Educators Going Global

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! We have wanted to do this show for ages. We so admire women leaders, and some major players joined us for this interview! Kim Cofino is a well-known voice in the areas of women in leadership and instructional coaching. Madeleine Maceda Heide was a head of school on three continents and is a co-founder of the AMISA Women in Leadership organisation. Rhonda No...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! The data is quite conclusive: young people around the world are struggling. Research and books such as The Anxious Generation highlight the negative effects of technology and social networks on our students. We also know that two common themes in international schools are academic pressure and high expectations for students applying to university. On a more...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! What does the term "followership" mean to you? Our guest, Claire Gaul, joined us to delve into what it means to be a follower in international schools. She wrote a blog post for our learning hub that really got us thinking about how being a follower connects to leadership in international schools—a theme that runs through many of our shows. Claire...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! Change. It can be exciting. It can also be tough. And it happens a lot in international schools. At first, new ideas and the buzz around implementing them can feel electrifying. But here’s the catch: often, the people involved, the processes, and the long-term sustainability of these ideas—whether they’re initiatives or programs—don’t quite make it past the...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! Let’s be honest. Teaching and learning have changed somewhat over the years, but schools as institutions can still “feel” very similar to how they did when my grandfather was a school superintendent back in the 1940s. So what are some ways we can reimagine school? It takes a real visionary to think outside of this rigid box, wouldn’t you say? Our guest on t...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! Where do new schools come from? Our research and guest insights reveal that new schools are regularly emerging, with many others planned for construction in the near future. What does this mean for you as you seek to be an informed international educator while navigating the recruiting process? What are some “under the hood” aspects of startup schools you s...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! How can schools integrate Social-Emotional Learning, Belonging, Global Citizenship and Creative Expression in one beautiful package? By prioritizing a crucial aspect of schooling: The Arts. And yet The Arts are often relegated to “encore” status, underfunded or even dispensed with duiring budget crunches. For this show, we assembled a talented panel of gues...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! We enjoyed our first interview with Dave McMaster so much that we spoke with him a second time! If you missed the first interview on what it is like to start an international school, definitely check it out – it’s Episode 74. Dave also recorded two Going Global Stories for us. Head to our information hub to enjoy those.  Dave has 35 years of K-12 education...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! As international educators, like so many others, in a sense, we tend to write chapters to our life stories. These stories can be organized by countries, schools, travel, and, of course, the regular categories of relationships, family, children, aging, and so on. We were fortunate to catch our guest, Mark Lewis, just as he was reflecting about the chapters o...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! Where does your school stand in terms of designing, implementing and measuring the effectiveness of its whole-school wellness program? Several of our thought-leader guests have told us that wellness is at the top of the to do list for many international schools.  Along with Wellness, another recurring topic in our episodes is change management, especially a...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! If you’ve ever visited the International Schools Services website, you may have noticed at some stage that they added a button at the top that said “start a school”. The button has now moved to the bottom of the page, but it’s still there. For us, it always felt like that line from the movies, “I wonder what happens if I press this button?” Well, Dave McMas...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! How do international schools get their start- in particular the original ones from so many years ago? Many of them had very humble beginnings, with a handful of students, a few parents (usually spouses of diplomats or business people who had moved overseas) and a large house or a few rooms where lessons could be held.  At 71 years of age, The Lincoln School...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! International educators, are you ready for the day when you go “unglobal”? We gazed into our crystal ball again with our all-star panel of Amy Hunt, David Ross, and Rob Howe, this time to learn how to transition out of international education. David Ross is a retired international educator. He began teaching in California, then moved to Malaysia with his fa...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! Most international schools make it part of their mission to nurture global citizens who are in service to their community. Like all big, worthy goals, this needs lots of planning, implementation support, and accountability to determine if the school is on track. The usual questions come into play: who, what, why, etc. -- with the "how" being most...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! We catch up with Michael Boll who is always on the bleeding edge, playing with the latest and greatest finding ways to use technology for teaching and learning. We have huge admiration for his tech savvy and also his adventurous spirit and his willingness to share his knowledge with us lesser mortals. Not to mention that his dry wit and self-deprecating hum...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! In all forms of school, there are some educators who really stand out as having “a way” with kids. Their ability to develop relationships of mutual trust and respect is second-to-none. Jeff Devens is one such educator. He has a way of putting everyone at ease. Jeff joined us for another episode –  not to talk about finance this time, but to talk about his d...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! Join us for our second anniversary show as we review and celebrate all the incredible guests from this past year. Our review provides some insights for each interview that might lead you to return to shows you previously enjoyed – and to seek out those you missed – to take a listen! We organized the episodes into the themes of:  Recruiting and Transitioning...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! We found Maxwell Carpenter globe-trotting into his first gig as an international teacher. We spoke to him about his experiences along the way.  Maxwell Carpenter is an IB Physics teacher at St George's British International School of Rome. He began teaching in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington DC after studying Physics, Math, and Education at...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! Get ready to learn a lot about international education as we interview three long-term veterans while sharing a few insights ourselves.  David Ross is a retired 58-year-old international educator. He began teaching elementary school in Los Angeles, then moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with his family to teach at ISKL for six years.  He then took a one-year...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! What makes great professional development? We spoke with Justin Hardman, the founder and Director of 21st Century Learning , about professional development for international educators.  Since 2012, 21st Century Learning has connected more than 20,000 K-12 educators with a wide variety of face-to-face and online professional learning opportunities. Beyond pr...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! Transitions are a given when you are an international educator. We did a different style show here with David asking all the questions as he interviewed Audrey and Mark Forgeron about their recent return and transition to international teaching.   Audrey Forgeron is a 30-year, nine-country international teaching veteran. She has taught Health and PE, French...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! We so enjoyed our first chat with Michael Nachbar, Executive Director of the Global Online Academy (GOA) that we asked him to come back for a second interview! Just as before, Michael tackled our questions with vigor and showed an incredible depth of knowledge.  We are curious about the concept of “future-proofing” education, so it made sense to consider Mi...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! Who is growing a media empire based on international teaching? Who loves going to recruiting conferences? And who writes entire books in a weekend? The answer, of course, is our fellow podcasting buddy Greg Lemoine.  Greg wrote a follow-up to his award-winning (we awarded it a gold star) first book, “Finding the Right Fit: Your Professional Guide for Intern...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! We always say, "Do your research!" In this show, David and Audrey share some fabulous resources from our Library, adding their own insights. Here are links to the resources: International School Community Blog - New Teacher Orientation Is Now Underway: 14 Must Haves  AIELOC Resource page Wall Street Journal - Teachers Are Burning Out on the Job: S...

Text us with topic or guest suggestions! Fellow podcaster and big-time travel blogger Caroline Makepeace joined us to share tips and insights when traveling with children. Caroline and her husband Craig usually report their travel wisdom through platforms like Lonely Planet, Travel + Leisure, Forbes, and the Today Show. Hence, we count ourselves fortunate to be able to tap into Caroline’s wisdom,...