Emma & Tom Talk Teaching

As teachers, we can work all the magic we like, but if a pupil’s not in our classroom, there’s not much impact to be had. In the wake of Covid, there are more and more pupils who are missing significant amounts of the school year. Somehow, we’ve got to season 9 without having an episode specifically about this important issue, but today we’ve managed to find a guest who can help with the details. Scott Norman-Stephenson supports attendance for a cluster of primary schools in Cardiff, and he’s with us to discuss something that can often, in the media, be reduced to simple headlines about an ‘attendance crisis’ or descend into finger-pointing at parents. Scott tells us about what supporting attendance looks like on the ground, the kinds of strategies he uses, some of the underlying issues feeding into the problem, and why he’s definitely not like a traffic warden! ————————— Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Cyncoed Campus on 11th August 2026

We interrupt your Friday off from our podcast to bring you a special episode about Wales’s PISA results! There’s been plenty of commentary about this already, and we wanted to contribute something that chews over the implications. Despite the results landing very inconveniently in the middle of our busiest teaching period of the year, we found a slot when we could both get in front of a microphone, and we’re doing our best to try and work out where we go from here without sugar coating the fact that these PISA results are really, really not good. For those listeners new to these things, we take a brief run around what PISA actually is, then dive into Wales’s results, get a flavour of the commentary, and try to get a sense of where your new Plaid Cymru overlords want to take things next. Were they lucky to get this bombshell early in their tenure? Or are they already too late to avoid another bad news bomb in three years’ time? Tom’s been sniffing around to get a sense of what’s going on behind closed doors in Welsh Government, and has a few things to report about some speedy announcements, and a curriculum review by the end of the year. Thanks to Rhys Williams from ITV News for the clip that opens this episode. You can follow Rhys on X (and we recommend that you do!) at @rhyswilliamstv - his digging around the detail of data and inspection reports is doing a fine service to education journalism in Wales. We’ll be revisiting plenty of the themes covered today over the course of the year. Normal service will be resumed next week! —————————— Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Cyncoed Campus on 10th September 2026

Welcome back to the podcast for what is, unbelievably, our ninth season! For this first episode, Tom is out and about with his microphones, and has an interview with Dr Gwenllian Lansdown Davies, CEO of Dysgu. Dysgu was set up around a year ago to oversee the professional learning offering for people working in education in Wales. We wanted to find out how it sees its role, what its priorities are, and what would count as success for a nation still grappling with major educational challenges. Thanks to Gwenllian for joining us. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recorded in Cathays Park, Cardiff on 7th July (interview) and in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 12th August (final discussion)

First of all, welcome back to Emma! Although listeners may not have noticed (thanks to us imprisoning her in a studio for about a week last summer and then putting the episodes out slowly across the year), she has in fact just returned from a whole year away from the mic. In this bonus episode, we look back at season 8, and find out that Emma hasn't been keeping an eye on Tom while he was left to drive the podcast by himself - and it's a good thing he didn't realise or who knows what might have been published? We take a quick look forward to what's coming up in season 9, and invite you to make a date in your diary for the 4th September, when we release our first episode of the new academic year. -------------------------------- Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 10th August 2026

We've reached the end of season 8 of Emma and Tom Talk Teaching, and to celebrate the end of another academic year, we're going to take on the end-of-level boss! Learning Styles is a neuromyth (something that people say about how the brain works that sounds attractive but is basically a load of rubbish). Not just any old neuromyth, but THE neuromyth that just refuses to lie down and die. For decades, some in the education world have been beguiled by the notion that all our pupils can be defined as visual, auditory or kinaesthetic learners, and that those who teach them should plan to deliver content in all three of these forms. People have filled in questionnaires to find their learning style, people have made money off the back of the whole notion, and countless amounts of time, money, blood, sweat and tears have been expended on something that, as our guest points out early in the episode, has not only been thoroughly debunked, but is actively detrimental. And yet... and yet... still the myth endures, and still the learning styles monster rears its ugly head from time to time. So Tom has put out the bat signal, and a superhero for our times has answered the call: Dr Louise Allen-Walker from our psychology in education and criminology programmes joins him to engage in an act of public service. In this episode, we strike our own blow at learning styles: the neuromyth that just won't die. Plus, of course, the infamous Neuromyth Van makes an appearance towards the end of the episode, so Louise can put her top three most hated myths (apart from learning styles) in there to be taken away and crushed. Thanks to Louise for joining us today, and thanks to everyone for listening for another year! We'll be back soon. ---------------------------------- Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus (with remote guest) on 21st May 2026 Thanks to our sound engineer Pete Lambern, and studio manager Adrian Rapps, as well as the whole team at Cardiff Met Sport Broadcast & Media, for their support this year.

Today we look at our own initial teacher education (ITE) provision here at Cardiff Met, and question how effective the concept of Research and Enquiry has been for our student teachers. Working in a policy environment where teachers are expected to be capable of creating and consuming knowledge about teaching, and bringing to to bear on their own contexts, we provide time and space for our student teachers to learn how to do that. The idea is that this will make them into better teachers - but how successful has this new idea been and what does our idea look like in reality, on the ground? Emma and Tom are joined by fellow researcher Sioned Dafydd to discuss what we found when we carried out some research that was close to home, and found out some interesting things about how things are going on! ——————————— Recorded in studio D0.12 at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Cyncoed Campus on 23rd July 2025

Tom is joined in the non camera-enabled studio today (sorry, YouTube subscribers!) by Sarah McErlaine, who works with schools in Caerphilly county here in Wales. Sarah has just completed her professional doctorate, in which she worked with literacy specialists to try and nail down the key concepts in English. In the absence of much in the way of clues in the Curriculum for Wales framework, this turned out to be an important and difficult undertaking, and resulted in the production of some very handy concept maps to help support those teachers out in school. Sarah talks us through how she went about designing a support package by taking an international view of the key concepts of the subject, and collaborating with school colleagues to come up with something they could use. Thanks to Sarah for taking the time to chat, and apologies from Tom for pressing the wrong buttons in very much the wrong order on the studio desk, resulting in Sarah sounding like she was dialling in on Teams when she was in fact sitting a few feet away! ——————————————————————— Recorded in studio B2.10A at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Cyncoed Campus on 22nd April 2026

This week we welcome two academics from the University of the West of England - Joe Brown and Dr Tim Clark - to the studio. They’re here to discuss their recently published book Debating Childhoods, which gives Tom and Sian the chance to have an in-depth discussion about how we think of childhood and how society’s values influence the things we prioritise and consider when providing education and experiences for children. There’s lots to think about in this extended episode, and if you’re interested in doing some more deep thinking on this topic, Debating Childhoods is published by Sage and available wherever you get your books! —————————————— Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Cyncoed Campus on 10th February 2026

With the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) elections here in Wales just around the corner, the team got together in Cardiff Met's broadcast centre to discuss what we learnt from the six parties in relation to some of the big themes facing education today. Tom is joined on the studio sofa by Dr Gareth Evans from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and Finola Wilson from Impact Wales to discuss school standards, the future of Curriculum for Wales, funding, teacher recruitment, and more. You can see this episode on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/f_6xr3HAyjk We hope you found our Senedd Elections Special project interesting - we certainly did! ----------------------------- Recorded in studio B0.17 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 20th March 2026 For Cardiff Met Sport Broadcast & Media Studio technical support: Rhys Evans, Jamie Hicks, Caitlin Meredith Sound: Peter Lambern Director: Adrian Rapps For Impact Wales Producer: Darren Evans Any opinions expressed by the presenters are their independent views and not those of their respective employers.

Podcasting solo today, Tom is relieved to have not one but two remote guests to keep him company! Donald Mbeutcha and Sara Gattward are from Every Future Foundation, an organisation that aims to support schools with anti-racist education, mainly in London and the surrounding area. Whilst the Welsh government have made a commitment to an anti-racist Wales by 2030, and we have organisations like DARPL (founded by colleagues here at Cardiff Met) doing great work to make this vision a reality, we thought it would be interesting to find out how things look over in England, in a city seen as more multicultural than most of Wales, and where there is not a specific, time-bound commitment in relation to anti racism. Thanks to Donald and Sara for coming on for what turned out to be a really interesting discussion! You can find them and their work at everyfuturefoundation.co.uk ——————————— Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Cyncoed Campus on 24th October 2025

Our notorious Easter holiday light episode is back for 2026, and we’re delighted that we have Emma’s dulcet tones on the recording! In order to achieve this, we recorded this way back in July 2025, and Tom’s got his fingers crossed that everything we bring to the table ages well in the intervening nine months. Building work outside our normal studio means that we’re in a temporary setup for this recording, so YouTube viewers can see our big screen misbehaving, and everyone can hear the sound of grass being mown outside the window. July recordings are fun! In this episode, Emma, Sian and Tom bring two items each and discuss everything from school teacher retention to the importance of air conditioning and the unpaid labour of mothers. We hope you find something interesting in it to amuse you during your school holiday break. We’ll be back with our normal service in two weeks’ time. ——————————— Recorded in studio D0.12 at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Cyncoed Campus on 22nd July 2025.

In this Senedd Election Special, we tried very hard to interview someone from Reform UK about the party's education policy offerings for the upcoming Senedd elections. As you'll hear, we weren't successful in getting anyone to come on, so we discussed the education content of their manifesto document without them. As always, here on Emma and Tom Talk Teaching we then turn to analysis from Dr Gareth Evans from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. The manifesto discussion was recorded on 6th March 2026, and is a collaboration between Emma and Tom Talk Teaching and The Impact Podcast. You can also hear it, together with Jane and Finola's thoughts, over on their podcast feed. Each of the six main parties contesting the Senedd elections in May has a broadcast slot for their interview: 16th March - Conservative 17th March - Green 19th March - Labour 23rd March - Liberal Democrats 24th March - Plaid Cymru 26th March - Reform UK Then, on 22nd April we'll bring you a special episode analysing everything we've found out from the discussions. Enjoy! -------------------------------------- Presented by Tom Breeze, Gareth Evans, Jane Miller and Finola Wilson Music: Cameron Stewart Producer: Darren Evans Studio Manager: Adrian Rapps Any opinions expressed by the presenters are their independent views and not those of their respective employers.

In this Senedd Election Special, we interview Cefin Campbell from Plaid Cymru about the party's education policy offerings for the upcoming Senedd elections. As ever, here on Emma and Tom Talk Teaching we have post-interview analysis from Dr Gareth Evans from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. The interview was recorded on 16th February 2026, and is a collaboration between Emma and Tom Talk Teaching and The Impact Podcast. You can also hear this interview, together with Jane and Finola's thoughts, over on their podcast feed. Each of the six main parties contesting the Senedd elections in May has a broadcast slot for their interview: 16th March - Conservative 17th March - Green 19th March - Labour 23rd March - Liberal Democrats 24th March - Plaid Cymru 26th March - Reform UK Then, on 22nd April we'll bring you a special episode analysing everything we've found out from the interviews. Enjoy! -------------------------------------- Presented by Tom Breeze, Gareth Evans, Jane Miller and Finola Wilson Music: Cameron Stewart Producer: Darren Evans Studio Manager: Adrian Rapps Any opinions expressed by the presenters are their independent views and not those of their respective employers.

In this Senedd Election Special, we interview Jane Dodds from the Liberal Democrats about the party's education policy offerings for the upcoming Senedd elections. As ever, here on Emma and Tom Talk Teaching we have post-interview analysis from Dr Gareth Evans from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. The interview was recorded on 25th February 2026, and is a collaboration between Emma and Tom Talk Teaching and The Impact Podcast. You can also hear this interview, together with Jane and Finola's thoughts, over on their podcast feed. Each of the six main parties contesting the Senedd elections in May has a broadcast slot for their interview: 16th March - Conservative 17th March - Green 19th March - Labour 23rd March - Liberal Democrats 24th March - Plaid Cymru 26th March - Reform UK Then, on 22nd April we'll bring you a special episode analysing everything we've found out from the interviews. Enjoy! -------------------------------------- Presented by Tom Breeze, Gareth Evans, Jane Miller and Finola Wilson Music: Cameron Stewart Producer: Darren Evans Studio Manager: Adrian Rapps Any opinions expressed by the presenters are their independent views and not those of their respective employers.

We're back next week with the final three slots in the series: the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and Reform. Here on our podcast you'll get the usual post-interview analysis with Dr Gareth Evans. Don't forget that Jane and Finola will be discussing the interviews from their point of view over on the Impact Podcast too. This Senedd Elections Special series is a co-production of Emma and Tom Talk Teaching and the Impact Podcast.

To complement our Senedd election special episodes, we welcome Dr Gareth Evans back to the podcast to set the scene with a look at how education in Wales has developed since devolution in 1999. Gareth is well-placed to give us the back-story leading up to these pivotal elections, as he is Director of Education Policy at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, and previously the education correspondent of the Western Mail, Wales's national newspaper. He's just had a paper published in the Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, describing what he calls 'a story of contradiction' in Wales's education policies of the past quarter of a century. It's a timely moment to dig into these contradictions as we approach what may be a historic election result in a country whose political landscape has, not only since devolution but for 100 years, been dominated by the Labour party. Apologies to our YouTube viewers who will see the cameras cut out half way through as we overran our studio booking! -------------------------------------------------- Recorded in studios B2.16 and B2.17 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 12th December 2025

In this Senedd Election Special, we interview Lynne Neagle from the Labour Party (and the current Cabinet Secretary for Education) about the party's education policy offerings for the upcoming Senedd elections. As ever, here on Emma and Tom Talk Teaching we have post-interview analysis from Dr Gareth Evans from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. The interview was recorded on 5th March 2026, and is a collaboration between Emma and Tom Talk Teaching and The Impact Podcast. You can also hear this interview, together with Jane and Finola's thoughts, over on their podcast feed. Each of the six main parties contesting the Senedd elections in May has a broadcast slot for their interview: 16th March - Conservative 17th March - Green 19th March - Labour 23rd March - Liberal Democrats 24th March - Plaid Cymru 26th March - Reform UK Then, on 22nd April we'll bring you a special episode analysing everything we've found out from the interviews. Enjoy! -------------------------------------- Presented by Tom Breeze, Gareth Evans, Jane Miller and Finola Wilson Music: Cameron Stewart Producer: Darren Evans Studio Manager: Adrian Rapps Any opinions expressed by the presenters are their independent views and not those of their respective employers.

In this Senedd Election Special, we interview Angela Karadog from the Green Party about the Greens' education policy offerings for the upcoming Senedd elections. As ever, here on Emma and Tom Talk Teaching we have post-interview analysis from Dr Gareth Evans from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. The interview was recorded on 18th February 2026, and is a collaboration between Emma and Tom Talk Teaching and The Impact Podcast. You can also hear this interview, together with Jane and Finola's thoughts, over on their podcast feed. Each of the six main parties contesting the Senedd elections in May has a broadcast slot for their interview: 16th March - Conservative 17th March - Green 19th March - Labour 23rd March - Liberal Democrats 24th March - Plaid Cymru 26th March - Reform UK Then, on 22nd April we'll bring you a special episode analysing everything we've found out from the interviews. Enjoy! -------------------------------------- Presented by Tom Breeze, Gareth Evans, Jane Miller and Finola Wilson Music: Cameron Stewart Producer: Darren Evans Studio Manager: Adrian Rapps Any opinions expressed by the presenters are their independent views and not those of their respective employers.

In this Senedd Election Special, we interview Natasha Asghar from the Conservative Party about their education policy offerings for the upcoming Senedd elections. As ever, here on Emma and Tom Talk Teaching we have post-interview analysis from Dr Gareth Evans from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. The interview was recorded on 25th February 2026, and is a collaboration between Emma and Tom Talk Teaching and The Impact Podcast. You can also hear this interview, together with Jane and Finola's thoughts, over on their podcast feed. Each of the six main parties contesting the Senedd elections in May has a broadcast slot for their interview: 16th March - Conservative 17th March - Green 19th March - Labour 23rd March - Liberal Democrats 24th March - Plaid Cymru 26th March - Reform UK Then, on 22nd April we'll bring you a special episode analysing everything we've found out from the interviews. Enjoy! -------------------------------------- Presented by Tom Breeze, Gareth Evans, Jane Miller and Finola Wilson Music: Cameron Stewart Producer: Darren Evans Studio Manager: Adrian Rapps Any opinions expressed by the presenters are their independent views and not those of their respective employers.

Next week we'll have interviews with the Conservatives, the Green party and Labour. Here on Emma and Tom Talk Teaching there's analysis after every interview with Tom and Dr Gareth Evans from the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David. Join us on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for our first three episodes! This Senedd Elections Special series is a co-production of Emma and Tom Talk Teaching and the Impact Podcast.