (6), pp.12-17.
• McDermott, I., Hall, L. (2016). The Collaborative Leader. Ceredigion. Gomer Press.
• Pollard, A. (2019) Reflective Teaching in Schools. London. Bloomsbury.

--------------------

Recorded remotely on 2nd February 2021

We're back with another edition of PGCE Research Bites, and this week we've got Cameron Corsi, who's a student on our PGCE Secondary PE programme. Cameron was, like many of our other students this year, given the topic of blended learning to research for his Lead Partnership School. There are some specific considerations for practical subject domains like PE, and Cameron was careful to ensure these were drawn out as part of his research.

Cameron has kindly given permission for us to share his visual summary, which you can see by clicking here.

Cameron's six main literature sources for this piece of research were:

• Rossett, A., & Frazee, R. (2006). Blended learning opportunities. New York, NY. American Management Association.
• Garrison, D., & Kanuka, H. (2004). Blended learning: Uncovering its transformative potential in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 7(2), 95–105.
• Vernadakis, N., Giannousi, M., Sitskari, E., Antoniou, P., & Kioumourtzoglou, E. (2012). A comparison of student satisfaction between traditional and blended technology course offerings in physical education. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 1, 137–147.
• Vernadakis, N., Giannousi, M., Derri, V., Michalopoulos, M., & Kioumourtzoglou, E. (2012). The impact of blended and traditional instruction in students’ performance. Procedia Technology, 1, 439–443.
• Singh, H. (2003). Building effective blended learning programs. Educational Technology-Saddle Brook Then Englewood Cliffs, 43(6), 51–54.
• Tayebinik, M., & Puteh, M. (2013). Blended Learning or E- learning?. In Tayebinik, M., & Puteh, M. (2012) Blended Learning or E-Learning, pp. 103-110.