82. On Followership and the Complexities of International Teaching

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 describes the interaction of followership and leadership as a type of dance. I think this description makes a lot of sense. Claire provides a 360-degree view of it in our discussion.

Claire Gaul teaches MYP Individuals and Societies at an international school in China. She is an avid runner and reader. Her favorite authors include Joan Didion and Elif Shafak. She has lived all over the world as both a student and a teacher. Claire has 11 year old twins (Luke and Leia), a husband, and a hamster who needs to be rehomed before Claire moves to India in July with her family.

Our guiding question for this show was, "What is followership in our schools, and how does it go hand in hand with leadership?"

Claire shares her thoughts and wisdom, with the following being a few of her main points:

• Her impetus for writing the blog post
• A definition of followership that includes constructive followership
• How to lean into being constructive
• The possible personal and professional costs of not having healthy boundaries regarding followership
• Suggestions to help our listeners gain perspective on themselves and their interactions with others
• Her recent recruiting experience

Resources mentioned in the episode:

Profiling Schools, Cities and Countries blog post

Claire’s blog post on our website.

Claire's Contact Information:  LinkedIn

 

This episode was recorded on March 15th, 2025.

Categories: Wellness | Leadership | School Life | Recruiting 

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Music: YouTube. (2022). Acoustic Guitar | Folk | No copyright | 2022❤️. YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEmg_6i7jA.