IOE Insights

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 definition of success, and stay open to what interests you as your career grows.

Full show notes and links (including the MOOC - 'Is a PhD Right for Me?'): https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2026/may/when-academia-feels-tough-or-uncertain-academia-et-al

More IOE Insights podcasts: https://uclioe.info/podcast
UCL Institute of Education: https://ucl.ac.uk/ioe

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 teachers in Hong Kong.

Drawing on her background as a classically trained musician and former primary music teacher, Stephanie reflects on the ethical tensions of managing multiple identities in the field, handling emotionally charged interviews, and translating rich Cantonese narratives into English without losing meaning or voice.

Full show notes and links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2026/may/between-identities-emotions-and-ethical-practice-fieldwork-research-ethics

More IOE Insights podcasts: https://uclioe.info/podcast
UCL Institute of Education: https://ucl.ac.uk/ioe

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 the transformative impact of mentoring networks and bilingual learning in Wales. For those starting out in academia, she emphasises staying open, staying connected and embracing the unexpected turns that shape a career.

Full show notes and links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2026/apr/when-teacher-education-becomes-lifelong-return-academia-et-al

More IOE Insights podcasts: https://uclioe.info/podcast
UCL Institute of Education: https://ucl.ac.uk/ioe

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 without active awareness.

Their conversation draws on the AI and Technology Wearables Task and Finish Group Report and Recommendations (2025), commissioned by the UCL Institute of Education Research Ethics Committee and chaired by Hans.

Full show notes and links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2026/apr/ai-tech-wearables-and-ethics-research-ethics

More IOE Insights podcasts: https://uclioe.info/podcast
UCL Institute of Education: https://ucl.ac.uk/ioe

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 Instagram account.
Full show notes and links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2026/apr/painting-our-way-through-milestones-splash-colour-phd-sketchbook

More IOE Insights podcasts: https://uclioe.info/podcast
UCL Institute of Education: https://ucl.ac.uk/ioe

Music featured: "Magic Escape Room" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

What does it take to create a study designed to last for generations?

Professor Alissa Goodman joins Mark Quinn to talk about Generation New Era, a new birth cohort study that will follow 30,000 babies born in the UK in 2026. She describes how new approaches to data collection, including regular digital contact with families and the use of video data, will provide richer insights into children’s development.

We hear about the challenges facing children growing up today, including economic uncertainty, digital technologies and pressures on families. The discussion considers how researchers balance responding to current policy priorities with building evidence that remains relevant in the future. Professor Goodman also reflects on the responsibility and opportunity involved in creating a public data resource that can support better decision-making for many years to come.

Full show notes and links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2026/apr/following-new-generation-understand-childhood-and-inequality-research-real-world

More IOE Insights podcasts: https://uclioe.info/podcast
UCL Institute of Education: https://ucl.ac.uk/ioe

This conversation traces Professor Li Wei’s path from classroom teacher to Director and Dean of the UCL Institute of Education, showing how lived experience drove his research questions. He explains language shift in three generations and why some children become English‑dominant despite living in multilingual homes. With deep expertise in bilingualism and multilingual education, he shares evidence‑based ways to support heritage language maintenance. There's practical insights for educators, families, and early career researchers alike.

More about Professor Li Wei and related links: https://uclioe.info/4sHzlJr

More IOE Insights podcasts: https://uclioe.info/podcast
UCL Institute of Education: https://ucl.ac.uk/ioe

In an increasingly digital landscape, what can teachers do to guide, safeguard and support their students?

Teacher training is largely designed for an analogue world, but teachers now find themselves in exactly the opposite of that. Disinformation and misinformation are on the rise and conspiracy theories have become ubiquitous.

In conversation with our hosts Mark and Elaine, Jeremy Hayward weighs up the consequences of all this for the profession and provides some much-needed practical guidance for teachers and leaders.

"I don't think we're adequately preparing young people for a life online... We need a real reform of the curriculum, and we need to spend more time reflecting on why we believe what we believe."

Full show notes: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2026/mar/disinformation-misinformation-and-conspiracy-theories-staffroom-s06e06

More IOE Insights podcasts: https://uclioe.info/podcast
UCL Institute of Education: https://ucl.ac.uk/ioe

We explore retirement readiness, gender gaps in pension wealth, and the real-life consequences of inequality across the life course.

Dr Amy Harrison speaks with Dr Sam Parsons about what long-running birth cohort studies can reveal about people’s lives as they approach retirement.

Full show notes and links to research: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2026/mar/worked-more-still-got-less-research-real-world

More IOE Insights podcasts: https://uclioe.info/podcast
UCL Institute of Education: https://ucl.ac.uk/ioe

What does a PhD journey look like when you paint it rather than write it?

Louise and Tooba are two international doctoral students at the UCL Institute of Education, and in 2026 they are navigating the third year of their PhD programmes. Each month they will meet to sit down, talk, and paint. These sessions turn reflective conversations into visual stories, using art to bring their PhD experience to life on the page - their 'PhD Sketchbook'.

In this episode they explore the beginnings of their journeys: the “seeds” that motivated them to start a PhD, their paths to London, and the small moments that help an unfamiliar city slowly feel like home, all shared over canvas and colour.

You can see the artworks they created during this episode on the UCL IOE student blog, and on the IOE Instagram account.
Full show notes and links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2026/mar/painting-our-way-through-research-belonging-and-london-phd-sketchbook

Music featured: "Magic Escape Room" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/