The Edge Podcast- Rethinking Education: Recent Episodes
The Edge Foundation
In the course of our work with schools, colleges, universities, researchers and policymakers in the UK and internationally, we get the chance to meet some amazing colleagues. We want to give you the chance to meet them too.
Each episode features Edge’s Executive Director, Olly Newton, or CEO, Alice Barnard, talking to guests with a fascinating take on one of the key issues facing education today. At around half an hour each, we hope you can enjoy the podcast over lunch or on the move and if you’re inspired and want to find out more, join our community or connect with us on Twitter @UkEdge.
Edge was commissioned by the Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board (SAAB) to look at Graduate Apprenticeships in Scotland and how they might be supported to grow over the coming years. In this podcast, you’ll hear from:
- Paul Campbell, Head of Learning and Organisational Development at Scottish Water and Chair of the SAAB Employer Engagement Group
- David Scott, Graduate Apprentice Software Developer at Aviva
- Andrea Laczik, Edge’s Head of Research
Find out more:
- Read Edge’s report on Graduate Apprenticeships in Scotland here.
- Sign up to our webinar in January 2022 here.
Edge revisits some of the innovative higher education institutions from the Rethinking Higher Education report: Case studies for the 21st Century. We find out what makes these forward-looking universities stand out and how they are preparing their students for life in a very different 21st Century, particularly in light of changing practices since the pandemic. Debbie McVitty, WonkHE hosts this episode, and we hear from:
- Robyn Skelton, The Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology
- Dr Sam Grogan, Salford University
- Dr Wendy Ivins, National Software Academy, Cardiff University
- Diana El-Azar, Minerva Project
- Andrew Boer, Edge Hotel School (EHS), University of Essex
Edge has been working with schools and colleges in the North East of England over recent years to pilot innovative approaches to bring the curriculum to life. This has formed the basis of our growing Edge Future Learning programme. In this episode you’ll hear from two fantastic early adopters:
Judith Quinn, Vice Principal, Curriculum and Achievement at Sunderland College
Laura McAllister, Head of English and Teaching and Learning Lead at UTC South Durham
Find out more:
- Read more about Sunderland College’s work with Edge Future Learning.
- Read more about UTC South Durham’s work with Edge Future Learning.
- Listen to our podcast with Ford Next Generation’s coaches.
- See our research with NFER on UTCs.
- Watch our video about XP’s Crew system.
Edge is really interested in how accountability and inspection regimes impact on school behaviour. We are also always keen to compare the four nations of the UK to understand similarities, differences and lessons to learn. In this episode, we explore recent research commissioned by Edge from UCL Institute for Education comparing school inspection across the UK with:
- Dr Bernie Munoz, Senior Research Fellow in Education at Department of Learning and Leadership, UCL’s Institute of Education
- Dr Martin Brown, Associate Professor, School of Policy and Practice at Dublin City University and Co-director of EQI, the centre for evaluation quality and inspection.
Find out more:
- Read the Inspection across the UK report
- Watch the report launch event
Edge is always looking for fantastic international examples that others can learn from. The team recently went on a ‘virtual’ study visit to South Africa and met a wide range of innovative partners and project. In this episode, you’ll meet organisations changing the face of employment and apprenticeships:
- Rob Urquhart, Impact and Research Lead, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator
- Jess Roussos and Adam Collier, Co-Founders and CEOs of BluLever Education
Find out more:
- Our article on the visit to South Africa
- Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator
- BluLever Education
Edge has inherited the Honourable Histories report from the Further Education Trust for Leadership to promote and update – it tells the story of the last 30 years of Further Education policy and in this podcast you will hear from its authors:
- Tom Richmond, Founder and Director of the EDSK think tank.
- Ewart Keep, Emeritus Chair in Education, Training and Skills at the Department of Education, Oxford University
Find out more:
- Honourable Histories
- Learning from the Past
- Nuffield’s review of 14-19 education and training
- EDSK
- Oxford University Department of Education
6th International Conference on Employer Engagement: In conversation with with Prue Huddleston and Andrea Laczik
This conference is hosted by Education and Employers in partnership with the Edge Foundation. It will focus on employer engagement in general education, technical and vocational education and training, and the extent to which such interventions adequately prepare young people for the rapidly changing world of work. In particular, attention will focus on the need to develop and capture the skill requirements within the changing labour market and how such interventions can support young people as part of the response to Covid-19. The conference also seeks to reflect on reforms and policy shifts in relation to education and training and employer engagement internationally.
Book your place here
Edge is leading a programme of research called ‘learning from the past’ where each month one of our early career researchers puts together a summary of a key policy from the last 30 years of education, what worked, what didn’t and what the lessons are for future policy making. In this episode, you’ll hear about the first in the series which focuses on the Connexions Service with:
- Dr Konstantina Maragkou, Research Fellow at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), Dublin, who wrote the review.
- Dr Siobhan Neary, Associate Professor at University of Derby and Head of the International Centre for Guidance Studies (iCeGS), whose work focuses around high quality careers guidance.
Find out more:
- Our Emerging Researchers Network at https://www.edge.co.uk/research/research-networks/emerging-researchers-network/
- The Learning from the Past project and the report on Connexions at https://www.edge.co.uk/research/Learning-from-the-past/
- The International Centre for Guidance Studies at https://www.derby.ac.uk/research/centres-groups/icegs/
Edge has worked closely with the amazing team who have transformed education in Nashville over the last fifteen years and US non-profit Ford Next Generation Learning to understand their work and build key elements of it into our Edge Future Learning programme first in the North East of England and now more widely. In this episode you will hear from:
- Starr Herrman, Educational Consultant at Nashville Hub, sharing her perspective on how the Academies of Nashville have transformed education in the city.
- Scott Palmer, Community Coach with Ford Next Generation Learning, discussing how Ford NGL have spread this model to communities across the US and now, with Edge, in the UK too.
Find out more:
- Academies of Nashville - https://www.academiesofnashville.com/
- Ford Next Generation Learning - https://fordngl.com
- Edge Future Learning - https://www.edge.co.uk/edge-future-learning/`
We believe that creativity is one of the key skills that young people should develop through the education system – not just for jobs in the creative industries themselves, but right across different industries. This episode focuses on research by colleagues at the University of Warwick looking at dance, but has much wider implications. In this episode you will hear from:
- Professor Prue Huddleston - Emeritus Professor and former Director of the Centre for Education and Industry, University of Warwick
- Dr Heidi Ashton – Assistant Professor of Creative Industries, University of Warwick
Find out more:
- Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies, University of Warwick - https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/scapvc/ccmps/staff/heidi_ashton
- Edge’s Skills Shortages Bulletins - https://www.edge.co.uk/research/projects/skills-shortages-uk-economy/
Edge is proudly supporting the Rethinking Assessment movement which brings together a wide coalition of state and independent schools, Multi-Academy Trusts, FE Colleges, academics and employers to push for change to our old-fashioned exam system. In this episode you will hear from:
- Rachel Macfarlane, Director of Education Services at Herts for Learning, sharing her perspective on why the current system of high stakes written exams isn’t working for students, teachers or employers.
- Professor Bill Lucas, Director of the Centre for Real-World Learning at Winchester University, sharing international examples and models of how assessment can be done differently.
Find out more:
- Rethinking Assessment - https://rethinkingassessment.com/
- Webinar on rethinking assessment - https://www.edge.co.uk/news-and-events/news/robert-halfon-mp-lays-out-his-vision-for-post-covid-education-and-assessment-system/
- Herts for Learning - https://www.hertsforlearning.co.uk/
- Centre for Real-World Learning - https://www.winchester.ac.uk/research/our-impactful-research/research-in-education/centres-networks-and-institutes/centre-for-real-world-learning/
Edge has been running the Island Education Network since 2018, bringing together education leaders from islands around the British Isles, the Channel Islands and British Overseas Territories to explore the opportunities and challenges of education in a small island context. In this episode, we talk about how lessons from the island context have become applicable to schools and colleges everywhere during the Covid pandemic – you will hear from:
- Angus McLellan, Headteacher, e-Sgoil, Stornoway about their amazing work on online learning which has been adopted across Scotland to support remote learning during lockdown.
- Louise Misselke, Principal, Guernsey College of Further Education about adapting FE to support young people during the pandemic.
Find out more:
- E-Sgoil: http://www.e-sgoil.com/
- Guernsey College: http://www.guernseycollege.ac.gg/
Rich employer engagement can help to bring education and the curriculum to life in all phases including in Higher Education, helping young people get more inspired and better prepared for the workplace. In this episode you will hear from:
- Andy Boer, Principal of the Edge Hotel School at the University of Essex where students work towards degrees in hospitality management whilst running a working 4* hotel.
- Wendy Ivins, Director of Collaborative Learning with Industry at the National Software Academy, Cardiff University about their innovative project-based learning approach to teaching software engineering.
Find out more:
- Edge Hotel School: https://www.essex.ac.uk/departments/edge-hotel-school; https://www.edge.co.uk/sites/default/files/documents/edge_-_ehs_report_3b.pdf.
- National Software Academy: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/software-academy; https://www.edge.co.uk/sites/default/files/documents/edge_cardiff_nsa_research_final.pdf.
We love to find inspirational international examples to share with others. Recorded during the Covid pandemic, we weren’t able to complete our planned study visit to Canada and instead went on a virtual visit. In this episode you will hear from:
- Jeff Warren, interim Chief Academic Officer at Quest University about their innovative model and broad curriculum that supports students to answer their driving ‘question’.
- Gina Antonacci, Associate Vice-President, Academic at Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Toronto about the rich employer engagement that supports their amazing Further Education offer.
Find out more:
- Quest: https://questu.ca/; https://www.edge.co.uk/news/edge-news/quest-university-reimagining-higher-education-from-the-ground-up.
- Humber: https://humber.ca/; https://www.fenews.co.uk/featured-article/59567-fe-research-centres-and-experiential-learning-lessons-in-further-education-from-canada.