Up to this point little is known about the consequences of growing up without siblings. We hear about research that seeks to analyse the effects on childhood and adulthood outcomes.

Full show notes and links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2021/dec/whats-life-only-child-rftrw-s12e03

Widening inequalities in learning, growing gender gaps in paid and domestic work - we hear about covid’s impact in these areas and how research findings are informing responses in policy and practice.

Full show notes and links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2021/dec/whats-happened-parenting-and-pay-during-pandemic-rftrw-s12e02

It’s been an incredibly busy couple of years or so for Professor Alice Bradbury and her colleagues. We hear about the findings and recommendations from their work looking at how lockdown has affected school communities.

The pandemic has thrown into sharp focus just how involved schools are in the lives of children and their families beyond the classroom. Professor Bradbury details the lengths schools have gone in providing support and maintaining lines of communication during lockdowns and school closures.

Our new presenter Dr Laura Outhwaite also asks Professor Bradbury about the takeaways the research presents for education stakeholders, policymakers and the general public, especially in relation to school funding and statutory testing.

Full show notes and links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2021/nov/how-do-schools-recover-post-pandemic-rftrw-s12e01

[Preview] We're going to hear from UCL experts on how children, parents, women and schools have dealt with the pandemic so far and what it's going to take to truly "build back better".

Joining us in the IOE Podcast studio:

Hear more episodes of Research for the Real World: https://bit.ly/researchfortherealworld

Between challenges like climate despair and alternative climate facts, how can education give young people a fuller understanding of the scale and significance of critical climate change?

With a PhD in glaciology and a background in geography education, Professor Nicola Walshe can attest to why Geography as a subject is well-placed to engage in the interdisciplinary nature of environmental and sustainability education.

Hosting this episode, Dr Rob Webster asks Nicola about common challenges and misconceptions around climate change and sustainability, as well as what kinds of teaching approaches research has evidenced to be effective in closing gaps between awareness and behaviour. Professor Walshe also discusses the Eco-Capabilities project which explores the intersect of the natural environment, wellbeing, and the arts, and particularly how primary school children’s wellbeing can be supported by nature-based interventions.

Full show notes and links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2021/nov/what-do-we-need-empower-and-educate-young-people-about-environment-rftrw-s11e04

With beginnings in the study of Classics, becoming a teacher, Master’s research in Northern Tanzania at a Massai school, Dr Charlotte Nussey brings a unique set of experiences to each of the research projects she is heavily involved in. Climate change has always played a key part in her research focus on education and intersecting inequalities.

Dr Keri Wong hears about how the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals relate to the environment and education, Dr Nussey’s interdisciplinary and participatory work, not only across UCL but also across borders, and more about the Climate-U project, particularly about the perspectives of project partners based in countries in danger of facing the worst outcomes of the climate crisis.

Full show notes and links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2021/nov/how-does-climate-change-impact-education-and-social-justice-rftrw-s11e03

Climate change is bringing about ever-increasing, intense and catastrophic weather events and other ecological disasters. A key challenge is for communities to be able to act quickly and decisively when they happen.

Dr Kaori Kitagawa joins us from Japan to discuss her research area of community learning for disaster preparedness. At present, the involvement of the field of education has been limited in developing policy and practice of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), and the need to build this into ‘everyday preparedness’.

Full show notes and links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2021/nov/how-do-we-educate-and-prepare-people-disasters-rftrw-s11e02

Climate change affects all of us, but some more than others. What can universities do, particularly in countries seen as highly vulnerable to extreme weather events and threats?

As the principal investigator for the Transforming Universities for a Changing Climate research project (Climate-U for short), Professor Tristan McCowan is working with teams in Brazil, Fiji, Kenya and Mozambique to strengthen higher education’s contribution to addressing the causes and impacts of climate change in lower-income contexts.

Dr Keri Wong finds out more from Professor McCowan about Climate-U’s objectives and how teaching, community engagement and public awareness can be made possible, what it’s like working with researchers from different disciplines and countries, his thoughts on climate change denial, and imagining what an alternative and innovative university might look like.

Full show notes and links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2021/oct/transforming-universities-changing-climate-rftrw-s11e01

[Preview] We know it's real. What are we going to do about it?

This season of Research for the Real World hears from experts and the challenge of enabling education into action.

Hear more episodes of Research for the Real World: https://bit.ly/researchfortherealworld

This episode features a story of change. Xiaoyu, an Applied Linguistics Master's student from the IOE, shares how she took the initiative to create her own unique university experience since she came to London in March 2020, in the middle of the UK's first lockdown. 

In addition to some common hurdles faced by international students, including socialising and adapting to living and working in a different culture, remote learning threatened to undermine the unique experience of attending different universities – with everything happening on Zoom. Yet Xiaoyu decided to step out and to grasp opportunities for socialising by participating in the Coffee Connect programme and volunteering at the IOE Confucius Institute for Schools. 

This episode was first published in May 2021. It is republished with the permission of the Superdiverse UCL podcast, a student-led series funded by UCL Grand Challenges. Find more episodes from the series on:

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/superdiverse-ucl