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Podcasts have been around for some time now but they have developed and matured. The early experimentation with podcasts has now been overtaken with some serious commitment to using this medium to share valuable information with educators.

In the last year I have found podcasts to be a really great source of learning and entertainment, as the quality of what is put on services such the iTunes Store has increased. Here are three of my favourite podcast series that I find really useful as a educational leader:

  • Principal Center Radio – Specific podcasts aimed at supporting the learning and growth of education leaders. Justin Baeder hosts talks on some wonderful themes that leaders in schools are successfully implementing or coming to terms with. A few of my personal favourites include: Student voice – the instrument of change with Russell Quaglia, You’ve gotta connect with James Alan Sturtevant, and Having Hard Conversations with Jennifer Abrams. There are also opportunities for education leaders to speak about a topic on the show by contacting Justin directly.
  • Teachers’ Education Review – This Australian podcast series is still going strong after 2 years. While it discusses many education matters that specifically appeal to educators in Australia, there are many discussions that would interest a broader audience with topics such as assessment, innovation, technology, curriculum design and teaching methods all put under the microscope. The podcast also features some excellent guest speakers such as Richard Gerver, Pasi Sahlberg and Simon Breakspear. Normally we would be paying quite a significant fee to here some of these people speak at a conference but you are able to listen to their thoughts and ideas for free.
  • HBR IdeaCast – Published by Harvard Business Review, a number of key topics are discussed here that are invaluable to the learning of school leaders. The podcast features leading researchers in the field of leadership discussing issues such as how leaders can be more proactive than reactive, what makes teams smart and getting excellence to spread, to name a few. There are over 400 podcasts to choose from and each episode is about 20 minutes long. This is a great resource to use for your own leadership growth or share it with your team.

Whether is is for 20 minutes here or there, or you tune into a podcast on a weekly basis, the mp4 podcast format allows you take take your learning anywhere at anytime. Enjoy the learning!