Listen and Learn with Even More Teaching and Education Podcasts
Podcasts can help you discover new ideas and listen to different perspectives about a given topic. They’re an entertaining way to learn beyond the book. Some shows even offer transcripts, allowing for both aural and textual learning.
Whether you’re a news junkie or an -ologist in a certain field, there’s a podcast for you. This is true for both students and teachers. There are many podcasts available about teaching and education, some of which have back catalogs spanning years.
Here are some podcasts to check out if you’ve already gone through the shows listed in this previous post. These podcasts offer a variety of perspectives: from different countries, from different viewpoints or just from different parts of the school building.
10-Minute Teacher Podcast
“It’s when the students have buy-in, and when the students really make up everything for the project, and you just kind of give the topic and let them run with it, it’s amazing what they can do.”
- Episode 663: “How PBL in Math Class Can Make Projects Unforgettable”
This long-running podcast releases new themed episodes five days a week, so if you like what you hear, you’ll have plenty to delve into! Hosted by Vicki Davis, a teacher known for her education and edtech resources, 10-Minute Teacher Podcast is designed to provide bite-sized professional development every weekday. Whether you’re looking for practical, hands-on ideas or general motivation, there’s a wide range of resources available from a wide variety of educators.
Art Ed Radio
“Now is the time to stay connected through art. Any lesson can be adapted to any grade level, is what I’ve realized. Just keep posting so that the world can see what your kids are doing and that your kids feel like they are still like, I don’t think ‘worth’ is the right word, but that they are still productive in some sort of way that they still have a role. Because I think a lot of our kids feel a little lost in that sense.”
- Episode 217: “Connecting from a Distance”
This podcast, created by an art teacher and geared toward art teachers, offers a fun take on art education. Most episodes are aimed at those who work in the studio, teach art history or are generally engaged in the arts. That said, there’s occasionally useful information for educators teaching other subjects. The podcast’s site features full, easily searchable transcripts.
The Creative Classroom with John Spencer
“By getting their feedback, that makes all the difference. Now, this is why I love having students annotate documents. I’m a huge fan of having students do surveys on how things are going for you as a teacher, how you’re teaching, but this is a chance to invite the students and say, ‘Hey, I want everyone to tell me, how is it going?’”
- Episode: “5 Ways to Boost Attendance in Virtual Class Meetings”
While John Spencer shares plenty of great resources about project-based learning (PBL), professional development and student choice on his blog, he also creates a podcast called The Creative Classroom. By providing information on multiple platforms, he offers a way for educators to learn no matter where they are. And because his blog and podcast are connected, there’s plenty of supplementary information online if an episode sparks your interest.
Educate
“So, yes, they might be better positioned to weather this in the long run. But will families — even those of means — be willing to shell out that much money with that much uncertainty?”
This news-focused podcast, created by American Public Media journalists in connection with the Hechinger Report, offers a well-researched look at education — or, as they put it, “[s]tories about education, opportunity, and how people learn.” With coverage centered on the now, many issues brought up on the podcast are both relevant and important. Edited transcripts with additional media are offered alongside archived episodes on their site.
For the Love of Teaching
“Teachers are so good at offering praise, positive affirmations and reinforcement, and I think that straight off the bat, that’s such a great idea to just make, especially in the early years, where they might be feeling anxious about their relationship with their teacher, to just let them know that you appreciate everything they’ve been doing while they’ve been away, and just giving them heaps of build-ups and letting them know that their feelings are normal and okay as well, and that you’re there to help them navigate through those.”
- Season 2, Episode 181: “Re-engaging Your Students after Extended Absence from School”
With many, many episodes in their back catalog, this long-running podcast by Teach Starter offers different ways of looking at education. Focusing on both social concerns (such as the gap that Indigenous university students face) and on mundane schoolyard affairs (like playground duty), For the Love of Teaching is thought-provoking and engaging.
Harvard EdCast
“We have to have more discomfort and more uncomfortable conversations. It’s another thing to actually do it. The only way to become more comfortable in discomfort is to actually do it.”
- Episode: “Unconscious Bias in Schools”
Produced by the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard EdCast explores education in all its complexities. Their driving question: “How can the transformative power of education reach every learner?” Through episodes on remote learning, student surveillance and equitable grading, this podcast offers relevant, useful information for educators.
HMH Learning Moments
“And I think that when you bring culture into the classroom and put it on the table, their culture, then you meet the students where they are and you can get them from that familiar that they know of, and then you can bring them into the unknown. So you leverage the existing community culture. And once you build that into your classroom, you can start creating those connections. And from those connections, that’s where true solidarity and empowerment come in. But I don’t want students to just come into the class and then they learn a bunch of content. Oh, that’s great. And then they move on with their lives. I want to try to instill, you know, a sense of activism and that it’s never finished even for teachers.”
- Season 2, Episode 5: “Chris Dier: High School Teacher in Chalmette, LA”
This podcast, created by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, features discussions with people involved in the field of education, from teachers to researchers. Each season offers a different focus, with the latest season sharing stories from teachers across the United States. These personal interviews offer a glimpse of teachers’ lives both in and out of the classroom.
Pedagogue
“So I think at the core of this is the idea that all tools and technologies, whether they’re behind a screen or not, are always infused with cultural values. A lot of times we don’t see these values because we assume they are just neutral in a sense. But as a lot of technical communication and digital rhetoric scholars have taught us, tools and technologies are not neutral.”
- Episode 21: “Laura Gonzales”
Pedagogue is a celebration of teaching and writing, with an emphasis on sharing diverse voices. Each episode shares stories from people spanning a wide variety of educational institutions, from K–12 to higher ed. While its focus is on writing, Pedagogue imbues personal storytelling into its pedagogical discussions.
School Psyched!
“The role literacy plays in our society is so big, and social media is just one of the ways that it’s increased the need for literacy. I mean, it used to be that you didn’t have to be connected 24 hours a day. You didn’t have as much communication coming into your household that was through writing, and so on and so forth. And so when we look at the economic and social changes that have taken place in society, literacy is just increasing in its importance, and having this persistent problem of substantial numbers of people who can’t fully participate in the social and civic and economic benefits of our society, that does weigh on people and does weigh on governments and so on.”
- Episode 96: “Literacy with Dr. Timothy Shanahan”
Moving beyond pedagogy and classroom management, this podcast “made by school psychologists for school psychologists” offers a holistic perspective of classroom learning. Topics include everything from assessment practices, learning disabilities, trauma-informed teaching and more. Coverage is both relevant and topical, with the occasional invited guest to share further research on specific topics.
Tea for Teaching
“So, multiple means of action and expression can be something small, it can be a draft. But, wherever you have an opportunity to give students those options and choices that all lead to the same outcome, and you can grade them the same way, do so. Your students are going to feel like they have more of a choice. Like they have more control, like they have more agency in your class. They’re likely to stick with you better. And it’s an engagement strategy, par excellence.”
- Episode 138: “Pedagogies of Care: UDL”
Cozy and informal, like having a chat over tea, the Tea for Teaching podcast shares ideas and stories from education. A recent set of interviews highlights participants involved with the Pedagogies of Care OER project, while episodes over the years cover topics such as trauma-informed pedagogy, academic dishonesty, evidence-based teaching and more.
Truth for Teachers
“So that’s a challenge I would give to your listeners: target some of those irritants in your life; whether it’s something with your spouse, or something personal, or something at work. Stop tolerating it, and go upstream.”
- Episode 197: “Creating Systemic Change and Solving Problems BEFORE They Happen”
This podcast, hosted by longtime blogger, educator and instructional coach Angela Watson, is geared toward K–12 teachers. As she puts it, it’s a way of offering “weekly encouragement for educators,” and the topics she covers include everything from how to motivate reluctant learners to lunchtime meal prep. Many episodes focus on topical concerns, such as remote teaching and equity in the classroom. Transcripts are available for accessible, on-the-go learning.
As mentioned in the previous post, there are many, many podcasts beyond those listed, even ones focusing on education. Explore the podcasts listed on your podcast app of choice to find more. Even podcasts that are no longer updating can have great back catalogs!
About the blogger:
Jesika Brooks
Jesika Brooks is an editor and bookworm with a Master of Library and Information Science degree. She works in the field of higher education as an educational technology librarian, assisting with everything from setting up Learning Management Systems to teaching students how to use edtech tools. A lifelong learner herself, she has always been fascinated by the intersection of education and technology. She edits the Tech-Based Teaching blog (and always wants to hear from new voices!).
