The International Classroom

Are your workplace wellbeing initiatives just a tick-box exercise? If your organization relies on free pizza and one-off yoga sessions to cure burnout, this episode is for you. In this episode, Alex Gray sits down with Clare Martin, a former educator turned wellbeing and positive psychology expert. Clare breaks down exactly why traditional corporate wellbeing fails and how leaders can build sustai...

Can AI help students learn more deeply — or does it just make it easier to avoid thinking? Alex Gray sits down with Ryan Trattner, co-founder and CTO of StudyFetch, the AI learning platform that turns course materials into personalised flashcards, quizzes, summaries, study plans, and one-on-one tutoring through its AI tutor, Spark. E. This conversation goes beyond the product. It's about the q...

What is the single most dangerous misconception schools have about artificial intelligence right now? In this episode of The International Classroom , host Alex Gray sits down with educator, school leader, and edtech innovator Matthew Wemyss to unpack why siloing AI into computer science departments is a critical mistake. As tech giants embed predictive models directly into everyday search engines...

We talk about time like it's the most precious thing we have. We manage it. We protect it. We read books about it. But I've come to think we've got it wrong. Time isn't the scarce resource. Attention is. In this episode, I explore why attention — not time — is the most important thing we own, how modern life has structurally degraded our capacity to focus, and why giving someone yo...

Can You Learn to Be Inspirational? In this first-ever solo episode of The International Classroom , Alex Gray tackles a question that most of us assume has a fixed answer: Is inspiration a gift you're born with, or a skill you can build? Prompted by a candid (and slightly humbling) conversation with his daughter, Ava, Alex explores why genuine inspiration has nothing to do with Instagram quote...

Does starting a task with AI inherently mean you are cheating the learning process? In this episode of The International Classroom, Alex Gray sits down with Ben Whitaker—co-host of Edufuturists, author, and "The Ideas Guy"—for one of the most deeply reflective conversations of the AIDUCATION26 conference in Bucharest. Ben openly discusses how he had to fundamentally reconsider his own st...

In a world where every fact is instantly available, why are we still testing students on knowledge retention? 📉 On the latest episode of The International Classroom , I sat down with EdTech veteran Al Kingsley at AIDUCATION26 to discuss exactly that. We dove into his session, "AI as a Catalyst for Education Reform & Digital Equity," and tackled the awkward questions school leaders are activel...

Can a PE teacher with no formal coding background solve the biggest headache in education? In this episode of Show Us Your Stack , Alex and Darren are joined by Tom Raithby, the creator of Chalkd . Tom shares his incredible journey of "vibe coding"—using AI to build AI—to create a platform that automates grading and provides high-quality, personalised feedback for students. From navigati...

Are school leaders avoiding the most critical conversation about how students are actually using Artificial Intelligence? In this episode of The International Classroom, Alex Gray sits down with Matthew Wemyss—the architect behind the AIDUCATION conference—for a deep dive into the real-world evolution of AI in schools. Matthew unpacks the massive success of the CreateCodeChange awards, where stude...

Are we accidentally widening the educational equity gap by handing out AI tools too quickly? In this episode of The International Classroom , Alex Gray sits down with Chris Loveday and Amelia King to explore the intersection of the operational backend and the cognitive classroom layer. They unpack why giving students an AI tool is only the second step in the digital equity journey, and why foundat...

Are our school IT departments falling dangerously behind the AI risk curve? And what do students really think about their teachers using AI in the classroom? In this episode, Alex Gray sits down with Emma Darcy and James Garnett to discuss the very real friction between the pedagogy layer and the infrastructure layer in schools. They tackle the rising threat of deepfakes, why one-off AI safeguardi...

Are schools drowning in data but starving for actual information? In this episode, I speak with Matt Woodruff, founder of Open Education AI, about the urgent need to break down data silos in education. With over two decades in school governance and a PhD in ethical AI, Matt unpacks why the sector needs open-source, non-profit infrastructure so schools stop wasting money reinventing the wheel. We d...

Are we using AI to enhance student creativity, or are we letting it do the designing for them? In this episode, I speak with Trudi Barrow and Aaron Patching to unpack the profound impact of Artificial Intelligence on education, design thinking, and the creative process. They dive deep into the concept of Creative Fidelity; the critical need for students to maintain authentic ownership over their i...

Trigger Warning: This episode discusses recent sensitive real-world events, military actions, and the unrest in the region, which some listeners may find distressing or triggering. This week on The International Classroom , Alex, Drew, and Bodruz sit down for a candid, raw, and necessary conversation about living and teaching through one of the most surreal and frightening weeks in recent memory....

Are you drowning in school admin and disjointed EdTech systems? In this episode of Show Us Your Stack , we sit down with Matthew, a science teacher based in India, who decided to stop waiting for perfect EdTech and started building his own. Facing teacher shortages, curriculum revisions, and endless data entry, Matthew turned to AI to regain his time. He walks us through exactly how he uses tools...

Eric Chamberlain spent 25 years in education. Then he lost his job. Instead of sending CVs, he opened a laptop and started building. Four months later, he'd shipped five apps — including Save Veritas, an oral assessment platform that tackles one of the biggest problems in schools right now: how do you know a student actually did the work when AI can do it for them? In this episode, Eric walks...

Teachers keep saying, “I’m not a coder.”Evan Weinberg proves that doesn’t matter. In the premiere episode of Show Us Your Stack, we break down how Evan built a unit-planning tool using AI — not to replace teaching, but to protect the human parts of the job: the coaching, the feedback, and the relationships. In this episode, you’ll learn: ✅ The real problem that pushed Evan to build (unit planning...

What does it look like when a classroom teacher becomes an EdTech builder — and uses AI to tackle one of the biggest challenges in schools: reading engagement and attainment ? In this episode, Alex Gray sits down with Marc Graham , former teacher and founder of Everybody Reads (formerly Spark Education AI). Marc shares the story behind building an AI-powered reading platform designed to help stude...

What does AI in education look like when it’s implemented with clarity, ethics, and purpose — not hype? In this episode of The International Classroom Podcast , Alex Gray is joined by Chris Loveday , a senior education leader who has led one of the UK’s most thoughtful and practical AI rollouts in a post-16 setting. Rather than chasing trends, Chris explains how his college adopted AI and Google G...

Where does real learning actually happen? In this episode of The International Classroom Podcast , Alex Gray is joined by Harry Titley — secondary school teacher, Head of Year, and Director of Rugby at Burton Rugby Club. Harry works at the intersection of education and sport , and this conversation explores why teaching and coaching are fundamentally the same craft. Together, they discuss: Why psy...

Term 1 is over — and instead of wrapping it up neatly, this episode leans into the reality that teaching is often anything but tidy. Alex Gray is joined by Drew Owen and Bodruz Jamir for an open, honest conversation about the messy reality of teaching in international schools. From burnout and workload pressure to leadership identity shifts and the growing influence of AI in education, this episod...

In this episode, Alex welcomes back global educator and author Morgan Whitfield for a deep, honest, and practical conversation about where teaching needs to go next. From her travels across Southeast Asia to her leadership work in the Middle East, Morgan brings a clarity and candour that cuts through the noise. Together, Alex and Morgan take on some of the biggest questions in modern education: Is...

In this episode, Alex sits down with Sarah Cottingham , author of Ausubel’s Meaningful Learning in Action , for a deep conversation about what it really means to learn — and teach — with purpose. From the science of meaningful learning and the difference between experience and expertise , to the power of instructional coaching and adaptive expertise , this episode uncovers how great teachers keep...

In this episode, Alex sits down with Drew and Bodruz for a candid conversation about the real teacher experience in Dubai. From 5 a.m. gym sessions and school leadership to rent hikes and the rising cost of international education, this episode goes beyond the classroom to explore what it truly means to live, work, and raise a family as an international educator in one of the world’s fastest-growi...

In this episode, Alex sits down with Al Kingsley MBE , author, CEO, and governance expert, to explore one of the most pressing questions in education today: what happens when schools let AI lead without oversight? From building universities to shaping national education policy, Al brings decades of experience to unpack how schools can navigate the balance between innovation and integrity . Togethe...