Teachers Talk Radio

The "Bedroom Generation" - Is the UK writing off young people?: Points of View

Nearly one million young people in the UK are currently out of education and work. Alan Milburn’s explosive new report warns of an "economic catastrophe" driven by lockdown scars, social media rewiring, and a broken welfare system. In this show, join JP, Rae, Carl and Jo as they ask the tough questions. Are schools doing enough to build resilience? Has technology created an anxious generation that the system is simply giving up on?

Test Anxiety and School Avoidance: The Saturday Breakfast Show with Darren Lester

Darren explores the relationship between test anxiety and school avoidance, examining how anxiety around exams and assessment can contribute to absenteeism, emotionally based school avoidance, and disengagement from learning. Drawing on current educational and psychological research, he discusses the warning signs teachers and parents should recognise, the impact of exam stress on student wellbeing, and the practical strategies schools can use to support anxious pupils before attendance becomes a wider concern.

Make it make sense: Why are we more interested in banning books than banning social media? - The Morning Break with Liz Webb

In March, Index on Censorship reported on a school in Greater Manchester that had pulled 200 books from the school library shelves after the Head raised an issue with one book.
With huge parental pressure in the US to censor young people’s access to certain literature, particularly that relating to race, gender and sexuality, is the UK following suit in this worrying trend?
In a world where our young people carry access to a whole world of unrestricted material in their pockets, why has the war been waged on literature rather than smartphones and social media?

A Culture of Threat: Misogyny, Masculinity, and Modern Schooling: The Twilight Show with Louise Pickering

Louise Pickering meets with Vivienne Porritt OBE to discuss:
The concept of masculinity
The impact of social media on boys and men
The research/evidence behind the concerns
How misogyny and sexism manifest in schools
How schools can design effective systems and establish a healthy culture that safeguards girls and women

Feedback in the classroom: 50+ strategies to improve learning without increasing workload

In this special Teachers Talk Radio show, brought to you in partnership with Hachette Learning, hosts Tom Rogers and Sarah Wilkinson Crute are joined by bestselling author Kate Jones to explore her Feedback Resource Guide. Following on from her work on feedback, Kate’s new guide offers over fifty evidence-informed, classroom-ready strategies designed to make feedback more effective, efficient and manageable for teachers. The conversation will explore practical approaches to verbal and written feedback, self and peer assessment, whole-class feedback, audio tools and online feedback resources. With a focus on low-effort, high-impact strategies, this show offers useful takeaways for teachers across subjects, phases and settings.

Is Wellbeing Weaponised in Toxic Schools? : Points of View

Teacher wellbeing is at its lowest since 2019. Education Support’s Teacher Wellbeing Index reports that 76% of teachers report high levels of stress, while 36% are at risk of clinical depression. Nearly half of those surveyed said that their school’s culture negatively impacts their mental health. Has wellbeing become a series of token gestures? Why do schools struggle to take meaningful steps to improve staff wellbeing? Is it a fundamental misunderstanding of what is needed to combat low staff morale? Is the problem much bigger than individual institutions? Or is it a toxic culture created by poor leadership?

International School Leaders' Guide to AI: The Twlight Show with Matthew Wemyss

How do you lead a school on AI when you're operating across multiple curricula, multiple countries, and a staff team that turns over every few years?
This Wednesday at 6pm I'm chatting with Rita Bateson on The Twilight Show about her new book International School Leaders' Guide to AI, published by Hachette Learning under the John Catt imprint. Rita brings practical strategies for navigating what she calls the AI labyrinth, written specifically for the realities of international school leadership.
We'll dig into where leaders are getting stuck, what's working in schools that have moved early, and how to build something durable rather than reactive.
 

Teaching Respect Through Belonging: The Lunch Show with Famida Choudhary

In this Teachers Talk Radio show, host Famida Choudhary is joined by Cara Zelas to explore how respect in early childhood classrooms is not simply a rule to follow, but a skill that must be intentionally taught, modelled, and experienced. The conversation will highlight practical ways to help young children feel seen, valued, and connected while building classrooms where belonging comes first.

Creativity in the classroom: The late show with Konstantinos Pappas

Konstantinos discusses with guest Dr Jonathan Wright how creativity is taught in higher education, exploring risk-taking, imagination, feedback, AI, employability, and the realities shaping contemporary creative classrooms and student experiences.

How Strict Should Schools Be in 2026?: The Twilight Show with Tom Rogers

In this show, Tom Rogers speaks to Welsh headteacher Alun Ebenezer about discipline, behaviour, boundaries and the growing debate over whether schools have become too soft. From closing wellbeing rooms and bringing parents into lessons, to challenging what he sees as a culture of over-labelling and lowered expectations, Ebenezer has become one of the most controversial voices in British education. But are stricter schools exactly what many teachers and parents now want? The conversation explores resilience, SEND and mental health debates, attendance, behaviour culture, parenting, Wales vs England, inclusion, competitive sport, and why some school leaders believe schools have become overly therapeutic. Are firm boundaries the key to restoring standards or is there a danger schools lose compassion in the process?