The Leading, Language and Literature Podcast

In this episode I’m speaking with Julie Stern. Julie is a four-time, best selling author with titles that include: Learning that Transfers , Visible Learning for Social Studies , The On-Your-Feet Guide to Learning Transfer and Tools for Teaching Conceptual Understanding . She is an advocate for sustainability, equity and well being in education and has spoken internationally to help facilitate thi...

In this episode, I’m speaking to Ben Walker. Ben is an English and TOK teacher here in Hong Kong as well as the current CAS coordinator. Next year he will be taking up the Head of Secondary English role at his current school. We discuss: 1. The best book he’s ever read, taught or been taught 2. The advantages and disadvantages of running the 5 year MYP course all the way up to the DP 3. His perspe...

In this episode I’m talking with Cathryn Berger Kaye. Cathy is president of CBK Associates , ABCD Books and travels globally to provide professional development on the likes of service learning, 21st century competencies and environmental sustainability. She is the author of 'The Complete Guide to Service Learning' , ' Going Blue ' and ' Make a Splash! ', which are student guides to Protecting Our...

In this episode, I’m talking to Benita Chick. Benita is the CEO and Founder of Encompass , a social enterprise in Hong Kong, which supports different social causes and NGOs financially as well as advocating for how Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be better implemented in businesses and schools. Benita is also a Board Member at KELY Support Group and Youth Arch Foundation , Education Direc...

In this episode I’m speaking with Nadia Abdallah. Nadia is a former Head of Department for English, Director of Teaching and Learning and MYP Principal in Jordan. She has also worked as a workshop leader for the IB and is currently Chief Education and Development Officer for Junior Achievement Worldwide, a nonprofit organisation providing hands on learning in financial literacy, work readiness and...

In this episode I’m talking to Eoin MacCarthaigh. Eoin is a Head of Department in Bangkok, teaching the IGCSE and IBDP. He is an active participant on Twitter and can be relied upon to ignite, continue and support conversation for international teachers. We discuss: - The best text he’s ever read, taught or been taught - A quick introduction to his career to date - What he has seen or read in the...

In this episode I am talking to Amber Rhinehart. Amber is an MYP Coordinator in an international school in Accra, an MYP Workshop Leader, an IB Site Visitor, MYP Personal Project Examiner and teaches Language and Literature as well as individuals and Societies. I was really keen to speak to someone as experienced and knowledgable as Amber owing to the many valuable but demanding aspects that the M...

In this episode I’m talking with Tanay Naik. Tanay is Secondary School Deputy Principal for Teaching and Learning at United Nations International School of Hanoi. He has recently co-authored an article in The International Educator and is a contributor and advocate for the Association of International Educators and Leaders of Color. In the show we discuss: - A quick introduction to Tanay’s career...

In this episode, I’m talking with Dr Daniel Rosen. Dan is currently Head of Secondary at St George's Düsseldorf. He also writes a brilliant blog entitled Musings of a Dr and more recently hosted the International version of TeachMeet Icons. Over the course of the conversation, we discuss: A quick introduction to Dan’s career in teaching How recruitment for schools in Germany has been affected by t...

In the episode I’m talking with Dr Rick Smith. Rick is a former teacher and now provides individual counselling for students working with stress and anxiety. He specialises in ADHD and attention-related disorders and has helped a great many students from his practice in Hong Kong and beyond. The conversation with Rick came about due to watching him in a fantastic seminar he did earlier this year a...

This is the latest in a series of podcasts where I focus on a particular part of English instruction or English related matters in detail. In this episode I’m talking with Trevor MacKenzie. Trevor is a world-renowned speaker and author and is best known for his work with inquiry based teaching approaches. As an IB educator, inquiry is a word, strategy or concept that comes up on a daily basis with...

In this episode I’m speaking with Rosie Georgiou . Rosie is an English teacher, KS5 Lead and PhD student living in London. She first came to my attention during the most recent TeachMeetEnglishIcons event, in which she discussed the process and benefits of creative writing in English. During our conversation we discuss : The best text Rosie’s ever read, taught or been taught? The ways in which cre...

In this episode I’m talking to Natalie Obiko Pearson. Natalie is a journalist and bureau chief at Bloomberg Vancouver. Natalie’s work came to the attention of lots of International educators this year after writing an article entitled: Elite International Schools Have a Racism Problem . This provoked a lot of discussion online as well as amongst my colleagues and friends in the industry. Having sp...

In this episode I’m speaking to The IB English Guys, otherwise known as Andrew Cohen and David Giles. Andrew and Dave are both English teachers at the International School of Bangkok and moonlight as YouTubers in their spare time. Andrew and Dave’s channel has grown far and wide in such a small amount of time, in no small part thanks to their engaging manner on camera and concise, practical advice...

In this episode I’m speaking with Elaine McNally. Elaine is an English Head of Department and enthusiastic presence on Twitter, where she she tweets @mrsmacteach33 . I reached out for a chat with Elaine after seeing her speak at the TeachMeetEnglishIcons event earlier this year. Her presentation - ‘Powerful Voices: A Year 8 Curriculum’, tackled the topic of how she had tried to deliver diversity w...

In this episode I’m talking with Sarah Davies. Sarah is, amongst other things, an Assistant Headteacher, Early Career Teacher Mentor and Author of Talking about Oracy . After a conversation I had with Donal Hale a few months ago, I began searching for resources or guidance on how best to implement oracy in my own practice. Sarah’s was the first and best book I came across in a field that seems sho...

In this episode I’m talking to Kate Anderson. Kate is the Head of the EAL department at The British School in the Netherlands and as such leads on English as an Additional Language provision across the secondary phase. I was looking to talk with someone like Kate after giving a lot of thought to how I work with EAL teachers in my own school and the obvious deficits in regard to my understanding an...

In this episode, I’m talking with Chris Shaw. Chris is Assistant Headteacher and Head of English at a Welsh-medium school in Swansea. In addition to that he is a regional advocate for @LitdriveUK and a vocal presence on Twitter, where he tweets under the handle - Athro Saesneg. We discuss: 1. The best text he’s ever read, taught or been taught 2. The teaching and learning initiatives he’s been par...

In this episode I am speaking with Brad Philpot. Brad is an English teacher in Frankfurt but is best known for his brilliant range of textbooks and instructional courses for teaching the IBDP. Brad is someone who has worked within IB education for a long time, holding numerous roles, affording him a massive amount of experience and knowhow when it comes to English instruction and curriculum design...

In this episode I’m speaking with Amy Staniforth . Amy is an Acting Head of Department, Assistant Principal and co-author of the amazing Ready to Teach Macbeth . We discuss: 1. The best text Amy’s ever read, taught or been taught 2. What kind of timescale and process goes into planning the books in her ‘Ready to teach…’ series 3. What made Amy and Stuart choose Macbeth and A Christmas Carol and wh...

In this episode I’m speaking with Josie Sacks and Bridie McPherson. Bridie is Head of Department at Oasis South Bank Academy and Josie is National Curriculum Lead for Oasis Community Learning. This interview came off the back of me watching Josie and Bridie talk as part of a ‘We are in Beta’ presentation. The ideas and insights offered around the likes of whole class feedback and standards within...

In this episode I’m speaking with Alethea Bleyburg. Alethea is the Director of Learning Curve Education Consulting Ltd and an IBDP Core Consultant. I was particularly keen to talk to Thea about the IBDP Extended Essay, about which she has extensive knowledge. We discuss: Her experience with international schooling and the EE specifically The ways in which an English EE differs in difficulty or cha...

This is the third in a series of podcasts where I focus on a particular part of English instruction or English related matters in detail. In this episode I’m talking to Kathrine Mortimore. Kathrine is the Associate Assistant Principal at a secondary school in Torquay and author of the book: Disciplinary Literacy and Explicit Vocabulary Teaching: A whole school approach to closing the attainment ga...

In this episode I’m talking to Donal Hale. Donal is an English Head of Department at a secondary school in York and respected voice in English teaching on Twitter and beyond. We discuss: The best book he’s ever read, taught or learnt whilst at school Where Donal and his department stand on planning the curriculum according to concepts, texts or skills How formative feedback, summatives and marking...

In this episode I’m talking to Alice Gibbons. Alice is the IBDP Coordinator for English at West Island School Hong Kong and also one of 3 contributors to a 2019 textbook for the IBDP Language and Literature course. We discuss: - The best book she’s ever read, taught or been taught - Alice’s experience as a teacher at home in the UK and abroad - How the opportunity to write a textbook come about an...