IOE Insights

Phonics matters, but children also need language, stories, motivation and meaningful opportunities to read and write. Debates about early reading often present teachers with a choice between phonics and reading for pleasure. Mark Quinn hears about Professor Dominic Wyse and Charlotte Hacking's argument that effective literacy teaching needs both, alongside writing, talk and sustained engagement wi...

The first years of a child’s education can shape their relationship with learning for the rest of their life. But creating educational experiences that work for every child requires more than good intentions. It takes robust research, close collaboration with educators and a clear understanding of what children need. That is the focus of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy at the UCL Institute of...

Dr Leda Kamenopoulou and contributors examine the barriers, technologies, and design decisions that can either enable or restrict participation in education, work, and society. Accessibility is often viewed as an additional feature rather than a fundamental requirement, yet for people with deafblindness it can determine whether participation is possible at all. In this episode, a disability advoca...

As societies face growing political and social tensions, citizenship education is increasingly being asked to help young people make sense of the world around them. In this episode, Jason Ilagan hears from Hans Svennevig about research into the knowledge citizenship teachers need and how classrooms can support informed, active participation in society. The conversation explores democracy, human ri...

Dr Leda Kamenopoulou and contributors explore the 2026 Schools White Paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving. They also explore the government consultation, SEND Reform: Putting Children and Young People First. They examine their implications for inclusion, specialist provision, and outcomes for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), particularly those...

10 years after the Brexit referendum, was Britain’s departure from the European Union inevitable or did it depend on a series of political choices? Mark Quinn speaks with Dr Roch Dunin-Wąsowicz and Max Josef Migden about their research comparing Britain’s experience with the prospect of Poland leaving the EU. They introduce a framework exploring how national structures, political narratives and th...

Dr Leda Kamenopoulou chairs this conversation about how we can use research and professional expertise to promote a more accurate understanding of this complex and often misunderstood disability. Deafblindness (or multisensory impairment, MSI) is frequently associated with assumptions that do not reflect the realities of those who experience it. In this episode, we unpack some of the most common m...

We explore how conservative Christian women have become influential organisers, campaigners and political actors in the United States. Jason Ilagan is joined by Dr Katie Gaddini, who has drawn on a decade of ethnographic research with her new book ‘Esther’s Army’ challenging assumptions that women in right-wing movements are politically passive, instead revealing the diverse ways they organise, mo...

Political movements are crossing borders and challenging established ideas about power and participation. Researchers take us inside political movements in the US and Europe before turning to the classroom to ask how people can learn to navigate disagreement, uncertainty and change. Upcoming episodes: The role of Christian women in right-wing American politics - Dr Katie Gaddini A Polish Brexit an...

In this episode of Academia et al, Zeinab El-Khateeb talks to Professor Norbert Pachler about shaping the beginnings of mobile learning in a time when most phones still had small screens and physical buttons. He reflects on bringing international researchers from different disciplines together to understand how mobile technologies were changing society, culture and education. Professor Pachler als...

In this episode of Academia et al, Zeinab El Khateeb speaks with Professor Lynn Ang about her route from preschool teaching to research leadership at the IOE. Professor Ang reflects on the doctoral journey that transformed her career, and recalls how a senior colleague sharing the details of a successful research grant application helped her also secure one of her own. Full show notes and links: h...

What does a PhD journey look like when you paint it rather than write it? In their final episode of the series, Tooba and Louise talk about getting a PhD over the finish line, staying motivated in the face of challenges and discuss how they envision their future. You can see the artworks they created during this episode on the UCL IOE student blog , and on the IOE Instagram account . Full show not...

In this episode of Academia et al, Zeinab El Khateeb speaks with Dr Jasper Green about a career that has moved between biology, classroom teaching, doctoral research and teacher education. Jasper shares how an inspiring biology teacher helped him develop a sense of identity within the subject, and how later academic experiences led him to questions about learning, misconceptions and what it means...

In this episode of Academia et al, Zeinab El Khateeb talks to Professor Nicola Walshe about a career that has moved from studying glaciers to shaping climate change and sustainability education. Professor Walshe reflects on the currents that carried her from science into teaching, from classroom inquiry into education research, and from individual practice into collaborative work with schools, pol...

What does a PhD journey look like when you paint it rather than write it? On a hot summer evening, Louise and Tooba meet at Louise's flat somewhere in London to reflect on balancing life and a PhD while painting our thoughts on canvases. Their conversation meanders along the tricky pathway of finding and maintaining the balance between pursuing PhD degrees, consistently striving for career develop...

In this episode of Academia et al, Zeinab El Khateeb speaks with Dr Gideon Sappor about the people and experiences that shaped his academic path. From his early ambitions in Ghana, Gideon traces the influence of his parents, his teachers, his PhD supervisor and senior colleagues who helped him understand how to develop and stay focused. He also reflects on inclusion, academic identity and the advi...

Children with rare genetic syndromes are already in our classrooms, yet many teachers receive little training in how best to support them. So what does meaningful, practical, research-informed support actually look like? As the Department for Education gives renewed priority to children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), experts discuss their research into children with neurod...

Dr Brian Irvine describes himself as an early career researcher, but not someone who is early in life. In this episode, he shares the varied experiences that brought him to the IOE, from teaching and childminding to specialist autism mentoring and doctoral study. His story highlights the value of bringing your whole life into research, including the skills and perspectives developed outside tradit...

In this episode of Academia et al, Zeinab El Khateeb speaks with Professor Martin Oliver about what it really takes to build a career in academia today. Drawing on his own journey and leadership experience, he speaks about the realities of progression, the pressures many early career researchers face and the importance of recognising the human experiences behind academic systems. Professor Oliver...

What does a PhD journey look like when you paint it rather than write it?  Today Louise and Tooba are talking - and painting - about data collection. From paper to implementation, what really goes into designing thoughtful data collection methods, and then putting them into practice? What about how the researcher felt while conducting interviews or travelling to not‑so‑accessible places? These exp...

Professor Richard Freeman joins Zeinab El-Khateeb to discuss the realities many researchers are feeling, and how easy it is to become pessimistic at times. But the heart of his message is supportive, reminding listeners that doctoral skills travel well and that people with doctorates often find satisfying work in many sectors, not only academia. His advice? Try not to lock yourself into only one d...

What happens when a researcher’s own story becomes part of the data? And how do you ethically navigate moments when participants’ emotions – joy, frustration – surface in the interview process? In this episode, Dr Hakan Ergül speaks with Stephanie Hoi-Ying Chan, a PhD student at IOE. Stephanie’s doctoral research explores the lived experiences and professional identity development of primary music...

Professor Caroline Daly explores the powerful pull of the IOE and how it shaped her academic identity over decades. She discusses how returning as a master’s student and then a tutor sparked new curiosity about online professional learning. Professor Daly offers an inside look at building cross‑institutional partnerships and co‑constructing programmes that support teacher inquiry. She highlights t...

Hans Svennevig joins Dr Hakan Ergül to explore the ethical challenges that emerge as researchers use AI tools and wearable technologies. Hakan and Hans discuss how these systems complicate consent, privacy, autonomy, and the researcher–participant relationship. They ask whether existing ethical principles are robust enough for technologies that collect and interpret data continuously, often withou...

What does a PhD journey look like when you paint it rather than write it?  Louise and Tooba explore the first major milestones that shaped their PhD research paths. They think back to what support they had, what might have been different, and how it felt to go through those initial stages.  You can see the artworks they created during this episode on the UCL IOE student blog , and on the IOE Insta...