'Inside Voices: A Teacher Podcast’ is a series featuring, (to use their own tag): ‘two Primary School teachers from Scotland, excited to share [their] experiences and teaching tips’. The aim (or ‘goal’ to again use their own blurb) from these two primary teachers – Laura Fulton and David Grant – is to both inform, but also entertain.
The 39 podcast episodes usually last over an hour, and in each one listeners will experience energetic (inside) voices from Laura and David, which instantly engage.
I dived into a number at random, starting my exploration with ‘Becoming a Teacher’, finding out about how they both got into teaching, and their practical advice for others about to do the same. Then I listened to ‘Classroom Management: How to get to the finish line from 2 tired teachers’, where there was a lot of discussion back and forth that was refreshingly honest – and they never sound tired. The episodes would work well in the background on the way to or after work, with the reflections and sometimes amusing, stories and examples relatable and indeed, entertaining. The fact they teach within the Scottish system did mean that sometimes they were mentioning systems and terminology that is different elsewhere in the UK, but this didn't affect the overall relevance of the podcasts to the UK-wide teaching profession.
I then listened to episodes linked to topics beyond practical survival in the first few years of a teaching career, and instead on topics such as AI and how it can be of great use in the classroom and profession. For drama teachers, there was one episode on Arts and engaging with fun in the curriculum, but that was all I really found of direct benefit to the subject area.
They generally don't have another guest speaking alongside them, but there were a couple of times they had someone in to provide more specific ‘expertise’, such as the episode related to teaching students with ADHD.
The series is intentionally not research-driven, and instead acts like an honest, critical friend saying it how it is. That friend is well-read and knows their stuff – that clearly comes across from Laura and David – and if you are starting out in the profession, whether Primary or Secondary, the series may be of comfort, it will entertain, it may even ‘inform’ your practice, but any further on in your career, you may find the episodes less useful.