Educators Going Global

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 of his international experiences, with his retirement coming up in a couple of...

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 around the development of new programs. We hear stories about initiative fatig...

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 McMaster is a brave soul who has “pushed the button” on starting a school, not on...

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 in Kathmandu, Nepal is one such school. In this “case study-style” interview...

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 family to teach at ISKL.  He then took a sabbatical with his family to bike acro...

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 prominent in our interview with LeeAnne Lavender, who helps schools with thei...

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 humor weave through every interaction we have with him.

Michael is a jack-of-all...

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 day job – working to support students and parents in international schools. As...

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
• International Teacher Experiences with Lessons Learned
• Diversity, Equity an...

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 Virginia Tech. He is interested in exploring interdisciplinary approaches to...

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 sabbatical with his family to bike across Europe and ended up in Saigon, Vie...

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 professional learning, Justin has a passion for supporting schools in better-int...

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, Information Technology, and Film. She has recently transitioned fr...

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 Michael’s take as a future-focused thinker. With that in mind, our guiding ques...

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 International Educator Recruiting Fairs and Amazing Stories of a Teacher Living Ove...

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: Student Behavior and Mediocre Pay Are Tak...

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, as family travel is a significant part of being an international educator!

Ca...

How do you tame your curiosity and limit your questions when talking to a man who sings opera, speaks five languages, and consults with hundreds of organizations ranging among the fields of education, financial services, beauty and fashion, non-profits, and the arts? This was our task when interviewing Dr. Derrick Gay on the topic of helping school communities flourish.  

Dr. Gay is a globally recognized intercultural competency str...

Are you a small school wishing you could expand your course offerings? A student who has always wanted to explore a new area of study? Or maybe a teacher longing to teach about a passion topic area that is not offered at your school? Well, look no further!

The Global Online Academy, in operation since 2011, addresses all of these issues. The Academy partners with schools around the world to offer over 60 courses, many of w...