8 podcasts for primary school teachers

Podcast listening, by Terry Freedman

Podcasts are a great way of keeping up to date with issues in education, both current and ‘evergreen’, and for hearing about new ideas, tools and tips for easing the workload or making lessons even more engaging. Here, in no particular order, are our top recommendations.

In view of the constant state of change in education, it was felt to be more useful to highlight podcasts for which new episodes are still appearing.

The TES podcast

This is weekly, UK-based, and is concerned with issues in education. Each episode is around 40 minutes long. http://bit.ly/TPTESpod

10 Minute Teacher Podcast

This weekly podcast by veteran USA educator Vicki Davies features interviews with experts on a variety of interesting topics. For example, recent topics have included technology tools to try in social studies lessons, formative assessment, and how to make good use of Google slides. As the name suggests, each episode is just ten minutes long, which means you can pick up some great tips in short bursts. http://bit.ly/TP10pod

Education on Fire

At around 30 minutes long on average, this weekly UK podcast is organised into ‘seasons’, each of which has a theme. For example, there have been episodes about music education, schooling, and education technology. Within each theme, ideas and issues are explored with different experts. http://bit.ly/TPFirepod

The Teaching Space

Based in Guernsey, the average length of this podcast is under 10 minutes, although some are longer, with one episode, for instance, running at 27 minutes and another for 43 minutes. They are very practical, and include ideas for using Google Keep, how to mark faster, and when you need to get to know your school librarian. http://bit.ly/TPTSpod

Angela Watson’s Truth for Teachers

Although based in the USA, this weekly podcast offers help for teachers wherever they happen to live and work. There is advice on how to be more organised, and useful tips, such as about how to beat the Sunday blues, behaviour, and how to save time. The running time varies from 8 minutes to over an hour, but is mainly around the 20 to 30 minutes mark. http://bit.ly/TPTruthpod

Cult of Pedagogy

Unlike most podcasts we looked at, this is two weekly. Based in the USA, it covers issues and offers tips. One episode, for example, is about what to do if the headteacher has a favourite teacher — and it’s you! Some feature useful technology tools. Be careful, because some episodes are more geared to secondary schools, and obviously some of it is more useful for American teachers than British ones, but it’s worth trawling through because several episodes are useful as well as interesting. Running times vary, but are mainly between about 20 and 30 minutes. http://bit.ly/TPpedpod

BBC The Forum

You need to register to listen to BBC podcasts. A variety of topics is covered, and they are potentially useful as background information for your lesson preparation rather than for playing in class. For instance, one is about the history of the Red Cross, while another is concerned with the story of Evita. Each weekly episode is 44 minutes long. http://bit.ly/TPforumpod

BBC Schools Radio

This is for playing to children, and covers a wide variety of topics and subjects. As you’d expect from the BBC, full use is made of re-enactments and sound effects, such as in the episodes about the Great Fire of London. Episodes are around 15 minutes long, and there are teachers’ notes too. http://bit.ly/TPBBCradiopod

This article was originally published in Teach Primary magazine.

The whole four-part series

Podcasts And Videos For Computing Teachers: Introduction

10 Podcasts For Computing Teachers

10 Video Channels For Computing Teachers

8 Podcasts for Primary School Teachers

Other articles about using and teaching computing