Top 8 education podcasts
Sometimes dubbed ‘the Year of the Podcast’, 2018 offered interesting insight into the content habits of social media audiences.
In the UK, podcast listeners have boomed in the last five years. In fact, 5.9 million UK adults (11%) aged 15+ are noted as weekly podcast listeners; almost doubling from 3.2 million (7%) back in 2013. While most age groups are represented, the most notable demographic to adopt podcasts are 15-24 years olds.
Across the pond, US audiences are also consuming podcasts at an increased rate. Last year, 12 million people listened to a podcast for the first time and over a quarter of all Americans (84.5 million) listen to podcasts on a monthly basis. To put that in context, that is more people than the combined populations of Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal!
With such high levels of consumption, it is incredible to think that many schools in the independent sector are not seriously looking at podcasting as an effective way to share great content with their communities. Likewise, are school marketers, and staff, taking note of the many great education podcasts that are currently available?
We have put together a list of 8 podcasts in education ranging from schools themselves, to school organisations, to top influencers in the education remit.
Influencers / Thought Leaders
[1] Teacher Toolkit: For all the latest gossip, interviews and thoughts on education https://www.teachertoolkit.co.uk/category/podcasts
[2] SchneiderB.FM: Aimed at marketing professionals in the independent school sector https://www.schneiderb.com/schneiderbfm-podcast
[3] InspirED Sparkcast Podcast: Professional development in an hour or less to make your job easier https://www.inspiredsm.com/podcasts
Independent school organisations
[4] NAIS Member Voices Podcast: Features stories from the thoughtful, hard-working individuals who make up the independent school community https://www.nais.org/membership/nais-member-voices
[5] ASCL Leadership podcast: A monthly podcast by ASCL General Secretary Geoff Barton, featuring interviews with leaders in education https://www.ascl.org.uk/news-and-views/podcasts.html
Independent school news orgs
[6] Tes - The education podcast: Brings you all the latest news, reviews and opinion from the world of education https://tesnews.podbean.com
Independent schools
[7] St Andrew’s School, DE: Chapel Talks, guest speakers, student performances, school panels, Headmaster's Forums, and interviews with members of the SAS community https://www.standrews-de.org/school-life/podcasts
[8] King’s College School, Wimbledon: A sports focussed podcast from KCS’ Junior School https://www.kcs.org.uk/junior-school/co-curricular-life/sport
Getting your school started
As a digital marketer, it is essential to pay attention to popular trends and make the most of them. With such popularity surrounding podcasts, and a noticeable lack of school-led ones, now is a fantastic time to plug in the mic and trial your own.
Deciding on what to have a podcast for is obviously the first big step, so here are a few ideas to get the creative juices flowing.
Students reading news articles (maybe in different languages, if you have an international community)
Advice and insights for parents
Admissions podcast to help guide parents and prospectives through the process
Teacher insights and ideas
Leadership episodes for deputies, assistants and heads (by deputies, assistants and heads)
Archive podcast showcasing your school’s history
Reviews of upcoming and past sports fixtures
Students interviewing teachers (What is your favourite book/novel? What was your dream job as a child?)
As a final nod to the power of the podcast, here is Mike Hatfield (Director of Admissions at Powhatan School) explaining why his school took up the mantel to provide an invaluable resource for their school community.