It's something of a tradition to haul Emma in for a doctoral progress check, and today she's digging into her chosen research approach: participatory research.

If you listened to Emma's last episode, you'll remember that she examined her own research worldview and values, and concluded that she couldn't find out what she needs to know without making her participants into co-researchers, which makes for a complicated setup!

Today she's telling us what her participants said about what and how she needs to go about discovering how new drama teachers learn to be teachers. If you're not a drama person, there's plenty in the discussion about how to involve the subjects of your research in shaping the project, and that's likely to be relevant for the increasing number of teachers doing their own research and enquiry, whether for an MA, doctorate or as part of improving their teaching.

Thanks to Emma for the update!

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Recorded in studio D0.18 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 25th November 2024

We welcome Dr Fiona Heath-Diffey to the studio today to talk us through her doctoral research into the experiences of primary student teachers getting to grips with the idea of teaching PE.

Fiona has previously joined us to talk about physical literacy - the idea that PE lessons should give pupils a lifelong healthy relationship with exercise and their bodies, rather than teachers taking an elitist view centred around creating elite sports people.

In her research, Fiona uncovered some compelling stories about primary student teachers as they worked on their PE teaching skills, and about how their own lived experiences of sport and exercise had a bearing on their learning.

Thanks to Fiona for battling through some serious lurgy to tell us all about it!

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Recorded in Studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Cyncoed Campus on 7th March 2025

For teachers it's the Easter break, and so we like to bring you another of our selections of the interesting, humorous and strange things we have been reading or otherwise consuming lately.

This time around, Tom's taking a look at what it's like to be a 'progressive activist', while also musing on the power of the legally-enforced lunch break. Meanwhile, Emma has a book recommendation and a bit of a rant about the dusty old tropes wheeled out every time a TV drama is set in a school.

Many laughs were had along the way, and we hope it whiles away a bit of time for you too. (And don't tell our colleagues where we hide when we're trying to get work done!)

Normal service will be resumed in two weeks' time.

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Recorded in Studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 11th April 2025