The Emergence of School Podcasting in Times of Crisis: A Case Study of a Preschool Podcast during COVID-19

Podcasts are a growing medium in continuing education and could be seen as a “parallel and informal higher educational system” (Shamburg 711). Even in kindergarten, podcasting constitutes a colorful creative process, ideal for the very young child who at this stage is developing both mentally and emotionally. The podcaster serves as a role model for young children and is also a figure they can connect to deeply and empathetically (Τheodosiadou, “Podcasting and Media Literacy”). Furthermore, the global coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdown added new resonance to podcasts in the education field, and 2020 may be remembered “in history as the year of podcast teaching, and/or podcast learning” (Wake, Fox, and Strong, 30). This paper aims to map the growing significance of school podcasting as an empowering genre for very young children. A critical discourse analysis of four hours of a preschool podcast titled Perispomeni, as well as an ethnographic interview with the teacher-podcaster, highlights the way podcasts work to keep the relationships between the students and the school strong, as well as being a place of reference for children during difficult times, such as the pandemic.