Talking about Teaching is something we do whenever an opportunity arises! We, like all teachers, joined the profession because we love our subjects and enjoy working with young people. Despite over 40 years of combined teaching experience across various educational settings in the UK and internationally, we believe there’s always more to learn and share.
This belief inspired us to create our new podcast, “Talking about Teaching.” Reflecting with others about experiences and exploring new perspectives is vital to ensure we provide the very best education for the pupils we serve. In recent years, there has been an increased focus on high-quality professional development (PD), both online and in-person. At Oundle School, we’ve embraced this, expanding our PD offerings and finding new and innovative ways for teachers to engage, explore, experiment and learn from one another’s teaching practice.
We have so many interesting conversations every day and wanted to find a way to share these with a wider audience.
By nature, teachers are keen to learn more about both their subjects and the craft of the classroom, but teaching is known to be a profession with multiple demands on time due to the wider range of responsibilities that exist; we have a lot to talk about but only small windows in which to do so! Our podcast aims to bridge this gap by providing dedicated time for meaningful conversations and allowing listeners to tune in at their convenience. Hosting on Spotify means anyone can listen anywhere – while walking the dog or traveling to an event and each episode is short enough to fit into busy schedules. Plus, by sharing content via a podcast, we are contributing to the School’s ongoing efforts towards environmental sustainability by negating the need for printed newsletters or journals that sit on the table gathering dust (and acting as coasters)!
So, what can listeners expect from “Talking about Teaching”? The podcast features engaging conversations with a diverse array of special guests, currently drawn from the Oundle Common Room, but in the future from further afield too. The content is deliberately diverse, sometimes niche, and covers academic, pastoral and co-curricular topics which reflect all areas that Oundle teachers contribute to. Interested in pastoral issues? You can choose the episode in which Laura Mackenzie shares the unique joys and challenges of sharing life with 60 boys and how her experience shows that societal stereotypes often fall short. Interested in academic progress? You can listen to Alejandra Cobo’s passionate advocacy for school-wide literacy initiatives to enhance educational outcomes. Interested in Green issues? Tune in to hear Paul Batterbury discuss effective strategies for promoting sustainable practices in our school community.
The Oundle community has a broad range of interests, expertise and experience, and the podcast provides a different medium through which we can share, reflect and learn from one another.
For those listeners who know Oundle, a teacher’s perspective will develop your knowledge of the purpose of a variety of opportunities that are on offer and the ways that young people receive and engage with an Oundle education, within and beyond the taught curriculum. Each episode should leave you with a more nuanced understanding of the successes and challenges posed by educating young people in this setting and more broadly in today’s world. For those listeners who don’t know Oundle, or perhaps aren’t teachers at all, the podcast aims to provide a window into school life, challenging existing perceptions and providing a point of comparison to your own experience of education.
Through connections made via the podcast, we aim to support teachers at Oundle to share with and learn from other educators in different settings for the mutual benefit of supporting the development of young people. Whether you’re new to teaching, a department leader, involved in shaping educational policies, or have simply stumbled across the podcast, it should inform, inspire, and entertain. We hope that listeners beyond Oundle School find something of interest in every podcast that helps them to reflect and shape thinking. To that end, to all those listening, please do subscribe, share the podcast, and comment on episodes to get the conversation started! Talking about Teaching
