Emma & Tom's Pgce Podcast

Happy holidays! We're checking in briefly before we go off for some R&R. We look back on an exciting season of episodes, and forward to series 5. We'll be back with our normal service on Friday 9th September. In the meantime, we hope you're all keeping well. Why not give us a rating or review?

Here we are at the end of another series - four long years in front of the microphone! Meanwhile, in the wider world of education, Wales is heading for an important staging post on the curriculum reform journey: by the time we come back into your ears in September, the new Curriculum for Wales will be happening in schools all over the country. It seems a good opportunity to fire up the line to our friends in Yr Athrofa at the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David Carmarthen, and chew things over with their director of education policy, Gareth Evans. Gareth was education editor of the Western Mail for many years, and now writes fearlessly about the roller-coaster of Welsh education reform on his blog, Welsh Education Matters. Over 50 minutes with Gareth, we take stock of where we are now and where we might end up, pointing out the positives but also the bits that have gone less well, and some things to watch out for in the journey ahead. Hopefully there’s a lot in here for our friends and colleagues in educ

We welcome an alumna of the (sadly departed) Teach First Cymru programme today. Bethan Jeffers has now moved sideways into a job working for the Skills Builder Partnership. Set up by Tom Ravenscroft (not, as Tom initially thought, the music broadcaster and son of the late Radio 1 DJ John Peel, but an educator, strangely enough), Skills Builder aims to provide businesses and education institutions with a framework to recognise those all-important basic skills that are so vital for getting on in the world of work. In providing a framework for skills, the partnership aims to give an incentive for schools to track and acknowledge progress in these skills, while also providing a common language about skills for educators and the world of business.You can find the partnership at www.skillsbuilder.org, where you can access the Universal Framework and many free online tools and resources. If you're interested in the Accelerator support programme that includes strategic support and training head to www.skillsbuilder.o

Welcome to PGCE Research Bites 11, and our final bonus Saturday episode. Today, Dr. Rhodri Lewis from PGCE Secondary Biology with Science is in conversation with Dr. James Snook, senior lecturer in PGCE Secondary Science.Rhodri has reviewed the literature about target setting for pupil development with the aim of helping GCSE pupils come to an understanding about where they are and what they need to do earlier than that awkward Year 11 parents' evening that many of them seem to experience!Rhodri has read literature from education but also further afield including healthcare to come up with recommendations for his lead partnership school. You can hear all about his research process and his findings, and Rhodri has kindly made his summary infographic available to download here.If you'd like to watch this discussion in video form, you can head over to the Professional Learning with the Cardiff Partnership channel on YouTube, where there are plenty more goodies for you to enjoy!Rhodri's six main sources for his w

Dyma damaid arall o ymchwil TAR i chi ac mae’r fyfyrwraig TAR Cynradd, Elin Dawes yn siarad gyda Sioned Dafydd am ei gwaith. Ystyria i ba raddau mae Dysgu yn yr Awyr Agored yn cael effaith gadarnhaol ar iechyd a lles, a beth ddylid ei ystyried wrth ei ymgorffori i fywyd yr ysgol. Yn y sgwrs hon mae Elin yn esbonio beth wnaeth hi ddarganfod ac effaith hynny ar ei hymarfer proffesiynol.  Gallwch hefyd wylio’r sgwrs hon ar Professional Learning with the Cardiff Partnership YouTube channel. Mae crynodeb Elin, sydd ar ffurf pwerbwynt, yma Chwe phrif ffynhonnell Elin oedd: Marchant, E., Todd, C., Cooksey, R., Dredge, S., Jones, H., Reynolds, D., et al. (2019) ‘Curriculum-based outdoor learning for children aged 9-11: A qualitative analysis of pupils’ and teachers’ views’. Edwards-Jones, A., et al. (2016) Falling into LINE: school strategies for overcoming challenges associated with learning in natural environments (LINE) Pia Sjöblom & Maria Svens (2019) ‘Learning in the Finnish outdoor classroom: Pupils’ views,

Here in Initial Teacher Education land, we're very familiar with coaching our brand-new members of the profession, student teachers who are working towards that all-important qualified teacher status (QTS). But today's guest, Julie Keyes, has moved sideways from a successful career in teaching to provide coaching to more experienced members of the profession. Working with senior leaders as well as those further down the food chain, Julie joins us down the line from Cornwall to discuss how coaching can benefit teachers and schools, how she goes about having a coaching conversation, and what she can draw out with some simple but effective questions. Julie's video recommendation is How to Tame your Advice Monster, and her book recommendation is Coaching on the Go. You can find Julie at theeduationalcoach.co.uk ---------------------------------------Recorded at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus (and remotely from Cornwall) on 31st March 2022

it's another Saturday research bite for you, and PGCE Primary student teacher Abby Dee is in conversation with Sioned Dafydd about her work, which considers AfL strategies for inclusion. Abby is particularly interested in working with pupils with ASD and other additional learning needs, and indeed she has undertaken her second PGCE placement in a special school.In this conversation Abby explains what she found out, and the strategies she was able to identify for her own practice.You can also watch this conversation at the Professional Learning with the Cardiff Partnership YouTube channel.Abby's infographic is available for download here.Abby's six main sources of literature were:Bourke, R. and Mentis, M. (2013). ‘Self-assessment as a process for inclusion.’ International Journal of Inclusive Education, 17(8), pp.854–867Clark, I. (2014). ‘Equitable learning outcomes: Supporting economically and culturally disadvantaged students in “formative learning environments.”’ Improving Schools, 17(1), pp.116–126Heritage

Welcome to another episode of PGCE Research Bites! We've got another PGCE MFL student for you today: Rhiannon Ashcroft talks to her programme leader, Kerry Bevan, about her review of the literature on restorative practice.A sometimes controversial and often misunderstood approach to pupil-teacher relationships, restorative practice proved to be fertile ground for Rhiannon to make some helpful and practical recommendations on where to start. Her infographic is available for download here.You can watch this discussion on our 'Professional Learning with the Cardiff Partnership' YouTube channel.Rhiannon's six main literature sources are:Blood, P. and Thorsborne, M., 2016. Overcoming Resistance to Whole-School Uptake of Restorative Practices. Paper presented at the International Institute of Restorative Practices "The Next Step: Developing Restorative Communities, Part 2" Conference. Available at https://www.iirp.edu/pdf/beth06_blood.pdfDas, A., Macbeth, J. and Elsaesser, C., 2019. ‘Online school conflicts: expand

It's time to hit the road (for about a mile) and make an enormous mess of wires and microphones in the nerve-centre of Welsh Government. We travelled to Cathays Park for a chat with our second education minister since we started the podcast. Jeremy Miles has been the minister for education and the Welsh language for just under a year now, and with the implementation of the new curriculum for Wales just a few short months away, it wasn't hard to work out what we needed to ask him about. Our in-depth interview starts with the obvious question - are we ready? - and then tackles a number of pressing issues including the impact of Covid-19, concerns over equity and coherence, how to look after a very hard-pressed teaching profession and try to make it more reflective of the diversity of pupils in the classroom. While there are always going to be questions left unasked in 45 minutes, we hope we've provided you with some food for thought as we enter the final stages before September 2022. ---------------------------

We have so many goodies for you, and so little of the year left, that we're giving you some bonus Saturday releases: for the first time ever, we present BA Bites!As well as our well-known PGCE programmes, the Cardiff Partnership for ITE has an undergraduate BA Primary with QTS programme, and today we bring you our first ever guest from that programme. Lani Codd is a final year student who has carried out classroom-based research into the link between pupils' ability in literacy and their creative capacities.In this research bite, you can hear Lani talking to Emma about her work, and what she found out.You can check out Lani's infographic summarising her findings here, and a video version of this conversation is available at the Cardiff Partnership's professional learning YouTube channel.

Research Bites is back! Showcasing the very best student teacher research from the Cardiff Partnership for Initial Teacher Education, we're proud to present student teachers in conversation with their tutors about the work they've done, and the impact it's had on them and their classrooms.Today, Sonia Fajkis joins us to talk about engagement in blended learning in the language classroom. Sonia talks to her PGCE programme leader, Kerry Bevan, about her review of the literature and the recommendations she made to her school, as well as her next steps as a teacher and a researcher.Sonia has kindly made her summary infographic available for download, which you can find here. Thanks, Sonia!You can also find a video version of this conversation at the Cardiff Partnership's professional learning YouTube channel.Sonia's six main sources were:Chiu, T. K. F., (2021): Applying the self-determination theory (SDT) to explain student engagement in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, Journal of Research on Technol

We're back with the second half of our double-bill discussing the outcomes of joint research carried out by Cardiff Metropolitan University and Cardiff University into the impact of Covid-19 on the education landscape. The research focused particularly on assessment, and looked at both pupils and student teachers. In this second episode we're rejoined by Professor Emmajane Milton from Cardiff University, and also welcome Dr Anna Bryant and Dr Viv John from Cardiff Met. We're discussing the reforms to initial teacher education in Wales, the model of research-informed clinical practice that was adopted in Cardiff, and what happened when Covid-19 hit less than a year into a brand-new (for us) way of educating teachers. We discuss the place of research-informed clinical practice in supporting new teachers to develop despite a rocky start to their careers, differing perceptions between school and university about the way that Covid-19 impacted teacher education, and look at how we move forward and continue d

It's the Easter break in schools - and who knows, we might even take a few days of annual leave ourselves!It's become a tradition at holiday times for us to break into our normal service with a chat about some interesting, weird and wonderful things we've found online, so here's our Easter offering for you.Tom's on best behaviour this time around and has promised not to drop some nightmarish bombshell on Emma to respond to, and all three of his contributions are actually linked to teaching. Meanwhile, Emma has some interesting stuff of her own to share. We hope you enjoy our free-form chat and find something interesting in there! Have a wonderful break, and we'll be back with the second half of our Covid Assessment Project research double-bill in a fortnight.Find our goodies online:1) BBC World Service: Deeply Human2) Political Thinking with Nick Robinson: Lord (Jonathan) Sumption3) The Guardian: 100 ways to slightly improve your life4) Twitter: Dan Wuori on teacher sacrifice5) New York Times: Wordle6) CNN: A

Today we're releasing the first in a double-bill of podcast episodes discussing joint research carried out by the Cardiff Partnership for Initial Teacher Education, and presented at events convened by the International Professional Development Association.We're joined by the newly-professored Emmajane Milton (congratulations to her!) and Dr. Alex Morgan from Cardiff University, who carried out research in a team with colleagues from Cardiff Met. The research, funded by Welsh Government, aimed to discover the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on both pupils and student teachers, with a particular emphasis on assessment.The findings were interesting and concerning for both groups, and what we present today is a no-holds-barred, in-depth discussion about the state of education today as we continue to face challenges from Covid-19, and as we look to reform education in Wales.At the time we release this episode, the report itself had not been publicly released, but on 23rd March we received news that it is now publi

Long-time podcast listeners may remember our review of Lucy Crehan's bestseller Cleverlands, in which the author outlined her insights into leading education systems of the world. Crucially, Lucy had actually got on a plan and travelled to the countries, living with teachers and speaking to people involved in education, and so her conclusions about the features of high-performing education systems of the world had more weight behind them. It also helped that her final chapter was crystal clear in summarising what she saw as the common features of world-leading education systems.So you can imagine how excited we were to be able to pack up our wires and microphones and hit the road - not only were we taking the podcast for the first time since Covid hit in 2020, but we had an invitation to Lucy Crehan's house for a long chat about her work supporting teachers in implementing the new curriculum for Wales!Our discussion turned out to be an honest and serious evaluation of how things are going in what should be th

It's been quite a while since we discussed the all-important role of the mentor in initial teacher education, and we welcome two guests today: Sally Bethell, veteran of several podcast recordings, and Sian Wickersham, one of our newest colleagues. Sally has spent years becoming our go-to colleagues about all things to do with mentoring, and is in the closing stages of doctoral research on the subject. Meanwhile, Sian has just joined us from a role at an academy chain in London, and her perspective as a new member of the team (and one with experience of initial teacher education over the border in England) adds a new angle.There have been some major changes in the way we work in partnership with our schools to educate new members of the teaching profession in the last few years. How has this manifested itself in the role of the mentor, the person who the student teacher probably sees more than anyone else on the programme? How have our colleagues who train and support mentors changed how they work to take acco

Mae wedi bod ychydig yn amser ers i ni glywed ddiwethaf gan ein hathrawon dan hyfforddiant, a heddiw gallwch chi glywed gan sawl un ohonyn nhw! Mae'r cysyniad o ymchwil ac ymholi yn ganolog i fodel ymarfer clinigol addysg gychwynnol ymchwil Caerdydd Met, ac mae'n bleser clywed athrawon dan hyfforddiant yn amlinellu eu gweithgareddau ymchwil ac ymholi cynnar o'u lleoliadau ysgol cyntaf mor groyw.Fe wnaethom sefydlu ein prosiect 'bwth lluniau ymchwil ac ymholi' lle anfonodd ein hathrawon dan hyfforddiant fideos 'hunlun' 2-3 munud yn dweud wrthym beth yr oeddent wedi'i dynnu oddi wrth ddarn o ymchwil ac ymholiad. Mae Sioned a Rhian yn cyflwyno rhai ohonynt yn y bennod hon, ac yn trafod y lle ymchwil ac ymholi mewn addysg gychwynnol athrawon.-------------------------------Recordiwyd ar Gampws Cyncoed Prifysgol Fetropolitan Caerdydd ar 14eg Rhagfyr 2021

It's been a little while since we last heard from our student teachers, and today you can hear from several of them! The concept of research and enquiry is central to Cardiff Met's research-informed clinical practice model of initial teacher education, and it's a joy to hear student teachers outlining their early research and enquiry activities from their first school placements so articulately.We set up our 'research and enquiry photo booth' project in which our student teachers sent 2-3 minute 'selfie' videos telling us what they'd taken away from a piece of research and enquiry. Emma and Tom introduce some of them in this episode, and discuss the place of research and enquiry in initial teacher education.For our Welsh-speaking listeners, there's a bonus this week as we're simultaneously releasing a Welsh version of this episode. Check out our feed for the other episode 13, in which our Emma and Tom's colleagues Sioned Dafydd and Rhian Crooks-Williams take their places to discuss the 'photo booth' submissio

Dr. Viv John, recently awarded her doctorate after completing the Cardiff Met EdD programme with flying colours, has been in our sights for a while! After hearing the rave reviews of her viva, we had to get her in front of a microphone to find out what she's been researching.And the answer is that Dr. Viv has been bravely tackling several of the trickier areas relating to music education, taking on so many challenges that even her supervisors wondered if it was wise!In a nutshell, Viv was interested in trying to nail down the tricky concept of creativity as it applies to musicians who embark on the PGCE in secondary music with the aim of becoming classroom music teachers. We've heard many times on the podcast from Tom about the fact that people entering the profession as secondary music teachers skew strongly towards what we call 'classically trained', and Viv was interested in the implications of that for how these musicians see their own creativity and how it changes as they beome teachers. As well as the P

For the first time in a very long time, we're off on the road to an actual real-life school! Pencoedtre High School in Barry is the venue for an interesting discussion about what we mean by trauma-informed schools and how trauma-informed practice can help support pupils in overcoming difficulties that can affect their experience in school.Steph Robinson and Liz John join us in a school in the midst of being rebuilt to talk about what this looks like in practice, and how a little thought can go a long way in ensuring pupils have an emotionally available adult to call upon when they're in school.-------------------------------------------Recorded at Pencoedtre High School, Barry on 7th December 2021