Teachers Talk Radio

In this episode, Konstantinos is joined by Dr Sercan Demiralay from Nottingham Trent University to explore how AI is reshaping higher education. They discuss teaching, assessment, student use of AI, employability, AI tutors and agents, and ask how universities can embrace innovation without losing sight of learning.

Louise Marie is joined by David Goodwin to explore what effective checking for understanding really looks like in the classroom. Combining evidence from research with practical experience across different educational phases, David discusses how teachers can gain real-time insight into students' thinking and adapt their teaching to better meet learners' needs.

Join Michael Wright for the Sunday Lunch Show as he chats with Debbie Kent, Choir Director and Deputy Lead for Devon Music Hub about national campaigns to introduce choirs in every school in the UK.

We will discuss the importance and relevance of choirs, what schools need to implement them as well as obstacles to this.

This week, the Education Secretary hosted a summit attended by heads, college principals, mayors, business leaders and a small number of representatives from the MAT sector, during which she discussed the government's plans to raise the profile of technical education.

This follows a promise by Prime Minister Andy Burnham that new technical routes for those aged 14+ will be offered from September 2028, in a bid to tackle the rising NEET crisis Powell has said that she wants to see schools moving towards a culture where students are not pitted against one another, but rather a 'self-supporting peer-to-peer culture'.

While this might be welcome news to many, some are questioning whether the infrastructure is in place to make such an offer in just two years. Powell has promised the changes will be 'fully funded', but how will this be achieved?

And is technical education the silver bullet solution to the rising crises in education? Will it stop competition within and between schools? Or will it open yet another way to hold schools accountable?

Michael Mosbacher in The Telegraph posed a controversial question: “Are we spending too much educating those who do not want to learn?” The question was linked to the ‘Highjacked High Streets’ study undertaken by the Centre for Social Justice, a think tank established by former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan-Smith. The study reported that a small minority of young people are demonstrating anti-social behaviour which terrorises local areas. This was then aligned with behaviour in classrooms, where learning can be repeatedly disrupted by a small handful of students. The article highlighted the high level of truancy since Covid, demonstrating that students are voting with their feet, and recognised that huge amounts of effort are being expended to return students to the classroom. However, do we need to look at the bigger picture? Is attendance against all odds really the holy grail? Where are these problems originating: a curriculum not fit for 21st century learners or a change in the approach to discipline? Should all students be forced to attend school or should we be looking at alternatives? 

On the panel: JP, Ollie Bayliss, Liz Webb, Maud Waret.