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Edge Podcast: Rethinking Education season 1

20 April 2023

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Edge goes to Canada

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.

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.

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Innovation and employer engagement in HE

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.

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.

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Island education

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.

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.

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Rethinking Assessment

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.

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.

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The Connexions Service

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. In this episode, you’ll hear about the first in the series which focuses on the Connexions Service.

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.

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Honourable Histories

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.

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

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A 'virtual' study visit to South Africa

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.

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

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Inspection report

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.

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.

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Edge future learning

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.

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

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Graduate apprenticeships in Scotland

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.

The report commissioned by the Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board (SAAB) from the Edge Foundation, examines the current policy position of Graduate Apprenticeships (GAs) in Scotland and the future of the labour market. It draws on international examples of degree level work-based learning, to reflect on the opportunities GAs may offer in developing the future workforce of Scotland. 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 Director of Research

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Innovative Higher Education

Edge revisits some of the innovative higher education institutions from the Rethinking Higher Education report: Case studies for the 21st Century.

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