Emma & Tom's Pgce Podcast

For our final episode of the Christmas term, we welcome an award-winning researcher to our humble studio! Bethan Rowlands joined Cardiff Met from our friends at the University of South Wales at the start of this year, and promptly won a BERA award for a poster presentation on raising awareness fo dyscalculia. Dyscalculia is, as Bethan describes it, dyslexia with numbers, and is very much the poor relation of the much better-known condition of dyslexia. Bethan explains to us the personal journey which led her to find out more about the condition, the dawning realisation that it was almost unheard of for a pupil to be diagnosed with it, and her work raising awareness in the student teachers that she works with. If you think you might have dyscalculia, or as a teacher you want to know more about it, you can contact the British Dyslexia Society (yes, they do dyscalculia as well!), or check out the authors that Bethan names in the end credits. We'll be back one more time in 2019 for our festive episode. See you th

We’re looking at literacy again today, and particularly what seems to be a perennial problem: the engagement of boys with reading. Our guest is Paul Warren, a former primary headteacher who now advises schools across a wide area of south Wales, and who is in the final stages of a PhD investigating this very area. His approach is to use comics to engage young pupils with stories, and he’s got plenty of interesting things to tell us about his findings, as well as about how rewarding it is to find things out for yourself through action research in the classroom. Paul also brings us some nice ideas for the wellbeing slot, plus a book recommendation for anyone who wants educational research explained in clear terms (which is pretty much all of us!). Paul’s book recommendations for this episode were: Coe, R. et al., 2017. Research methods and methodologies in education 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Sage McCloud, S. (1994). Understanding comics: [the invisible art]. New York: HarperPerennial.

We're back on the road, and have finally got some pupils on the podcast! For this episode, recorded back in July (hence the frequent references to the summer holidays, now a distant memory), we popped down the road to Eastern High School in Cardiff, taking over a room in their shiny new building to interview four special guests. Georgina Saunders was mentioned in one of the regular slots back in season 1, and now gets the chance to appear in person to tell us about how she pulled off the impressive feat of being the student teacher who took forty pupils to the Hay Festival to develop their love for all things to do with reading. She's joined by Eastern High's librarian, James Emery, who was a vital part of the team who brought it all together. They've got plenty of tips for anyone who can see the value for pupils of putting on something like this, but can't imagine how they'd survive the experience! For good measure, we've got two wonderful pupil guests who went on the trip, who tell us about everything from

Teachers should always practise what they preach, and we firmly believe that the holidays are a great opportunity to do just that! So we want everyone to make time for a break from whatever they do in the hard-working world of education. In true teacher style, we've provided you with a resource to assist! It's a small but perfectly-formed episode following the 'blogs, tweets and stories' format that was so successful in the Easter break last year, and we'd like you to listen while doing something restorative - whether that's a walk, a bit of sofa time or a trip to the coffee shop, we don't mind! On with the show, then: Tom has a piece from the Guardian which encourages us to use a Japanese technique to get real about how many things we should be doing at once. Emma has a tweet with something to try which gets the parents on board, and then we move on to the stories, givign Tom his customary opportunity to sail close to the wind. Grabbing the opportunity with both hands, Tom makes yet another attempt to get th

We've got a very special treat for you this episode - an exclusive half hour interview with none other than Professor Graham Donaldson, author of the Successful Futures report in 2015 that made 68 recommendations for reform of the education system in Wales. His name is used as a shorthand for the new curriculum that was finally published in draft in the summer of 2019, and somehow, we're still not sure how, we managed to grab an extended interview with the man himself. In it, we discuss how the report came to be written, what it's like being the lightning-rod for endless Twitter debate, where our lovely student teachers fit into the picture, and - of course - how Professor Donaldson himself looks after his wellbeing. The interview itself was recorded in a conference venue that was being packed away around us, so please forgive us for the background noise! Huge thanks to Professor Donaldson for his generosity. Thanks also to the coffee shop employee who didn't throw us out when we turned our table into a tempo

Today we're joined by primary specialist Sian Davies-Barnes to consider a recent report by the Education Endowment Foundation entitled Improving Behaviour in Schools. We love the EEF because they crunch a lot of research, make it clear and accessible and give us several points of entry depending on how busy we are! This episode is particularly aimed at our student teachers who are just starting their first placements as it goes out, but is equally useful for early career teachers, or anyone looking to distil the wide range of information around behaviour into something manageable. Check out the EEF's report at https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/tools/guidance-reports/improving-behaviour-in-schools/ or follow them on Twitter at @EducEndowFoundn Thanks to Sian for dropping by our studio. Don't forget to tune in next time, when we have an interview with a very special guest indeed...!  

It's episode 2, and Dr Judith Kneen is still with us for the second half of this double-bill. We're discussing our ongoing research into how to combine subject disciplines in the expressive arts (though plenty of this will be relevant for those working in other subject areas too). In season 1 episode 5 we described how we jumped in with both feet, trying out some bright ideas with our students with mixed success, and came away with the strong impression that we needed to do some reading. Fast-forward to this year, and we've done a systematic literature review of all things cross-curricular, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary in the expressive arts, and have come to some interesting conclusions about what creates those all-important 'powerful connections' that we need to make in order for our learning to be meaningful, and for the subject disciplines to be well-served. In the course of today's deep discussion we explain what we found, present a taxonomy of cross-curricular approaches in the expressive art

We're back! It's season 2, and we've decided that the best way to get over the fear of dusting off the microphones and recording a new episode is to call upon the ever-reassuring Dr. Judith Kneen, who is now approaching the status of regular guest and national podcast treasure. Judith has stopped by to discuss her recent research into how primary and secondary schools are faring with their work to pioneer the new curriculum for Wales, and especially the expressive arts Area of Learning and Experience (AoLE), though plenty of what she says will be relevant to other subject areas too. 'Pioneer schools' were chosen by the Welsh Government to have a go at some aspects of the new curriculum, so they're interesting subjects for research as they get to grips with concepts such as making powerful connections between subject areas. Judith has lots of interesting things to report about how differently things are going in the primary and secondary age phases, the opportunities and challenges presented, and where things

We're coming back to your podcast feed very soon! Emma and Tom's PGCE Podcast will return for Season 2 on Friday 6th September. We'll have all the deep discussions about teaching that you need to see you through your Friday commute or the weekend, plus regular tips for wellbeing, things to try and pointers to interesting things we've read, heard or watched. If you haven't subscribed already, you can catch us wherever you get your podcasts. Please rate, review and tell your friends. See you soon!

Emma and Tom are here to interrupt your summer holiday downtime with a public service announcement: there will definitely be a season 2 of Emma and Tom's PGCE Podcast! In the meantime, they've dusted off the microphones to bring you a quick reflection on season 1, some favourite moments from the series, and to look forward to what's coming up in season 2. We'll be back with episode 1 of the new season on Friday 6th September, so make a date to download, listen and enjoy. And if you haven't subscribed yet, don't forget we're available in all the good podcast places, so please do add us to your feed to get our episodes on your device automatically. See you again soon!

It's the end of the road for the 2018-19 PGCE cohort here at Cardiff Met, and that means it's time to put our last PGCE podcast episode out into the world. It's episode 21 and we've somehow managed to send our ramblings out into the world every fortnight since the start of September! For our final episode we're back out on the road, visiting Katy Edwards and Sarah Cason, Headteacher and Deputy Head of Palmerston Primary School in Barry. Their passion is tackling the thorny problem of teacher workload, and they've spent years building up a culture in their school where they can keep working to ensure that their staff are doing the right things with the finite amount of time they have available. The discussion ranges over three perennial trouble-spots: marking, planning and data. Katy and Sarah have a number of common-sense approaches to tell us about, and they reflect on the journey they've taken to get the school where it is now, and the mistakes they've made along the way. Our regular slots are present and c

We’ve reached episode 20 of the podcast with a certain amount of amazement that we’re still here! After the excitement of episode 19, we’re back in Emma’s office to chat to our friends and colleagues from Teach First Cymru.   Dr Julia Jenkins and Rhian Davies-Jones (Damehood surely just a matter of time) have popped in to talk about one of the strategies that underpins the Teach First philosophy: deliberate practice. What is it? What isn’t it? And why would you want to run bits of lessons in a room with no pupils? Dame Rhian and Dr Julia explain all.   Plus: why it’s nice to have five minutes of quiet time in your car, and shoutouts to @impactwales, #TeamCymru2017 and #TeamCymru2018.   Join us next time for the last episode of the 2018-19 season, when we’ll be back on the road and dropping in on some colleagues from the primary sector to discuss the thorny question of teacher workload!      

Well, this isn’t quite what we expected when we set up the podcast in summer 2018... shortly after the release of episode 16, in which our lovely students discussed a talk by the education minister, we received a message from the minister’s office suggesting that we might be able to get an interview with Kirsty Williams herself! It’s a big moment for Welsh education, as the draft curriculum has been published and opened up for feedback from the education world at large. As part of launching the new draft curriculum into the world, the minister visited Cardiff Met with some of the orchestrators of the new curriculum to present and take questions. This episode consists of Kirsty Williams’s speech, an exclusive interview by Emma and Tom with the minister, and a short reaction piece by four PGCE students who were present at the event. Those of us present at the event also heard words of wisdom from Ty Golding, Head of Curriculum Design and Development at the Welsh Government, and Cat Kucia, headteacher of Jubilee

Emma and Tom are joined by Sally Bethell, Senior Lecturer in PGCE Secondary PE, to discuss the five recommendations at the end of Lucy Crehan's book Cleverlands, in which the intrepid author gets on a plane to find out what lessons can be learned from five countries whose education systems are routinely held up as examples of excellent practice. The final chapter of the book distils everything Crehan learned on her travels into five principles that she feels underly excellent and equitable systems for the education of young people, and Emma, Tom and Sally have plenty to say about these - especially Tom, who is in particularly controversial mood and is now awaiting the arrival of his P45 in the post. The three regular slots - wellbeing, shoutout and something to try - get a whole new level of challenge when Emma and Tom decide to try recording them remotely: Tom's in Cardiff Met and Emma's at home with her dog, meaning that the whole thing takes place without the benefit of eye contact - and with slightly lowe

It's the middle of the Easter holidays, and Emma and Tom enjoyed recording the last holiday special for Christmas so much that they've decided to do another one! This time there's a bit more of an educational theme, but a change to the format: Emma and Tom both bring a blog post, a tweet and a story about a teacher into the studio, and neither of them is letting the other have any advance warning of the content... Emma has an uplifting blog post, a tweet that's a perfect summation of an accountability culture gone mad, and a story of pupil protest, quietly aided and abetted by subversive teachers. Tom plays true to form by starting off firmly on the rails with a blog post about dealing with work overload, and then veers off into the unexpected with a tweet about how to tell if someone is truly powerful, and a news story about an idea for a lesson that can only be described as insane. Emma hangs on for what she describes as a 'white-knuckle ride' of content, musing on whether Tom's about to get them both sacke

It's a cosy recording session in Emma's office this time, as we manage to squeeze four student teachers around the table with us to discuss the future of education, focusing particularly on the curriculum reforms here in Wales. After attending a talk by the Welsh Education MInister, Kirsty Williams, all four students felt they wanted to share their thoughts on the way things are moving, and the part they have to play as new members of the teaching profession. With four guests, we get plenty of material for the regular slots, and as an extra bonus we ask them what advice they might have for someone applying to join them in teaching. Their answers are honest, perceptive and inspiring!

Emma and Tom return to their roots with a podcast episode featuring just the two of them - it's been a while! Tom's also relieved to be back in the land of the living after recording the last three episodes back-to-back while suffering from terrible man-flu. With a two-weekly release cycle, that's over a month he's been missing in action on the podcast, occasionally croaking an intervention and then subsiding behind the controls and quaffing Lemsip... now he's sounding much perkier and ready to make a proper contribution! Episode 15 is another episode discussing a learning strategy that we can all try out from time to time: the flipped classroom. Emma and Tom discuss how they used it to reduce the amount of 'death by powerpoint' in their very limited teaching time with the PGCE students, how to get round concerns about technical knowhow and planning workload, and what they've found in the literature about the strategy. Tom's wellbeing tip turns into a fairly epic story, but with a useful message for us all ab

In this small but perfectly formed episode, Emma and Tom are joined by two guests: Rachel George and Rhodri Jones from Ysgol Maes y Coed, a school for pupils with additional learning needs. Fresh from delivering a session with the PGCE students, Rachel and Rhodri talk about how the expressive arts form a central part of the learning experience for their pupils, whose additional learning needs (ALN) range from autism to physical health issues requiring specialist care and equipment. Rachel and Rhodri are experts at not taking no for an answer, and have pressed industry professionals and celebrities from the world of the expressive arts into service enriching the lives of their pupils! There's plenty to think about in this track, from how we can use the arts to help pupils access a range of other subjects, to how we listen to the pupil voice to devise our lessons, and how the ALN learners were represented at the heart of the process to devise the new curriculum for Wales.

It's time for another book review! Emma and Tom are joined again by Dr Judith Kneen to look at Tom Sherrington's 'The Learning Rainforest', a book that Judith rightly describes as 'a thing' in the education community right now. What will Emma, Tom and Judith make of this book which promises to tell us about 'great teaching in real classrooms'? After that. Judith brings her wellbeing tip, shoutout and idea to try - we hope you find them useful. If you want to read more from Tom Sherrington, his blog is teacherhead.com - and if you like our podcast, please do send us a rating, review or tweet. Emma is @ethayer_cmu and Tom is @thomasbreeze. We'll be back next time with more guests, and an episode all about how we can use the arts to enrich the learning of pupils with additional learning needs, and how everyone should give it a go. See you then!   ---------- Recorded at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed campus on 29th January 2019

For episode 12 of the podcast, we're joined by Fiona Diffey, Programme Leader for PGCE Secondary PE at Cardiff Met. Fiona is doing her PhD research on the concept of physical literacy, and has come in to talk to us about how we can transform the way people think about being physically active, their motivation and the way they view the interface between mind and body through physical literacy. This has big implications for the way subjects such as PE are delivered in school in order to have the most positive effect, and we take a deep dive into what this looks like and how the philosophy translates into good teaching - and how a lifelong love of being physically active is vital for our health and wellbeing. If you want to read more about physical literacy, check out the work of Professor Margaret Whitehead, and indeed the research being carried out by Fiona and many of her fine colleagues from our very own Cardiff School of Sport & Health Sciences right here at Cardiff Met. See you next time, when we'll be