Psychology in the Classroom

How Can Positive Psychology Transform Wellbeing in Secondary Schools?

21 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

...with Hannah Brownhill To kick off the summer term, Hannah Brownhill, a positive psychology practitioner and former secondary teacher shares her ins...

Spring Takeover: Exploring the Multi-Store Model of Memory and the Rise of AI in Psychotherapy

14 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Kicking off the summer term, this episode features two brilliant sixth-form students sharing their passion for psychology. Estelle, a year 13 student ...

Dilemmas in the Classroom: How to Balance Inclusion and Individual Needs

04 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

...Dr Tracy Edwards In this episode, Tracy Edwards, senior lecturer at Leeds Beckett University and author of Severe and Profound and Multiple Learni...

Mental Health Research: Practical Tips for Teachers and Practitioners to Navigate the Evidence

11 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

...with Andre Tomlin In this episode, Andre from The Mental Elf discusses how we can make mental health research accessible and useful for teachers an...

The Power of Voice in the Classroom

28 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

...With Professor Silke Paulmann In this episode I am joined by Professor Silke Paulmann to discuss why how we sound matters just as much as...

How Can We Combat Cyber Aggression in Schools Today

14 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

...With Protyasha Bhattacharyya Kicking off 2026 this episode dives into the latest research on cyber aggression and its effects on young people. We ...

How Teacher Emotions and Motivation Shape Student Success

10 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Prof. Rebecca Lazarides In this motivational end-of-term episode, Professor Rebecca Lazarides (Professor for Empirical Research on Instruction an...

Speaking Up: How to Cultivate Confident Communicators in the Classroom

03 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

...With Prof. Neil Mercer Neil Mercer is Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge and a psychologist and in this episode we dis...

Listening to Learners: How Meaningful Talk Fuels Motivation and Achievement

26 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

…with Dr. Marc Skelton. In this episode we bridge the gap between classroom practice and psychological theory to share actionable strategies for fos...

SLOP: The Power of Repeated and Varied Practice in Education

19 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

...with Dr Mike Hobbiss Mike is an experienced psychology teacher and co-author of "How to Teach Psychology: An Evidence-Informed Approach." In this e...

Zines and Emotional Literacy: A Fun and Engaging Path to Better Mental Health

05 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

…with Julie Kane In today's educational landscape, supporting young people's mental health and emotional literacy is more important than ever. We kn...

Creating Safer Spaces: How Schools Can Foster Mental Wellbeing for All Students

14 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Jade Davies, Dr Ola Demkowicz, Dr Khathustshelo Muluvhu-Malanga and Dr Laura Oxley In this final episode from the BPS Psychology of Education Set...

Why Students Want AI Feedback but Crave Human Connection in Learning

07 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

...with Professor Louise Taylor and Professor Silke Paulmann In this episode of Psychology in the Classroom, Professor Louise Taylor discusses studen...

Evaluating Mental Health in Schools: Tools, Challenges, and Collaborative Solutions for Success

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

…with Dr Charlotte Bagnall and Annie O'Brien  In this episode, Charlotte and Annie discuss the complexities of mental health and wellbeing interven...

From words to action: how teacher language shapes student success

23 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

...with Prof David Putwain, Dr Laura Nicholson and Mahdi Moazzen This episode is a lively discussion with educational researchers Prof. David Putwain,...

The Benefits of Reading for Pleasure: Unlocking a World of Opportunities

16 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

...with Prof. Teresa Cremin. In this episode, Professor Teresa Cremin from the Open University, an expert on reading for pleasure, talks about why enc...

Unpacking the Complexities of Bullying: From Counter Connecting to Whole-School Solutions

09 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

...with Dr Julia Badger In this episode of #Psychologyintheclassroom bullying expert Dr Julia Badger, from Oxford University discusses her conference ...

Beyond Social Media and Smartphones: Factors Affecting Youth Mental Health

02 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

...with Prof. Neil Humphrey In this episode Professor Neil Humphrey from the University of Manchester, discusses trends in youth mental health, the ri...

Navigating Friendships: The Hidden Struggles of School Transitions

26 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode Lucy Keller, a PhD researcher in psychology, discusses her work on improving friendship and social connectedness among young people du...

Navigating Mental Health Issues in Schools: Strategies for Teachers and Students with Prof. Jess Deighton

12 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Professor Jess Deighton, a leading children’s mental health expert, discusses the growing mental health challenges facing young peo...

Exploring the Intersection of Psychology and Education: Insights for Teachers

05 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Dr Andrew Holliman, Associate Professor at UCL’s Institute of Education and chair of the BPS's Psychology of Education Section disc...

Emotionally Based School Avoidance: A Personal Story

25 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this deeply personal episode, I’m joined by Harriet Ennis, a psychology teacher from York and this year's winner of the British Psychological So...

Learning from Failure: The Biological Case for Embracing Mistakes

17 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Psychology in the Classroom, Dr. Lauren Margulieux helps explore why failure isn't just a learning opportunity—but a biologically...

The Perils of Perfectionism: Understanding Its Impact on Mental Health in Education

03 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we explores the impact of perfectionism on exam anxiety, particularly among neurodivergent individuals. Dr. Tracey Donachie, a lecture...

First do no harm: Universal Mental Health Interventions in Schools

22 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Summary In this episode Dr. Carolina Guzman Holst is a NIHR Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, discusses her recent paper titled Scoping rev...

The Process of Learning is Uncomfortable

28 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This month Dr Katy Burgess, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Cardiff University, talks about her research into students’ learning - what they do and...

Peer Support for Neurodivergent pupils

08 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The NEurodivergent peer Support Toolkit (NEST) is a set of free resources for staff in mainstream secondary schools who wish to facilitate peer suppor...

RE-STAR - From Emotional Dysfunction to Emotional Burden

12 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is the 7th podcast from the RE-STAR team and Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke and Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou share the findings from work package one. T...

Improving Mental Fitness in Schools with Vi Gandhi

10 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this week’s episode Purvi (Vi) Gandhi shares her knowledge about implementing effective and evidence based strategies to improve mental health or...

Reframing Mindfulness for Teachers

09 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On World Mental Health day 2024 Psychology in the Classroom discusses Mindfulness. We eschew the ‘Crystals and Muesli’ version and reframe it to a...

What have we learned about failure?

23 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this final summary interview with Prof. Dr. Suzanne Narciss, we review all our learning about failure over the last few months. There is much we ca...

What do parents communicate about failure?

22 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

More than one in 10 children ‘almost always’ or ‘often’ fear failure. But where do they learn this from? This fear can often pass from parents...

The Impact of Teacher Failure Mindsets

16 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today's discussion focuses on our perceptions, as teachers, of failure. When as a teacher we watch our lessons back on film where do we see failure an...

Teachers v Pupils: differing views of failure

09 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How students and teachers navigate and prioritise different learning processes after encountering impasses during learning can be complex. Recognising...

Errors and Alienation

01 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How errors are handled in the classroom is an important aspect of teaching and has a variety of consequences for students' own dealing with errors, th...

Creating a Positive Error Learning Orientation

25 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In order to learn from errors it is important that pupils regulate their emotions. The emotions that they feel when they make an error is underpinned ...

Motivating Students to Learn from Errors

18 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week find out how you can encourage students to persist with learning and engage with metacognitive strategies when they make mistakes.  Dr Mari...

Learning from Errors

11 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is the 3rd episode in the failure series of podcasts this term. We are staying with the theme of feedback to errors this week. Professor Janet Me...

Using Smileys in Error Feedback

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When students receive error feedback it usually causes a negative emotional response, this in turn can impact learning.  If we could somehow elicit a...

Introduction to failure

28 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Failure - a word that is taboo in education and yet is part and parcel of the learning experience. As teachers, dealing with errors in the classroom c...

Final Exam Preparation with Jonny Wainman

21 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Exam season is now in full swing and we are all really trying to encourage students to move away from the comfortable passive revision strategies such...

Positive Education with Michelle Tytherleigh

14 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

My guest this week is Dr Michelle Tytherleigh author of Positive Education at all Levels: Learning to Flourish, and we are talking about how we can u...

Supporting Teacher Wellbeing with Dr Charl Emmerson

07 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Charl Emmerson is an Organisational Psychologist who has worked in schools and researches wellbeing in schools. In this interview we are discussing...

ADHD: Supporting Students in the classroom with Prof. David Daley

30 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week I am joined by Professor David Daley from Nottingham Trent University to talk about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. ADHD is someth...

Diary Keeping, Reflective Practice and Teacher Wellbeing with Dr Lucy Kelly

16 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The teaching profession is in crisis and whilst it can be an extraordinarily rewarding and it is also an exhausting profession so self-care is essenti...

How Students understand teacher communications about exams

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode Dr Hannah Wilkinson talks about her doctoral research which focused on re-evaluating teachers’ use of test-taking practices from a p...

Managing Exam Nerves

26 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, and as we fast approach exams, we look at how to help student manage their nerves. There are lots of strategies that can be employed ...

Nailing Exam Technique

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week we look at why exam technique matters - the more working memory students can free up to write good answers, rather than figuring out what th...

Why students get revision wrong

06 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Despite all our efforts to teach students to revise using effective methods they often revert back to less effective methods such as copying and readi...

How to make the most of retrieval practice

28 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week the episode will be based around retrieval practice - a concept most of you will be familiar with, and if you aren’t then do take a listen...

How to ensure exams help recall

21 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

You know that thing, you're listening to the radio and minding your own business and a song comes on the radio and memories flood back (possibly embar...

How to build long term learning

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week we move from the practialities of starting and planning revision to the learning itself.  The focus is on how we can help students to build...

How to make an effective study plan

07 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I would argue that good planning is an art or at the very least a skill that needs to learned and perfected and yet we often cut our planning teeth on...

How to motivate students to engage in independent study

31 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What is it that motivates students to study? A few lucky people may genuinely enjoy the process of memorising facts and preparing for exams, but this ...

How to help students build effective study habits

24 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this second episode we explore why study habits may help students with independent study and how we as teachers can support students to build effec...

Why We Need To Teach Study Skills

17 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Inherent in our educational system is the expectation that students will study independently to achieve at the higher levels.  Some students are luck...

Is there a link between wellbeing and academic attainment?

10 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome back to the new term of podcasts. We are starting off with an episode about wellbeing with Dr Ros McLellan from Cambridge University. We take ...

Real or Fake: How much do you know about autism?

01 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this second 'takeover' Niamh and Summer, from Bootham School, ask you to think about autism and some common misconceptions - which peice of researc...

An introduction to psychological perspectives

28 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's Christmas Takeover time and today's episode is hosted by Oliver Sherratt, a year 12 student at Abingdon school studying A level psychology. He de...

We are Born to Sing: the benefits of singing with Natasha Hendry and Yoon Irons

20 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There are many things that make this time of year special, one of which is music - whether that is carols or corny Christmas songs, they can prompt me...

RE-STAR: The impact of school on the brain and emotion

13 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We know that many neurodivergent young people such as those with ADHD or autism traits develop depression during adolescence – but we currently don’...

Popcorn & Psychology: using films to aid learning with Sheila Thomas

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As we come to the end of a very long term a few of you might well be considering which lessons you might be able to put on a film.  So to ensure that...

Do smart drugs help you learn? with Dr Elizabeth Bowman

29 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

'Smart' or 'Study' drugs are usually prescribed for people with ADHD to help them concentrate. However many people without ADHD take them, in theory, ...

Applying Psychology to Teaching with Sophia Afsar

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Here is the next installment of the ‘Talking to psychology teachers series’ with guest teacher Sophia Afsar. We are going to be talking about how ...

The Six Step Bitesize Learning Cycle with Joshi Jariwala

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

“Be the best you can be, now.” This is the overriding message to self and others which aligns to my personal values and fuels my being! Joshi Jar...

How Psychology can support classroom practice with Paramjeet Moon

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is the 4th in the ‘Talking to Psychology Teachers’ Series and Paramjeet Moon, psychology teacher with 24 years experience, talks abou...

Mindset: Educational fact or fiction with Brooke Macnamara

01 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode Dr Brooke Macnamara shares details of her research about mindset.  Her research is a fascinating insight into the interventions aroun...

A Knowledge of Madness with Evie Bentley

24 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week Evie Bentley talks about how her knowledge of psychology helped her understand and manage what could have been a very frightening experience...

Does Wearing Make-up Make You Smarter? with Alessia Evans

17 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Alessia Evans developed a love of makeup from a young age and started working in the cosmetics industry at 19 where she climbed the ranks as a makeup ...

Motivation through expectancy and Value with Ed King

10 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week is the third in the ‘talking to psychology teachers’ series and Ed King shares some insights into expectancy-value theory and how it dri...

Study Smart with Felicitas Biwer

03 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week Felicitas Biwer talks about how students can study smarter with better self-regulation, effort regulation, planning and reflection.  Packed...

Supporting EAL Students with Lyndsey Hayes

26 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week Lyndsey Hayes talks about how she has learned to support learners who don't have English as their first language, the challenges this poses ...

Re-STAR: Understanding the Impact of School on the Emotions of Neurodiverse Pupils

19 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

...with Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou and Dr Myrto Kakoulidou. How do neurodiverse individuals experience emotions?  Is it different to neurotypical people?...

Creating a Sense of Belonging in the Classroom with Dani Bryton

12 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week sees the first of the ‘talking to psychology teachers’ series, Dani Bryton discusses how the psychology of motivation has influenced her...

How to thrive in teaching with Gemma Drinkall

05 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As we start a new academic year how can we ensure that we manage our own wellbeing? This week my guest, Gemma Drinkall, a qualified coach, trainer and...

School's out for Summer - Drs Jill Dunbar and Nicola Cann

18 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's the holidays - but just how can we make the most of the summer break and ensure we go back to school rested and recharged, ready for another year...

RE-STAR: 'Just Be Kind'

11 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

...How to reduce upsetting experiences in school for young people with ADHD and Autism with Dr Sylvan Baker and Prof. Jane Hurry In this podcast we di...

ATP Conference 2023

10 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The 7th and 8th July was the 40th Annual Conference for the Association for the Teaching of Psychology.  With 34 workshops and 3 keynote talks it was...

Illuminating Teaching and Learning

04 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week I am joined by Bradley Busch and Edward Watson from InnerDrive for one final time this year and we are talking about their new book 'Teachin...

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Teaching

28 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week Karen Duffy and the Psychology PGCE students of Manchester Metropolitan University have taken over the podcast.  Take a listen to this live...

Round Up 2022-23

20 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What a year this has been, as I upload this podcast I currently have 145 episodes of Psychology in the Classroom for you to listen to.  But there are...

'Sorry I forgot my homework' - An issue with memory or personality?

13 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This podcast reviews a paper with the title ‘Teacher, forgive me, I forgot to do it’ the impact of children’s prospective memory on teachers’ ...

What is the most effective way to make notes?

06 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Note Taking Effect is the well documented effect that taking notes during learning increases retention and recall.  There are factors that effect...

How Effective is the Pomodoro Technique?

30 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week looks at a research paper into the Pomodoro Technique - breaking down revision into 25 minutes segments with 5 minute breaks.  Whilst many ...

Conspiracy Theories: Adolescent Beliefs and Consequences with Dr Daniel Jolley

23 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week Psychology in the Classroom talks to Dr Daniel Jolley, Assistant Professor in Social Psychology at the University of Nottingham. His researc...

Perfectionism and Anxiety

16 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week (15th May 2023) is Mental Health Awareness week and the theme is anxiety and to mark it I am looking at the link between perfectionism and a...

Big Fish, Little Pond: How Class Rank Affects A level Choices with Dr Joanna Williamson

09 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How do students choose A levels?  There are all sorts of reasons that might influence a student’s A level choices such as enjoyment of a subject, p...

Making the most of Videos as a teaching resource

02 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We all use videos in teaching and the ability to embed them directly into powerpoints or just find a good link on Youtube has transformed our ability,...

Challenging the screen culture with Bradley Busch

25 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week I am speaking to Bradley Busch from InnerDrive about the most recent research on the impact of social media and screens.  We consider how t...

Revision 2023: Revision and Sleep

20 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The second of 5 podcasts helping you to make the most of your revision.  In this episode we will think about making your revision as effective as pos...

Revision 2023: Revision environment

19 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The fourth of 5 podcasts helping you to make the most of your revision.  In this episode we will think about where you revise and things that make it...

Revision 2023: 5 Revision Strategies

18 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The third of 5 podcasts helping you to make the most of your revision.  In this episode we will consider 5 effective revision strategies that can hel...

Revision 2023: Active Revision

17 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The second of 5 podcasts helping you to make the most of your revision.  In this episode we will think about making your revision as effective as pos...

Revision 2023: Planning your Revision

16 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The first of 5 podcasts helping you to make the most of your revision.  In this episode we will think about the best way to plan your revision to mak...

Switching it up: the cost of switching between tasks

30 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When we switch between one task and another due to an interuption there is a cost.  Whilst we may feel like we are managing we often underestimate th...

Working Memory and Dual Coding

22 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week we really start to draw on previous episodes with the theory of Dual Coding.  Key to this is Working Memory Model (for a image of this ple...

Schemas and their role in learning

15 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What exactly are schemas and why should teachers know about them?  We learn about retrieval practice, metacognition, cognitive load, working memory a...

Performance Psychology with Matt Shaw

08 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The links between sports psychology and education may not be immediately obvious but talking to Matt Shaw from InnerDrive clearly demonstrates just ho...

Cognitive Load: Keep it simple in the classroom

01 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week's episode looks at Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) in detail, we have talked about it before with Bradley Busch but this delves into the origin...

Motivation - Meeting the need of learners with Don Berg

21 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Don Berg is an author, education psychology researcher, alternative education practitioner, and leader.  He has over 20 years of experience leading c...