The Leading, Language and Literature Podcast

This week I’m talking to Kate Beatty. Kate is a former Head of Department in English and now spends her time communicating with people around the world as an MYP English Language and Literature consultant. Having recently made the move into an IB world school that teaches the MYP I was really keen to ask someone like Kate a number of burning questions regarding planning a sequenced curriculum. Tha...

This is the second in a series of podcasts where I focus on a specific area of English instruction. In this episode I’m delighted to be talking to Zoe Enser about how generative learning can be implemented in the English classroom. Zoe and her partner Mark have offered the education world a number of fantastic publications, including their most recent book The CPD curriculum. But it is their book...

This week I’m talking to Dr. Liana Silva. Liana is an English teacher in Houston Texas, Chair of the Modern Language Association’s Committee on K-16 Alliances and Managing Editor of Sounding Out blog . We discuss: The best book she’s ever read, taught or learnt A brief introduction to her career to date and her school’s recent switch to IB Liana’s initial impressions of the IB curriculum and how s...

This is the first in a series of podcasts where I focus on a specific area of English instruction. In this episode I’m delighted to be talking to David Didau about how to construct a knowledge rich curriculum. David has authored numerous books on a wide range of school topics, including literacy, accountability and psychology. But his most recent publication, Making Meaning in English is the one t...

In this episode I’m talking to Rebekah Ricketts. Rebekah is Head of the English Department at Safa British School in Dubai. In addition to that, she hosts The Drive Home show for Teachers Talk Radio every Monday. We discuss: - The best book Rebekah’s ever taught, read or learnt in school and why - A text or unit that she’s been keen to introduce to the classroom but isn’t quite ready to do so yet...

In this episode I’m talking to Fiona Mulholland. Fiona is Head of the English Department at West Island School in Hong Kong. We discuss: - The best book Fiona’s ever taught, read or learnt in school and why - A text or unit that she’s been keen to introduce to the classroom but isn’t quite ready to do so yet - An introduction to her career to date and why she took the opportunity to teach abroad -...

In this episode I’m talking to Art and English teacher, Ethan Lester. Ethan is a multidisciplinary artist from Toronto, Canada. He holds a BFA from the University of Western Ontario and an MFA from the University of Victoria, where he taught photography and drawing. He currently teaches Secondary Visual Art and English in Hong Kong. We discuss: The best book he’s ever read or been taught Ethan’s b...

In this episode I’m speaking with Jennifer Browne. Jennifer is Head of the English Department and TOK coordinator at Stonehill International School, Bangalore. We discuss: The best book she’s ever taught, read or learnt in school. A text or unit that Jenni’s been keen to introduce to the classroom but isn’t quite ready to do so yet An introduction to her career to date The best and worst things ab...

In this episode I’m talking with Nick Webber. Nick is a Head of English and IBDP Coordinator at Carmel school in Hong Kong as well as being a PhD graduate in Literature. We discuss: the best text Nick’s ever read, studied or taught a quick introduction to Nick’s career to date and current role at Carmel. his take on the most recent round of global IB results his department’s attempts at balancing...

In this episode I had the great pleasure of speaking to Amanda Bostock. Amanda is an English teacher and IB Extended Essay coordinator out in Europe’s sunniest capital, Lisbon, working at St. Julians School. We discuss: The best text Amanda’s ever read, studied or taught and why An Introduction to her career to date and current position in Portugal How the IB’s expectation for inquiry learning tra...

In this episode I’m talking with Harm-Jan Langelaar. Harm is an English teacher and coordinator of his school’s bilingual programme in Sassenheim, The Netherlands. In addition he’s a marker for the IBDP English A course. We discuss: The best text he’s ever read, studied or taught and why An Introduction to his career to date and current position at Rijnlands Lyceum. Harm’s approach to balancing ca...

In this episode I’m talking with Shannon Kavanagh. Shannon is Head of Senior School English at King George V school in Hong Kong. In the episode we discuss One of the best texts she’s recently read, studied or taught An Introduction to her career to date and current position at KGV The recent review of diversity and inclusion at the school How planning is organised within the department and school...

In this episode, I had the great privilege of speaking to Paul Farley. Paul is a poet originally from Liverpool who has won multiple awards for his work, including the Sunday Times Young Writer of Year, is a member of the Royal Society of Literature and also had the esteemed honour of teaching me creative writing in his post as professor at Lancaster University. We discuss: Poets he believes are m...

In this episode I’m talking to Jamie Walker. Jamie is Head of English at St Nicholas’ international school in Sao Paolo. We discuss: the best text he’s ever read, studied or taught an introduction to his career to date and current position in Sao Paolo. the role of inquiry learning at St Nicholas’ his approach to balancing canonised writers with new or local voices in the curriculum the specific c...

Guillermo is Curriculum Manager for Language A in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and is based in The Hague. Today’s episode was released slightly earlier in the week as I believe that what Guillermo has to offer may help with any Language A teachers currently reviewing the course for next term. We discuss: The one literary text or writer that continues to provide Guillermo with...

In this episode I’m speaking with Head of School Improvement at Raha International school, Luci Willis. Luci has worked in London, Japan and now Abu Dhabi, serving a whole host of roles that support students and teachers alike. In the interview we discuss: - A brief introduction to her teaching career and what recently led her to the UAE; - What the post 'Head of School Improvement' entails and wh...

In this episode I’m speaking with Head of English at the International School of Brussels, Matt Fron. It’s always fantastic to speak to a fellow English teacher about the choices, challenges and joys of teaching the subject so thanks a lot to Matt for offering up his time to chat! We discuss: Matt’s favourite text he’s ever read, studied or taught; His career to date and current position in Brusse...

Emilia is a journalist working for the Liverpool Echo, a daily print and online newspaper back in the UK. I was eager to speak to someone with expertise in the media after questioning whether or not my teaching of this specific type of mass communication was as effective or even relevant as it could be. In addition, I also thought it was good opportunity to learn more about how to advise students...

Andy is CEO of Shmoop. Shmoop is an online platform that offers mental health tools, study guides and test prep to over 8 million middle and high school students across the U.S. and beyond. We discuss: Andy’s role at Shmoop and what a typical day entails for him as CEO; the way in which Shmoop envisions interaction between teachers and the site; the need to democratise education and the part that...

Craig is host of the brilliant Ignite Edtech podcast , which has recently hit the 50 episode mark. He is also digital consultant to schools around the world as well as being a former teacher and expert speaker for educational innovation. We discuss: A background to Craig’s career and relationship with edtech so far; inspiring vision statements he has come across in terms of schools and their relat...

In this show I’m speaking with Dominic Salles, aka Mr. Salles Teaches English. Dominic is a former teacher, current consultant on teaching and learning, published author and YouTuber. We discuss: an introduction to his early career all the way up to his dabbles with Youtube. the evolution of his channel and the success he’s had with it. plans with regard to maintaining this part of his career and...

Dr. Sadie Hollins is the Head of the 6th form at Lanna international school, Chiang Mai, as well as being founder and blogger of the brilliant WISEducation. Having started the site’s online magazine in the middle of last year, Sadie has now overseen 4 consistently compelling editions that offer advice on all things Wellbeing-within-International-School-Education We discuss: An introduction to her...

Freya is an English teacher at St. George’s International School in Rome. Freya is a former Head of Department, Literacy lead and current member of the Twitter glitterati, loving life in the Eternal city. It was a fantastic opportunity to speak with Freya, who is the first English Head of Department I’ve had on the podcast, despite the fact she is now enjoying her time focusing purely on classroom...

Mark is Principal and CEO of Kellett school, in Hong Kong. He is a regular speaker at the likes of the COBIS conference, has multiple articles published in TES and remains a go to voice for podcasters looking to discuss innovation for international teaching. I would like to say a huge thank you to Mark for offering his time and insights, which ultimately led to an extremely enlightening conversati...

Mark is Secondary Assistant Principal at the ISF Academy in Hong Kong. He is a trained History teacher who has also dabbled in Maths and is looking forward to starting a new Leadership role with the English Schools Foundation in Hong Kong, later this year. We discuss: his training in the UK and subsequent move to Asia; his step up into senior leadership at the ISF academy; potential differences be...