December 1, 2024 • 45 mins
What happens when a dream of flying aeroplanes leads to an unexpected career in education? In this episode of the Teach Middle East Podcast, we chat with Sam Welbeck, principal of Qatar Academy, Doha, about his incredible journey from aspiring pilot and doctor to becoming a leader in education. Sam shares how the 2011 Egyptian revolution changed his path, bringing him to Doha, where he thrives in a culturally rich environment.
We explore the art of leadership, from building genuine connections with staff and students to navigating challenges like implementing a dual-language program. Sam’s story offers insights into fostering trust, creating safe school environments, and balancing professional responsibilities with personal passions. Tune in for an inspiring conversation on adaptability, strategic leadership, and the profound impact of educators in shaping the future.
Connect with Sam at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-welbeck/
Teach Middle East Magazine is the premier platform for educators and the entire education sector in the Middle East and beyond. Our vision is to equip educators with the materials and tools they need, to function optimally in and out of the classroom. We provide a space for educators to connect and find inspiration, resources, and forums to enhance their teaching techniques, methodologies, and personal development. We connect education suppliers and service providers to the people who make the buying decisions in schools.
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Hosted by Leisa Grace Wilson
Connect with Leisa Grace:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/leisagrace
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leisagrace/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
You are listening to the Teach Middle East podcast
connecting, developing andempowering educators.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hey everyone, welcome to the Teach Middle East
podcast.
My name is Lisa Grace.
Today I have Sam Welbeck on thepodcast and he is the principal
of Doha Academy.
And I don't have to tell youwhere Doha is, because if I have
to, then why are you listeningto this podcast?
Go do your geography.
But Sam is my LinkedIn buddy.
Can't believe we haven't met inperson.
(00:35):
We have such rapport and it'swild.
You see, that's why I tellpeople what you put online, let
it be authentic, let it be you,because people will know you by
that and you will developfriendships and rapport with
people online if you are yourauthentic selves.
Sam, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Thank you.
Thank you, it's so good to behere.
Thank you, lisa.
Mom, we made it.
We're on Teach Middle East.
We made it, mom, not no,seriously, I I've I've.
A long time ago, I saw, uh,what you were doing with Teach
Middle East and I used to readthe newsletters and I used to
watch the podcast and I used tothink to myself, I wonder if one
day she might knock on my door.
(01:17):
So I'm, I'm really really happyto be here, thank you.
Thank you for having meyou're're most welcome.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
She came knocking and you answered, so thank you.
So tell me then, sam Doha, whendid you go there?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I've only been here a year.
I know, see, it feels like alot longer.
I'll be honest.
But yeah, this is my secondyear now.
I started last year.
Before then, I was in Cairo forabout 14 years.
Doha is an amazing place really, and the company that I work
for, Qatar Foundation, aresomething else really.
It is an amazing countrybecause it is not only very
(01:55):
advanced technologically, but itis also very cultural, and I
love that mix.
There's a lot of culture here,they are a very hospitable
people and it is, according toGoogle, probably the second
safest place in the world.
I wonder what's first?
I think it's where you are.
I think it's Abu Dhabi.
Is it Abu Dhabi you best?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
believe, I think it might be Says my front door
which does not get locked atnight.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Exactly, it's weird, isn't it?
It's one of those things whenyou're coming from London and
you are not used to, you know,living in a place where you can
leave the key in the car and go,you know, go into your house,
leave the door open and go tobed.
That's just unbelievable.
But you can do that here andeverything will be there when
you wake up.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yeah, that's, that's.
That's the beauty of this partof the world for the most part,
obviously not everywhere.
And please don't go leavingyour car keys and say Lisa Grace
said that on the podcast,listen, they take your car,
that's you, that's on you.
I'm telling you Tell me alittle bit about your journey
into education.
What got you into education inthe first place?
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Ah crikey, you know it was an accident.
It was an accident.
I'm not one of those peoplethat kind of you know grew up
wanting to be an educator.
I wanted to be a pilot and thenI realised I was scared of
heights so that didn't work.
And then I wanted to be adoctor but that's just way too
much work.
Then I fell in love with IT,but when I got to university
(03:26):
they didn't have the optionsthat I wanted.
So I ended up doing English atuni, because that's kind of what
my teacher said I was good at.
So I went to uni.
I went to a uni in East Londoncalled Queen Mary in Westfield,
and with that bachelor's degreeI had absolutely no idea what I
could do.
I had a love for IT.
I'd been messing around withcomputers since the old ZX81
back in the late 80s and Idecided to become a Microsoft
(03:49):
engineer after uni and startedworking for Xerox.
It was a jump to go from IT toeducation, and that only
happened because of the Egyptianrevolution.
I was caught up in the 2011Egyptian revolution.
I was right there on thestreets with the Egyptian
revolution.
I was caught up in the 2011Egyptian revolution.
I was right there on thestreets with the Egyptian
massive, and something which Iwill always treasure.
(04:13):
It was one of those experiencesthat really opened my eyes to
the fact that we need to changethings in this world.
That didn't make me an educator.
What made me an educator wasbeing out of work.
I'd gone to Egypt because I hadgot a job working on a magazine
and when I got to Egypt,literally months later, the
revolution took place and thenthe magazine, which was based on
(04:34):
advertising sales, couldn't goforward because, of course, the
whole country plummetedfinancially and we couldn't get
the sales.
The woman who ran the magazinesaid to me look, I'm really
really sorry.
I know you've come all this way, but you're a great writer.
There's a school that mydaughter goes to.
It's an international schooland if I talked to the director
(04:54):
there I'm sure he would beinterested.
So I fell into education byaccident.
I went to see him, we spoke, wereally got on.
He was an old British guycalled Dr Giddings Really really
wonderful man and his wifethere was the AQC, or the
principal of the elementary, ifyou like, the primary school,
(05:18):
and they gave me a job teachinggrade five English and social
studies and that's kind of how Ifell into education and the
rest is as they say it's history.
14 years later, I'm theprincipal of Qatar Academy, doha
, and it's been an amazingjourney and something which I'm
really grateful for,alhamdulillah, really great.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Alhamdulillah.
Talk to me about those earlyyears teaching in Cairo.
What were those like?
About those early yearsteaching in Cairo?
What were those like?
Have you been to Cairo?
So I haven't been to Cairo andI really should go.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
I really should.
Yeah, you will hate it.
No, no, I say look, allEgyptians will understand why I
just said that.
Because it's one of theseplaces that is so chaotic, crazy
busy, hot, stifling and yetwonderful.
Amazing.
Funny Egyptians are thefunniest people you will ever
(06:15):
meet, but it's hard.
Egypt is a hard place to live.
You've got to suss it out andthat takes time.
So most of the time when peoplego and just visit, they don't
get it.
But when you're there for longand you get to understand the
culture and the people, you loveit.
And that's how I got introduced.
I got introduced to Egyptiansthrough knowing their children
(06:35):
and hearing the stories fromthem and and and understanding
the culture from them and whatthey, what they aspire to and
what they're afraid of and whattheir parents are going through,
and it was an amazingintroduction and I absolutely
love Egypt.
For me, egypt is a second home.
It's a place that I will alwaysconsider mine.
I'm always telling peopleAnamasri, I'm Egyptian, and they
(06:57):
look at me obviously and laugh,but the idea is that I feel
connected to them as a people,because I felt so connected to
the children there and theirparents and the schools that I
feel connected to them as apeople, because I felt so
connected to the children thereand their parents and the
schools that I worked in.
So in the early days I wasteaching English and social
studies, and what a subject,because it allows you to really
get broad and talk to kids aboutso many different things.
(07:19):
I mean social studies.
We went through everything fromall the stuff we weren't
supposed to talk about politics,religion.
We talked about history, wetalked about geographical spaces
.
I remember having this massivediscussion with my grade eight
about the fact that they're notwhite.
They didn't understand what Iwas talking about and it was
fantastic.
(07:40):
It really opened up some greatdiscussion about inclusion,
about race, about what it's liketo be a foreigner in a place,
and I absolutely loved theexperience teaching in Egypt.
It was something I will never,ever, ever regret, and it
allowed me to sort of build myprofile as an educator, and so
(08:01):
when Qatar Academy came knocking, it was because I'd had that
experience in Egypt which hadgiven me the skill set to be
able to go.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Yeah, I think I must have said Doha Academy, not
Qatar Academy.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
That's all right.
It's Qatar Academy Doha.
It's Qatar Academy Doha.
You had all the words.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
You had all the words there, so I stand.
Corrected guys.
I knew it was one of those.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Two of them academies have the same name.
Oh yeah, so English and socialstudies.
Yeah, I wanted to find out whenit comes on to the way you
taught what's, because nowyou're a principal, so obviously
now you're looking at howteachers teach Right, what?
What did you think resonatedmost with the students that you
(08:45):
taught?
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Honestly, there's a few elements, but I think what I
felt made me stand out and whatI still use as a leader now, is
just building connections.
Building connections andbuilding relationships and being
vulnerable enough to be able tobe a bit authentic with the
children in the class.
Let them know a little bitabout you, who you are and what
(09:07):
you strive for and why you wantthe best out of them.
When you build that, it becomes.
I've got this weird analogy.
I'm going to try it.
I don't think anyone elseunderstands that part for me.
But you know when you're tryingto feed a baby, right, that
they're not interested.
Yeah, they want to play.
They're looking around.
You're trying to get the spoonin in their mouth, right.
(09:29):
It's a bit like that when you'rea teacher, you know you've got
some of the kids who really wantto learn, others who are, you
know, busy talking with theirfriends.
Others who have just come backfrom the playground of playing
football and they're interestedin that.
Others who just don'tunderstand the content.
You know you've got it's likewhen you're trying to feed a
baby they're all over the place.
If you really want to be ableto get all the information
(09:49):
across, you've got to get theirattention and you know, just
like when a baby really feelscomfortable with you and just
opens their mouth and you'reable to just shovel all the food
down.
It's the same with the kids.
Once you build that connectionwith them, you know their mood.
You know you can walk into theclass and you can literally tell
their mood and know when to say, okay, close your books, let's
(10:11):
do this a different way.
You know, know when to getinvolved in the conversations
that they're having, even ifthose conversations aren't
directly connected to whatyou're doing, and it's all about
building that connection.
That was, for me, the biggesttakeaway I had, and I use that
now as a leader.
I spend most of my timethinking about how do I build
connections with my immediateleadership team.
(10:34):
We've done a great job at QAD.
Now it's one of the tightestteams I've ever had.
The team I have right now.
They're superb, we are close,we trust each other, and then
that has then filtered furtherdown to the grade leaders and
the subject specialists.
You know, building thoseconnections, getting to know
them on a level, not just to dowith the work, but as you know
(10:56):
who they are, and finding outwhat's important to them, what
are their aspirations, what arethey trying to achieve in their
career and, you know, with their, with their home life.
It doesn't mean going out withpeople and hanging out with them
after work If, I'm honest, Idon't, I don't do that, I
generally don't, I don't havetime but it can be done in a
professional way.
You know it can.
You can build connections withpeople professionally and it's
(11:18):
about asking them how they areand it's about, you know,
allowing them to really have nofear in telling you about their
own vulnerabilities and whatthey.
You know what they're afraid ofand what they aspire to, and
having more authenticconversations.
So it's the same thing Used todo it as a teacher, do it now as
a leader, and it always worksfor me.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
So this is your second academic year with QAD,
and so when you walked in, whatwas that like?
Like they look at you, blackman from London.
Well, egypt, because now youknow, we don't know where Sam's
from.
I'm from London and I'm allover the place, but yeah, what
was that like when you walked in, Like how did you get them on
(12:00):
side?
Speaker 3 (12:01):
It was tough.
It was tough, lisa.
You know this is a school whichis the flagship of the Qatar
Foundation schools.
This is a school which haseducated and housed the leaders
of this country.
It really is a special place.
So it was a huge responsibility.
And you know I'm walking in.
We've got over a thousand kids,I've got over about 140
(12:22):
teachers and when you put allthe rest of the staff in there
as well, there's about 200personnel that I have to look
after.
It was.
It was a bit daunting, if I'mhonest, and it took me a while
to kind of get into my stride.
I spent a lot of time trying towork out acronyms, because they
use so many, and most of thetime I didn't know what people
(12:42):
were talking about.
Luckily, I think one of thethings which I've learned in the
past and I use is that if Idon't know something, I'll ask
you what it is.
And for a lot of people I knowthat they're afraid that makes
them look stupid.
But I'd rather look stupid onetime and then no next time than
(13:03):
to nod and pretend I know whatyou said and then look stupid
for the next month.
So I had to go through thatprocess and for the first three
months I was spinning.
Really I was spinning.
It was difficult, there was alot which needed to be done, and
when you first turn up at aschool as a leader and there's a
(13:25):
lot to do, it puts you underpressure, because I I personally
don't think new leaders shouldwalk in to a school and make too
many changes.
You've got to understand theenvironment you're in, you've
got to study the environment,you've got to work out why
people do what they do andreally take that in and reflect
on it before you start movingthe pieces around.
(13:45):
And I wasn't given that chance.
You know, I turned up and therewere some big projects.
Um, one was a dual languageinitiative which was coming all
the way from from the very top,from from shaker hind, who who's
you know, from her office.
She's our CEO.
She's also the sister ofSheikha Amin, who's the leader
(14:06):
of the country you know.
So I've turned up and there'sthis project, right.
So basically, our students arelosing their identity by not
being proficient in the Arabiclanguage by the time they
graduate, by not beingproficient in the Arabic
language by the time theygraduate.
So what we want you to do isstart at the primary level and
(14:29):
give them a dual languageprogram all the way up.
So effectively their exposureto Arabic needs to be equivalent
to their exposure in English.
At least that's where I got toafter the study.
That isn't what I was told.
I was told to build the programyou know that's a huge thing
when you've just turned up.
I mean, imagine the plethora ofthings that a new principal has
(14:49):
to get used to and take care of.
I mean, you've got a projectlike that which is added on your
plate.
That was tough.
We changed so many systems.
We had new communicationsystems for the first time.
We changed the way thecafeteria worked.
It went digital and, for thefirst time, students who used to
have almost an automatedprocess where their parents were
(15:11):
charged for the cafeteria andhad to opt out, all of a sudden
we were changing that to awristband system where you had
to opt in and do it online.
And I had to introduce all ofthis not knowing the landscape
and it's a huge school.
Until today, I get lost walkingaround the school.
It's absolutely huge.
So it was tough.
The first three months werereally really hard.
As things progressed, with alot of support from my team,
(15:35):
from my director.
I work under a director who isphenomenal, phenomenal.
I've been very lucky in my lifethat the people that I've
worked under have been verysupportive and phenomenal.
First, uh, when I was in egypt,uh, dr mustafa imam, who's one
of the we're really good friends.
Now he's one of the people thatI really, really admire because
(15:56):
of the way he supports and theway he thinks.
And then, when I moved on, I wasworried about what would that
mean to not have that support.
But I got that in MehdiBen-Shaban, who I now work under
, who is really a phenomenaleducator.
With their support, I was ableto make it through and I think
we've had this year a phenomenalyear, a phenomenal turnaround
(16:16):
so far.
Parents are happy.
Parents are happy.
They're saying they can feelthe difference and they love the
spirit of the school.
That was the way the lastparent described it to me in my
office, like a few days ago.
We love the new spirit in theschool and that means a lot to
me.
I talk a lot back.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
No, no, no, no.
As you talked about Mehdi, Iwas like oh, I haven't seen
Mehdi in a long time.
You know Mehdi, right, yes?
Speaker 3 (16:42):
yes.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
I do know Mehdi Mehdi before he was with the Qatar
Foundation in the teachertraining arm.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Right in EDI.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Yes, Phenomenal, You're listening to me Mehdi,
how are?
You.
It's been a while.
So the fact that you had toinherit such a massive project.
How did you get the buy-in ofthe senior leadership team?
Because it's one thing to walkin and try to get the buy-in of
the parents and the students,but the buy-in of the people who
are supposed to be yourright-hand people, now, that's a
(17:12):
tough task.
How did you manage to maneuverthat?
Speaker 3 (17:16):
It is a tough task, lisa, it really is.
I was lucky.
I think I was lucky in that Igot people who were, first of
all, they were, new to theirpositions right.
They weren't new to the schoolnecessarily, but new to their
position.
So I think that was lucky inthe sense that we had a chance
to have a clean canvas on whichwe were going to paint.
(17:38):
We were coming in as a new team, so everybody was invested in
wanting to make sure that wedidn't fail, and you need that.
So I was very lucky in that.
But I also got a team which wasreally balanced.
I got a team.
There are three assistantprincipals that work under me
who are phenomenal human beingsin their own right, but very
different.
One of them is, I think, thefirst Qatari assistant principal
(18:04):
at the 13 schools a womancalled Misty Aradawi.
She's an amazing educator,amazing communicator, an amazing
logistical, somebody who workswith a lot of passion, and she
understood the parents, sheunderstood the students, she
understood the students, sheunderstood the culture.
So I had that element of thingsworking to my benefit.
(18:26):
I've got another guy calledFran Navarro who is logistically
phenomenal, very focused onpolicy and procedure, and again,
I've got that element coveredbecause of him.
And then I've got Sana, who'sbeen at the school the longest
out of us, and she brings thathistorical element so she can
tell us why things are the waythey are.
(18:48):
I also made sure that, in termsof distributing the work, I gave
her something which she woulddo phenomenally and she did
which is to handle staffing.
So I go to her when I want tofigure out how we are going to
manage staffing.
How are we going to hire, whodo we need?
When do we need them, what isthe process?
And not only is shelogistically smart, but she's
(19:10):
fantastic in terms ofdocumenting things and creating
charts and forms for us.
So as a team, we are sobalanced.
You know there's someone thatcan do every element.
You know there's a wider team.
We've got a PLT, which is thepedagogical leadership, which
includes a curriculumcoordinator, pyp coordinator, a
student support, and noteveryone was on the same page
(19:33):
when we started.
It really was.
It was a bit of a battle and Ihad to spend time convincing
people that they were safe,first of all, that when I ask
about something, when I questionsomething, it wasn't to
question them.
It was to question why we do itthe way we do it.
It was to review our processes,it was to understand.
(19:53):
But you know when you're comingin new and you start poking
around, sometimes people feelyou're poking around because you
have some kind of idea thatthey're in the wrong or they're
not doing something right andmay want to undermine their
position.
It took a while to build trust.
I wouldn't say we're 100% there.
I mean, I'm sure every now andagain I still scare some people
when I suddenly start pokingaround within their departments.
(20:16):
But I think it's building, Ithink it's getting, you know,
it's getting close and peopleare feeling a lot more
comfortable and they know thatthey can be vulnerable with me.
They know that mistakes canhappen and I'm open to that
because I make them, you know.
So I think we're getting there.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
How do you communicate that level of
psychological trust to yourstaff?
What are you doing to help themto understand that
psychologically, they are safeto explore, make mistakes and
trust you?
Speaker 3 (20:52):
I think you have to tell them.
I think it starts with actuallytelling them.
I do.
I do this in the orientationperiod.
I explain I've got this trio ofcultural success, which it's a
triangle which I bring up andI'm trying to remember it now.
It's transparency, right, andsupport and clear expectations.
(21:16):
That's my trio, right?
You've got transparency, whichis about us being open with each
other in our conversations, inthe way we deal with each other,
in dealing with conflict.
If you're not transparent,there's no trust.
You're going to say one thingto one person and another to
somebody else.
It's all going to fall apart.
(21:37):
Clear expectations that it ison me to make sure that you know
what is expected of you.
If I haven't made that clearand then I want to come and, you
know, have a go at you later onabout something that you
haven't done or haven't done,well, you know there's an
unfairness there.
And then, of course, the lastone, which is the support that
(21:59):
you know you have to be able toget support where you're
struggling and where you'refinding it hard.
So I actually bring thistriangle up in my orientations
and I go through this and I'mexplicit about the fact that
this is how we're going to builda positive environment in the
school that we can all be proudof and enjoy.
And I actually do tell peoplethat if you make a mistake, an
(22:22):
honest mistake, that issomething that I can abide.
I mean, I do it, I do it allthe time and if I can be
forgiven for it, then so can you.
But what is important is thatwe learn from it, we put in
place things to avoid repeatingit and then we move forward.
You know, if you do somethingintentionally, or you know with,
(22:42):
because you haven't, youhaven't put the kids first, you
haven't put their safety first,if you haven't, if you've been
negligent, then you know that'sa different story, you know.
But I think people understandthe difference.
So you know, they feel a lotsafer knowing and hearing that
from me because there is abalance, right, sam.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
There is that psychological safety that you
want to create, but you alsowant to create an environment of
high standards and highexpectations.
So then, my question to you ishow do you go about those
difficult conversations when youfind negligence, when you you
find complacency, when you findmediocrity?
(23:21):
How do you tackle that then, asa school leader?
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Hard conversations, hard conversations, but I think
you have to.
First of all, you've got to bequick with them.
Right, when you're leading, youwant to try to avoid
confrontation as much aspossible, and that doesn't work.
So the first thing is, when yousee bad behavior, you have to
correct it On the spot.
(23:45):
You can't leave it.
You've got to call people inand you've got to say listen,
here's the thing that I don'tlike right now, and so it has to
change.
And sometimes I think sometimesa lot of leaders find that
difficult.
I know I did when I firststarted working in schools.
I found that difficult.
I remember one time found thatdifficult.
I remember one time a reallytrusted friend of mine now, who
(24:08):
was the who's, the HR in one ofmy old schools in Egypt, saying
to me you know you're so, you'retoo nice, and she meant that in
the in the nicest way, but itreally got to me.
You know, I was reallyreflecting on it and I was.
I was, I was thinking, thinkingman, why is she saying that?
And I think the reason was thatI was taking too long to
(24:30):
address bad behavior.
Bad behavior will very quicklycorrupt and make an environment
very toxic, because if youaccept that other people look
and they see it and and then itspreads.
So now, whilst I would like tothink I use a lot of humor and
I'm approachable, I like tothink so anyway.
One of the things that happensis when I see something and I
(24:53):
don't like it, I say it's betterand I have a conversation about
it and I'm just honest about it.
I must admit that sometimespeople find that a little
intimidating.
I think people might.
You know, a lot of people knowme from LinkedIn and they
probably think you know he's areally happy, jolly guy, you
know.
And then when they come to workwith me, they realize that when
I'm serious it can be a littlebit scary.
(25:13):
At least I'm told that I thinkI'm fine but apparently I can be
intimidating.
But I don't think I'mintimidating for no reason.
I think if you are not puttingkids first and if you are
flouting the rules, theprocedures which have been put
in place to keep them safe andto ensure high standards in the
school, you should expect thatthe person or the people who
lead that are going to take youup on it.
(25:35):
You know it can't be left,otherwise everything crumbles
and the schools which have, youknow, the best standards of
behavior, of ethics, of gradeseven if those, most of the time,
for me aren't the mostimportant but kids who grow up
with a sense of accountabilityand responsibility.
(25:55):
You will find that the samehappens with the staff.
There's accountability andresponsibility amongst the staff
, and then it's ergonomic, itleaks down.
If that isn't there, uh, theneverything, in my opinion,
crumbles.
So there's a time, as a leader,where you have to, you have to
be firm and you have to beprepared to, uh, to call people
(26:15):
out and to show integrity inyour, in your responses, uh,
instead of complaining, you know, about them behind their back
and then not confronting themyeah, no, I'm, I'm completely
with you.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
I mean, when I led schools I did get that whole I'm
intimidating piece, and youknow I'm a tall black woman.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
That's what I'm always saying I'm a six-foot
black man, most of the time in asuit, today's Friday, you know,
with my bald head and my braces, I obviously don't care about.
I'm not worried about whatyou're going to think You've
done something wrong.
I'm going to tell you about itand it works.
Now, the strange thing is I canbe completely opposite with the
(26:57):
kids, especially because I'm anelementary principal, right?
So when it comes to the kidslook their kids I keep telling
my APs don't bring a cageG kidto my office for me to shout at.
It's not going to happen, right, it's not going to happen.
I'm going to end up having aconversation with this kid.
We're going to talk about whatthey did wrong, but I'm not
(27:18):
raising my voice at a KG child.
I absolutely adore children.
It's what has made my entirecareer work.
I build relationships with them.
They connect with me.
They tell me about their livesand their world and how they see
things and I actually listenand I'm not there to intimidate
kids.
You know, if it's different, ifyou send me a grade five kid
and I need to be a bit moreserious with them, I'll do that.
(27:42):
But when it comes to thepreschool and KG and grade one,
they, they, uh, you know we endup, having eaten a bit of
chocolate, talking about howthey can behave better and most
of the time they leave smilingbut feeling safe, and that you
know, I understood and Ilistened no, I get that.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
I used to have grade five boys.
I used to be an elementaryschool principal myself and when
they used to, the teachers usedto like they used to go crazy
and they used to send me thegrade five boys and then the
grade, like we would just sitthere and I mean I'm, I'm
talking to them seriously, butwe're on a level like we're
talking, we end up having yeahwe end up having real
(28:20):
conversations and I'm like,seriously, why?
Speaker 3 (28:23):
did you do that like?
Speaker 2 (28:24):
exactly like what's going on like exactly, and how
did that make?
You feel and you know, and thenin the end some of them used to
be like oh, just send me tomiss wilson then, and I'm like
opposite effect, that's not whatI want.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
That's why I raised that, because I think sometimes
teachers and and and middleleaders they kind of they
misunderstand, they get a littlebit frustrated.
I can tell, tell, because thekid goes back to the classroom
and they're happy.
You know, they sent them to mefor me to give them the grill
and I'm like, no, you do thatwhen they come to me.
I'm going to try to get to thebottom of the issue and try to
(29:01):
understand them a little bitmore and I'm going to do it in a
way which makes them feel safebit more.
And I'm going to do it in a waywhich makes them feel safe.
You know, at the end of the day, as the principal of the school
, I want every child to feelthat as long as I'm there, if
they know that I'm there, if I'maround, that they're safe and
that you know any vulnerabilitythat they've shown, any problem
that they're having, it can getresolved in a way that makes
them feel like somebody'slistening.
(29:22):
You know, and that's number onefor me.
So if you walk into my schooland I mean this, uh, you know
it's going to sound like a brag,but it really, it really isn't.
If you walk into my school andyou do a tour with me and you
walk around, you'll see thereaction the kids have when,
when I'm around them, they, theyare excited, they're happy.
You know they make a lot ofnoise, which is very frustrating
for teachers because I walkinto a classroom, I disrupt the
(29:43):
entire lesson, lesson.
But the kids feel safe.
They feel safe and that's whatthey tell me.
And they come to me when theyfeel something has been unjust.
That's when they come to me,they come to me and they tell me
well, I need to talk to you andI will let them in.
I could be doing a millionother things, but I feel that
frustration.
I say, all right, come in, sitdown.
(30:03):
What that frustration?
I said, all right, come in, sitdown.
What's happened?
And you know, you know littlekids are, sometimes they can't,
they can't express themselveswell and they'll stutter, and
you know they're on the brink ofcrying.
But I will sit and I willlisten and I will try my best to
let them know where I believein that story they were wrong
and how, where they should haveacted different.
But I'll also recognize theirfrustration, why they're, why
(30:25):
they're upset, and then I'll trymy best to actually do
something about it later on.
And I think building thatrelationship with students makes
them feel heard and safe andthat makes school better.
So when that parent said to methe other day I love the spirit
of the school, I think that'swhat she was referring to.
I think it's her child goinghome with happy stories about
(30:46):
what school is and how it'sbeing looked after.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Yeah, I think it's such a good thing when the
nurturing nature of a principaltrickles down to the students of
the school so they know thatwhen they go to that high up
they're not going to be shunnedor ignored.
They're not, they're going tobe heard.
It's so important.
We're going to change gears abit all right okay yeah, let's
(31:13):
talk about your, because I metyou through your content and I
have to tell you you do writevery well.
Put this on record, sam you areone of the writers that I
actually read.
There's some people on linkedin.
I gloss over their posts.
Your posts I read becauseyou're humorous and I love humor
and I love a little bit oftongue in cheek and you know,
(31:35):
how did you start writingcontent on LinkedIn?
What made you start?
Speaker 3 (31:40):
No, I can't, you know .
I really I can't even remember.
I don't know what brought me tothat platform.
I literally can't remember whatbrought me to LinkedIn, but
it's one of my favoriteplatforms because it allows me
to learn from people.
I think I was just a ghost onthere at the beginning.
I was just reading otherpeople's posts for a long time
and trying to learn about thecraft, trying to learn about
teaching and learning and learnwho people are and how they do
(32:03):
things so that I could be abetter practitioner.
I think that's kind of how itstarted.
But then, when I wanted to tellmy story, I had to do it in my
own voice.
I had to do it with the human,because that's who I am, and it
is a little bit tongue in cheeksometimes and a little bit
naughty because that's who I am.
I was that kid at school.
I'm that guy around my familyand friends and it's always
(32:27):
going to be who I am.
So I write from.
I write from the perspective ofthe voice in my head and I
think that's why it comes acrossand resonates with people.
I'm not trying to write a novelor trying to write an academic
paper, or literally.
(32:48):
There's a story in my head andI literally write it the way I
would.
You know how you talk toyourself sometimes after you've
been out with friends, or youknow you come home and you
reflect on it.
Why did I say that?
And what did she mean when shethose conversations?
I literally type them out andum, and that's why I think
(33:08):
sometimes it resonates withpeople, because we all have that
connection with ourselves.
You know, we all tell eachother stories and and and it's,
it's a storytelling technique.
I, I love it.
I, I love it.
I don't write that much.
I'm not as frequent with myposts as maybe I'd like to be.
That's partly because of timeand it's partly because I don't
(33:29):
write unless I've got somethingto say.
You know, I don't write for thesake of writing.
I'm not trying to create abrand.
Maybe I should start thinkingabout it.
I'm getting old but I'm notactually trying to create a
brand on LinkedIn.
I'm just telling the storiesthat go over in my mind and the
(33:51):
response from people has beenfantastic.
I've met so many people here inin doha who who work for the
same company and people whodon't, who come up to me in
workshops and and say, hi, I'mso and so and you know, and I'm
like we've met before they go.
No, no, linkedin, um oh um, youknow, they've been following me
and they've been reading the,the stories and you know, and
(34:12):
we'll talk about them and we getto know each other.
It's really nice.
It's actually uh forprofessionals.
I think LinkedIn is is a greatspace and I really do enjoy, uh,
being on there yeah, I do too.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
um, and I love what you said about just telling your
story and not trying to concoct.
Or you know, if you have astory, one story a week, if it
happens, and if you don't haveone for the month, you just
don't have one.
Don't try to, you know, makesomething up.
Or you got a certificatebecause you stepped outside your
door and then you put Listen,don't come for me unless I sent
(34:48):
for you.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
You know, you know what I, I um, yeah, yeah, you
know you're right, you're right.
Sometimes it is frustratingsometimes, but sometimes I see
why people do that, becausethey're trying to, they're
trying to show that they've,they've, they've advanced in
their careers a little bit andthey want to kind of let the
(35:10):
rest of us know about that.
No-transcript, just tell yourstory.
Everybody's got a story.
Just tell it In whatever voiceyou have.
Tell your story.
That's what we want to know.
We want to know your story.
We will learn more from yourstory and how that PD that you
went on, that certificate youhave, connects to your story
(35:33):
than we care about thecertificate itself.
Who cares about the certificate?
You know what I mean.
It takes time sometimes forpeople to get there, know what I
mean, and.
But it takes time sometimes forpeople to uh, to, to get there.
They're, you know, the ones whodo that.
Um, they, they're the ones thatI think get the followers,
because people want to knowwhere their story is going to
take them yeah, and we're allinterested in stories, you know
(35:54):
so.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
I keep telling we are so I'm gonna ask you your story
now, sam.
Where do you see your careergoing?
What's, what's what?
I'm not gonna ask you for afive-year plan, because I don't
even have one, but what?
What are your hopes like?
When you look at Sam, fromLondon to Cairo, to Doha?
What do you envision foryourself going forward?
Speaker 3 (36:19):
crikey.
This is a really big questionbecause I'm still muddling this
over in my head myself.
I'm 51.
I'm getting old, Lisa.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
You look great though , brethren.
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
West African jeans.
You see, this is what this is,West African jeans.
It's the.
What's the cream?
What's the cream?
Hun Shea butter.
It's the shea butter cream.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
What's the cream hon?
Shea butter, it's the sheabutter.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
It's the shea butter.
I just called that to my wife.
You know what it is, though,when people go, oh, you don't
have any wrinkles.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
You sure you weren't in leadership for that long.
I'm like castor oil honey.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Exactly.
Don't tell the secrets, though,Lisa.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
It's okay, they won't buy it anyway.
Why are you worried?
Speaker 3 (37:01):
The truth is, it's the melanin.
Come on, we're lucky, we are,we're lucky it doesn't show on
us.
For so many years I cut thehair off as well because that
was all going great.
But yeah, I'm getting old.
I think the energy which isrequired to run a school is
something that really does needto be taken into consideration.
It's, you know, it's physicallydemanding.
(37:24):
Um, I'm all over the place andif I, if I'm going to be a good
principal, it means I have to bewhere things are happening.
I can't be in my office.
I need to be in classrooms.
I need to be helping thecounselor chase that kid who,
you know, tried to go for thegate because he's not having a
great day and wanted to, youknow, to get out.
(37:44):
I need to be able to go ontrips.
Every now and again whenthey're happening, I need to be
able to move from one end of thebuilding to another because
there's a meeting and then, andthen to go back to do an
evaluation.
So physically is demanding.
Mentally, of course it'sdemanding.
Everybody wants something,everybody wants something.
Now, as I'm getting older, I'mbeginning to realize the toll
(38:05):
that takes.
I'm getting tired when I gethome, to the point where my
weekends are about recovery.
They're not about enjoying theweekend.
So I think, for me, what I'dlike to do is to be able to
position myself in a group ofschools where I can impart what
(38:28):
I've learned, so that those whohave the energy are able to use
that to make learning better forkids.
Yeah, you know what I mean.
I don't know what that lookslike.
I don't know if it'sconsultancy, I don't know
whether it's some kind ofdirectorship.
I don't know what it looks like.
The title is not important, butwhat I am interested in is
(38:50):
making learning better for kids,and that means using the
experiences and the knowledgethat I picked up along the way
Not everything you will find ina book or in a workshop.
A lot of it is heuristic.
You need to be able to tounderstand what kids need and
and what teachers need, and tobe able to build something out
(39:12):
of that need, so you're alwaysfocused in the right place.
I'd like to be able to do thatand, I don't know, maybe the
next few years we'll uncoveropportunities where that can
happen.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Yeah, I like the fact that you're not planning to go
start a farm somewhere in WestAfrica and take all that
knowledge that you've gainedwith you, and so the system
won't benefit from the richness.
Speaker 3 (39:35):
This is the most noble profession.
It really really is.
You know it's tiring.
I complain to my poor wife allthe time about how tired I am
and how little we areappreciated in today's society
as educators, and I'm alwayscomplaining about it.
But she reminds me and and myfriends remind me and family
remind me, and the kids remindme and parents remind me all the
(39:57):
time that this is probably oneof the most noble professions in
the world.
We have such a responsibilitytowards what the future will
look like.
Every warmongering dictator hada primary school teacher who, if
she had known, or he had known,what this person was going to
turn out like, might have donethings a little bit differently.
Let's do the difference now.
(40:18):
Yeah, because we don't know whowe're dealing with and we have
an opportunity to instillsomething powerful in people
while they are still malleable,you know, while they're still
open to learning, to shapingtheir habits and their
conscience so that when they doreach those positions where they
(40:38):
have to make decisions aboutlife and death, they think about
it just that little bit more.
It sounds dramatic, but it'snot.
All the problems in the worldare created and sustained by us,
by people and people go toschool.
So let's use school to shapebetter people and then we will
(40:58):
have you know, I hope lessproblems.
So you know, it's a very nobleprofession.
I'd love to be on a farm.
I think my mum, who lives inWest Africa, ghana, would love
for me to join her.
She's a proper entrepreneur.
She's in her 80s and is notslowing down in the slightest.
She'd love for me to pack upand come and help her with the
business.
(41:18):
But you know, I'm telling youI'm doing good work here.
I'm helping to shape the livesof some of the future leaders of
a nation, and that's important.
It's important work.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
It is.
So I'm going to ask you thefinal question.
When you're not in recoverymode on the weekend, what are
you doing to enjoy, to relax?
Speaker 3 (41:38):
Oh, I'll tell you what I would do if I could carve
out the time Friday.
Oh, I'll tell you what I woulddo if I could carve out the time
.
Friday is family day, and eventoday I said I've got to do a
very important podcast there'snowhere else missing this.
There's nowhere else missingLisa on Teach Middle East.
I told you we made it, mum,right.
But once we're done, we'll begoing out, we'll probably take a
(41:59):
walk to the mall nearby andwe'll sit down as a family and
we'll have something to eat and,um, I spend time with the
family.
I spend time with my wife, um,and just talk with the kids a
bit, and, you know, get to havethat time.
Uh, friday is also obviouslyprayer day.
So, uh, we dedicate ourselvesto that.
And you know, spiritual renewal, if you like, which is always
(42:23):
needed.
If saturday normally, if I'mhonest, ends up being work, um,
I normally wake up, normal time.
I wake up for for school in theweekday, which is 4 15 in the
morning, I do my prayers, drinkmy coffee, open my laptop, get
the emails out the way, startthe, and then we're out of here
by about 10 to 6.
(42:43):
But if I could, lisa, I would dosome of the things that I love.
One of the things I love is toproduce music.
A lot of people don't know thatI did that a lot when I was
young, something I love.
I love art, I love creating, Ilove film, I love editing.
One day when I'm able to carveout the time and it's on me, I
(43:05):
need to do this.
I need to really give myselfthis time.
I'd just love to be morecreative.
I'd love to tell my storiesthrough film and through writing
and through music, and I needto start carving out that time
for myself, because if you don'tfeed the spirit that drives you
, you won't be able to be aseffective and and help other
(43:28):
people.
You know what I mean, and thatmeans taking time out for
yourself and feeding that spirit, and that's something which my
balance hasn't been good lately,but I'm gonna get myself back
on track all right, we'rewaiting for it, sam.
We're waiting for the music.
We're waiting for the film I'llrelease it.
We're waiting for it.
I'll release it on LinkedInfirst.
Speaker 2 (43:49):
Exclusive.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
Exclusive.
There you go.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
What a pleasure this was.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (43:56):
No, it's been an absolute pleasure, lisa.
We're driving distance.
I've driven to Dubai before.
If I've driven to dubai, I canget to abu dhabi.
We've got to meet up.
All right, invite me to thenext conference I'm there in um.
Speaker 2 (44:09):
I'm there soon, but I will email you uh to see.
Come over to leadership, comeon over it's not that difficult.
I I tell you what.
I've got a panel to put you on,really, yeah, to stir things up
just a little bit there, allright, but you're going to be on
it with K-Sor.
Do you know K-Sor from LinkedIn?
(44:31):
No, yeah, k-sor is kind of likeyou speak their mind yeah, okay
.
So I think I'll put you on itwith Ketur, and then we'll both
all three of us will get bannedtogether.
Speaker 3 (44:42):
Oh boy, oh boy Look out, so yeah, the link, didn't
take over.
Speaker 2 (44:47):
I know.
Speaker 3 (44:48):
You know I'm there for you.
I'm there for you.
I'm inspired by the work thatyou do, lisa, and this is why I
was so excited when you said wewere going to do this.
So yes, whenever you feelthere's an opportunity, give me
a shout, I'll be there, I willdo.
Thank you for being on the pod.
It's a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (45:09):
Thank you for having me.
Thank you for listening to theTeach Middle East podcast.
Visit our websiteteachmiddleeastcom and follow us
on social media.
The links are in the show notes.
You are listening to the Teach Middle East podcast
connecting, developing andempowering educators.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hey everyone, welcome to the Teach Middle East
podcast.
My name is Lisa Grace.
Today I have Sam Welbeck on thepodcast and he is the principal
of Doha Academy.
And I don't have to tell youwhere Doha is, because if I have
to, then why are you listeningto this podcast?
Go do your geography.
But Sam is my LinkedIn buddy.
Can't believe we haven't met inperson.
(00:35):
We have such rapport and it'swild.
You see, that's why I tellpeople what you put online, let
it be authentic, let it be you,because people will know you by
that and you will developfriendships and rapport with
people online if you are yourauthentic selves.
Sam, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Thank you.
Thank you, it's so good to behere.
Thank you, lisa.
Mom, we made it.
We're on Teach Middle East.
We made it, mom, not no,seriously, I I've I've.
A long time ago, I saw, uh,what you were doing with Teach
Middle East and I used to readthe newsletters and I used to
watch the podcast and I used tothink to myself, I wonder if one
day she might knock on my door.
(01:17):
So I'm, I'm really really happyto be here, thank you.
Thank you for having meyou're're most welcome.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
She came knocking and you answered, so thank you.
So tell me then, sam Doha, whendid you go there?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I've only been here a year.
I know, see, it feels like alot longer.
I'll be honest.
But yeah, this is my secondyear now.
I started last year.
Before then, I was in Cairo forabout 14 years.
Doha is an amazing place really, and the company that I work
for, Qatar Foundation, aresomething else really.
It is an amazing countrybecause it is not only very
(01:55):
advanced technologically, but itis also very cultural, and I
love that mix.
There's a lot of culture here,they are a very hospitable
people and it is, according toGoogle, probably the second
safest place in the world.
I wonder what's first?
I think it's where you are.
I think it's Abu Dhabi.
Is it Abu Dhabi you best?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
believe, I think it might be Says my front door
which does not get locked atnight.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Exactly, it's weird, isn't it?
It's one of those things whenyou're coming from London and
you are not used to, you know,living in a place where you can
leave the key in the car and go,you know, go into your house,
leave the door open and go tobed.
That's just unbelievable.
But you can do that here andeverything will be there when
you wake up.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yeah, that's, that's.
That's the beauty of this partof the world for the most part,
obviously not everywhere.
And please don't go leavingyour car keys and say Lisa Grace
said that on the podcast,listen, they take your car,
that's you, that's on you.
I'm telling you Tell me alittle bit about your journey
into education.
What got you into education inthe first place?
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Ah crikey, you know it was an accident.
It was an accident.
I'm not one of those peoplethat kind of you know grew up
wanting to be an educator.
I wanted to be a pilot and thenI realised I was scared of
heights so that didn't work.
And then I wanted to be adoctor but that's just way too
much work.
Then I fell in love with IT,but when I got to university
(03:26):
they didn't have the optionsthat I wanted.
So I ended up doing English atuni, because that's kind of what
my teacher said I was good at.
So I went to uni.
I went to a uni in East Londoncalled Queen Mary in Westfield,
and with that bachelor's degreeI had absolutely no idea what I
could do.
I had a love for IT.
I'd been messing around withcomputers since the old ZX81
back in the late 80s and Idecided to become a Microsoft
(03:49):
engineer after uni and startedworking for Xerox.
It was a jump to go from IT toeducation, and that only
happened because of the Egyptianrevolution.
I was caught up in the 2011Egyptian revolution.
I was right there on thestreets with the Egyptian
revolution.
I was caught up in the 2011Egyptian revolution.
I was right there on thestreets with the Egyptian
massive, and something which Iwill always treasure.
(04:13):
It was one of those experiencesthat really opened my eyes to
the fact that we need to changethings in this world.
That didn't make me an educator.
What made me an educator wasbeing out of work.
I'd gone to Egypt because I hadgot a job working on a magazine
and when I got to Egypt,literally months later, the
revolution took place and thenthe magazine, which was based on
(04:34):
advertising sales, couldn't goforward because, of course, the
whole country plummetedfinancially and we couldn't get
the sales.
The woman who ran the magazinesaid to me look, I'm really
really sorry.
I know you've come all this way, but you're a great writer.
There's a school that mydaughter goes to.
It's an international schooland if I talked to the director
(04:54):
there I'm sure he would beinterested.
So I fell into education byaccident.
I went to see him, we spoke, wereally got on.
He was an old British guycalled Dr Giddings Really really
wonderful man and his wifethere was the AQC, or the
principal of the elementary, ifyou like, the primary school,
(05:18):
and they gave me a job teachinggrade five English and social
studies and that's kind of how Ifell into education and the
rest is as they say it's history.
14 years later, I'm theprincipal of Qatar Academy, doha
, and it's been an amazingjourney and something which I'm
really grateful for,alhamdulillah, really great.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Alhamdulillah.
Talk to me about those earlyyears teaching in Cairo.
What were those like?
About those early yearsteaching in Cairo?
What were those like?
Have you been to Cairo?
So I haven't been to Cairo andI really should go.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
I really should.
Yeah, you will hate it.
No, no, I say look, allEgyptians will understand why I
just said that.
Because it's one of theseplaces that is so chaotic, crazy
busy, hot, stifling and yetwonderful.
Amazing.
Funny Egyptians are thefunniest people you will ever
(06:15):
meet, but it's hard.
Egypt is a hard place to live.
You've got to suss it out andthat takes time.
So most of the time when peoplego and just visit, they don't
get it.
But when you're there for longand you get to understand the
culture and the people, you loveit.
And that's how I got introduced.
I got introduced to Egyptiansthrough knowing their children
(06:35):
and hearing the stories fromthem and and and understanding
the culture from them and whatthey, what they aspire to and
what they're afraid of and whattheir parents are going through,
and it was an amazingintroduction and I absolutely
love Egypt.
For me, egypt is a second home.
It's a place that I will alwaysconsider mine.
I'm always telling peopleAnamasri, I'm Egyptian, and they
(06:57):
look at me obviously and laugh,but the idea is that I feel
connected to them as a people,because I felt so connected to
the children there and theirparents and the schools that I
feel connected to them as apeople, because I felt so
connected to the children thereand their parents and the
schools that I worked in.
So in the early days I wasteaching English and social
studies, and what a subject,because it allows you to really
get broad and talk to kids aboutso many different things.
(07:19):
I mean social studies.
We went through everything fromall the stuff we weren't
supposed to talk about politics,religion.
We talked about history, wetalked about geographical spaces
.
I remember having this massivediscussion with my grade eight
about the fact that they're notwhite.
They didn't understand what Iwas talking about and it was
fantastic.
(07:40):
It really opened up some greatdiscussion about inclusion,
about race, about what it's liketo be a foreigner in a place,
and I absolutely loved theexperience teaching in Egypt.
It was something I will never,ever, ever regret, and it
allowed me to sort of build myprofile as an educator, and so
(08:01):
when Qatar Academy came knocking, it was because I'd had that
experience in Egypt which hadgiven me the skill set to be
able to go.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Yeah, I think I must have said Doha Academy, not
Qatar Academy.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
That's all right.
It's Qatar Academy Doha.
It's Qatar Academy Doha.
You had all the words.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
You had all the words there, so I stand.
Corrected guys.
I knew it was one of those.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Two of them academies have the same name.
Oh yeah, so English and socialstudies.
Yeah, I wanted to find out whenit comes on to the way you
taught what's, because nowyou're a principal, so obviously
now you're looking at howteachers teach Right, what?
What did you think resonatedmost with the students that you
(08:45):
taught?
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Honestly, there's a few elements, but I think what I
felt made me stand out and whatI still use as a leader now, is
just building connections.
Building connections andbuilding relationships and being
vulnerable enough to be able tobe a bit authentic with the
children in the class.
Let them know a little bitabout you, who you are and what
(09:07):
you strive for and why you wantthe best out of them.
When you build that, it becomes.
I've got this weird analogy.
I'm going to try it.
I don't think anyone elseunderstands that part for me.
But you know when you're tryingto feed a baby, right, that
they're not interested.
Yeah, they want to play.
They're looking around.
You're trying to get the spoonin in their mouth, right.
(09:29):
It's a bit like that when you'rea teacher, you know you've got
some of the kids who really wantto learn, others who are, you
know, busy talking with theirfriends.
Others who have just come backfrom the playground of playing
football and they're interestedin that.
Others who just don'tunderstand the content.
You know you've got it's likewhen you're trying to feed a
baby they're all over the place.
If you really want to be ableto get all the information
(09:49):
across, you've got to get theirattention and you know, just
like when a baby really feelscomfortable with you and just
opens their mouth and you'reable to just shovel all the food
down.
It's the same with the kids.
Once you build that connectionwith them, you know their mood.
You know you can walk into theclass and you can literally tell
their mood and know when to say, okay, close your books, let's
(10:11):
do this a different way.
You know, know when to getinvolved in the conversations
that they're having, even ifthose conversations aren't
directly connected to whatyou're doing, and it's all about
building that connection.
That was, for me, the biggesttakeaway I had, and I use that
now as a leader.
I spend most of my timethinking about how do I build
connections with my immediateleadership team.
(10:34):
We've done a great job at QAD.
Now it's one of the tightestteams I've ever had.
The team I have right now.
They're superb, we are close,we trust each other, and then
that has then filtered furtherdown to the grade leaders and
the subject specialists.
You know, building thoseconnections, getting to know
them on a level, not just to dowith the work, but as you know
(10:56):
who they are, and finding outwhat's important to them, what
are their aspirations, what arethey trying to achieve in their
career and, you know, with their, with their home life.
It doesn't mean going out withpeople and hanging out with them
after work If, I'm honest, Idon't, I don't do that, I
generally don't, I don't havetime but it can be done in a
professional way.
You know it can.
You can build connections withpeople professionally and it's
(11:18):
about asking them how they areand it's about, you know,
allowing them to really have nofear in telling you about their
own vulnerabilities and whatthey.
You know what they're afraid ofand what they aspire to, and
having more authenticconversations.
So it's the same thing Used todo it as a teacher, do it now as
a leader, and it always worksfor me.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
So this is your second academic year with QAD,
and so when you walked in, whatwas that like?
Like they look at you, blackman from London.
Well, egypt, because now youknow, we don't know where Sam's
from.
I'm from London and I'm allover the place, but yeah, what
was that like when you walked in, Like how did you get them on
(12:00):
side?
Speaker 3 (12:01):
It was tough.
It was tough, lisa.
You know this is a school whichis the flagship of the Qatar
Foundation schools.
This is a school which haseducated and housed the leaders
of this country.
It really is a special place.
So it was a huge responsibility.
And you know I'm walking in.
We've got over a thousand kids,I've got over about 140
(12:22):
teachers and when you put allthe rest of the staff in there
as well, there's about 200personnel that I have to look
after.
It was.
It was a bit daunting, if I'mhonest, and it took me a while
to kind of get into my stride.
I spent a lot of time trying towork out acronyms, because they
use so many, and most of thetime I didn't know what people
(12:42):
were talking about.
Luckily, I think one of thethings which I've learned in the
past and I use is that if Idon't know something, I'll ask
you what it is.
And for a lot of people I knowthat they're afraid that makes
them look stupid.
But I'd rather look stupid onetime and then no next time than
(13:03):
to nod and pretend I know whatyou said and then look stupid
for the next month.
So I had to go through thatprocess and for the first three
months I was spinning.
Really I was spinning.
It was difficult, there was alot which needed to be done, and
when you first turn up at aschool as a leader and there's a
(13:25):
lot to do, it puts you underpressure, because I I personally
don't think new leaders shouldwalk in to a school and make too
many changes.
You've got to understand theenvironment you're in, you've
got to study the environment,you've got to work out why
people do what they do andreally take that in and reflect
on it before you start movingthe pieces around.
(13:45):
And I wasn't given that chance.
You know, I turned up and therewere some big projects.
Um, one was a dual languageinitiative which was coming all
the way from from the very top,from from shaker hind, who who's
you know, from her office.
She's our CEO.
She's also the sister ofSheikha Amin, who's the leader
(14:06):
of the country you know.
So I've turned up and there'sthis project, right.
So basically, our students arelosing their identity by not
being proficient in the Arabiclanguage by the time they
graduate, by not beingproficient in the Arabic
language by the time theygraduate.
So what we want you to do isstart at the primary level and
(14:29):
give them a dual languageprogram all the way up.
So effectively their exposureto Arabic needs to be equivalent
to their exposure in English.
At least that's where I got toafter the study.
That isn't what I was told.
I was told to build the programyou know that's a huge thing
when you've just turned up.
I mean, imagine the plethora ofthings that a new principal has
(14:49):
to get used to and take care of.
I mean, you've got a projectlike that which is added on your
plate.
That was tough.
We changed so many systems.
We had new communicationsystems for the first time.
We changed the way thecafeteria worked.
It went digital and, for thefirst time, students who used to
have almost an automatedprocess where their parents were
(15:11):
charged for the cafeteria andhad to opt out, all of a sudden
we were changing that to awristband system where you had
to opt in and do it online.
And I had to introduce all ofthis not knowing the landscape
and it's a huge school.
Until today, I get lost walkingaround the school.
It's absolutely huge.
So it was tough.
The first three months werereally really hard.
As things progressed, with alot of support from my team,
(15:35):
from my director.
I work under a director who isphenomenal, phenomenal.
I've been very lucky in my lifethat the people that I've
worked under have been verysupportive and phenomenal.
First, uh, when I was in egypt,uh, dr mustafa imam, who's one
of the we're really good friends.
Now he's one of the people thatI really, really admire because
(15:56):
of the way he supports and theway he thinks.
And then, when I moved on, I wasworried about what would that
mean to not have that support.
But I got that in MehdiBen-Shaban, who I now work under
, who is really a phenomenaleducator.
With their support, I was ableto make it through and I think
we've had this year a phenomenalyear, a phenomenal turnaround
(16:16):
so far.
Parents are happy.
Parents are happy.
They're saying they can feelthe difference and they love the
spirit of the school.
That was the way the lastparent described it to me in my
office, like a few days ago.
We love the new spirit in theschool and that means a lot to
me.
I talk a lot back.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
No, no, no, no.
As you talked about Mehdi, Iwas like oh, I haven't seen
Mehdi in a long time.
You know Mehdi, right, yes?
Speaker 3 (16:42):
yes.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
I do know Mehdi Mehdi before he was with the Qatar
Foundation in the teachertraining arm.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Right in EDI.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Yes, Phenomenal, You're listening to me Mehdi,
how are?
You.
It's been a while.
So the fact that you had toinherit such a massive project.
How did you get the buy-in ofthe senior leadership team?
Because it's one thing to walkin and try to get the buy-in of
the parents and the students,but the buy-in of the people who
are supposed to be yourright-hand people, now, that's a
(17:12):
tough task.
How did you manage to maneuverthat?
Speaker 3 (17:16):
It is a tough task, lisa, it really is.
I was lucky.
I think I was lucky in that Igot people who were, first of
all, they were, new to theirpositions right.
They weren't new to the schoolnecessarily, but new to their
position.
So I think that was lucky inthe sense that we had a chance
to have a clean canvas on whichwe were going to paint.
(17:38):
We were coming in as a new team, so everybody was invested in
wanting to make sure that wedidn't fail, and you need that.
So I was very lucky in that.
But I also got a team which wasreally balanced.
I got a team.
There are three assistantprincipals that work under me
who are phenomenal human beingsin their own right, but very
different.
One of them is, I think, thefirst Qatari assistant principal
(18:04):
at the 13 schools a womancalled Misty Aradawi.
She's an amazing educator,amazing communicator, an amazing
logistical, somebody who workswith a lot of passion, and she
understood the parents, sheunderstood the students, she
understood the students, sheunderstood the culture.
So I had that element of thingsworking to my benefit.
(18:26):
I've got another guy calledFran Navarro who is logistically
phenomenal, very focused onpolicy and procedure, and again,
I've got that element coveredbecause of him.
And then I've got Sana, who'sbeen at the school the longest
out of us, and she brings thathistorical element so she can
tell us why things are the waythey are.
(18:48):
I also made sure that, in termsof distributing the work, I gave
her something which she woulddo phenomenally and she did
which is to handle staffing.
So I go to her when I want tofigure out how we are going to
manage staffing.
How are we going to hire, whodo we need?
When do we need them, what isthe process?
And not only is shelogistically smart, but she's
(19:10):
fantastic in terms ofdocumenting things and creating
charts and forms for us.
So as a team, we are sobalanced.
You know there's someone thatcan do every element.
You know there's a wider team.
We've got a PLT, which is thepedagogical leadership, which
includes a curriculumcoordinator, pyp coordinator, a
student support, and noteveryone was on the same page
(19:33):
when we started.
It really was.
It was a bit of a battle and Ihad to spend time convincing
people that they were safe,first of all, that when I ask
about something, when I questionsomething, it wasn't to
question them.
It was to question why we do itthe way we do it.
It was to review our processes,it was to understand.
(19:53):
But you know when you're comingin new and you start poking
around, sometimes people feelyou're poking around because you
have some kind of idea thatthey're in the wrong or they're
not doing something right andmay want to undermine their
position.
It took a while to build trust.
I wouldn't say we're 100% there.
I mean, I'm sure every now andagain I still scare some people
when I suddenly start pokingaround within their departments.
(20:16):
But I think it's building, Ithink it's getting, you know,
it's getting close and peopleare feeling a lot more
comfortable and they know thatthey can be vulnerable with me.
They know that mistakes canhappen and I'm open to that
because I make them, you know.
So I think we're getting there.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
How do you communicate that level of
psychological trust to yourstaff?
What are you doing to help themto understand that
psychologically, they are safeto explore, make mistakes and
trust you?
Speaker 3 (20:52):
I think you have to tell them.
I think it starts with actuallytelling them.
I do.
I do this in the orientationperiod.
I explain I've got this trio ofcultural success, which it's a
triangle which I bring up andI'm trying to remember it now.
It's transparency, right, andsupport and clear expectations.
(21:16):
That's my trio, right?
You've got transparency, whichis about us being open with each
other in our conversations, inthe way we deal with each other,
in dealing with conflict.
If you're not transparent,there's no trust.
You're going to say one thingto one person and another to
somebody else.
It's all going to fall apart.
(21:37):
Clear expectations that it ison me to make sure that you know
what is expected of you.
If I haven't made that clearand then I want to come and, you
know, have a go at you later onabout something that you
haven't done or haven't done,well, you know there's an
unfairness there.
And then, of course, the lastone, which is the support that
(21:59):
you know you have to be able toget support where you're
struggling and where you'refinding it hard.
So I actually bring thistriangle up in my orientations
and I go through this and I'mexplicit about the fact that
this is how we're going to builda positive environment in the
school that we can all be proudof and enjoy.
And I actually do tell peoplethat if you make a mistake, an
(22:22):
honest mistake, that issomething that I can abide.
I mean, I do it, I do it allthe time and if I can be
forgiven for it, then so can you.
But what is important is thatwe learn from it, we put in
place things to avoid repeatingit and then we move forward.
You know, if you do somethingintentionally, or you know with,
(22:42):
because you haven't, youhaven't put the kids first, you
haven't put their safety first,if you haven't, if you've been
negligent, then you know that'sa different story, you know.
But I think people understandthe difference.
So you know, they feel a lotsafer knowing and hearing that
from me because there is abalance, right, sam.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
There is that psychological safety that you
want to create, but you alsowant to create an environment of
high standards and highexpectations.
So then, my question to you ishow do you go about those
difficult conversations when youfind negligence, when you you
find complacency, when you findmediocrity?
(23:21):
How do you tackle that then, asa school leader?
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Hard conversations, hard conversations, but I think
you have to.
First of all, you've got to bequick with them.
Right, when you're leading, youwant to try to avoid
confrontation as much aspossible, and that doesn't work.
So the first thing is, when yousee bad behavior, you have to
correct it On the spot.
(23:45):
You can't leave it.
You've got to call people inand you've got to say listen,
here's the thing that I don'tlike right now, and so it has to
change.
And sometimes I think sometimesa lot of leaders find that
difficult.
I know I did when I firststarted working in schools.
I found that difficult.
I remember one time found thatdifficult.
I remember one time a reallytrusted friend of mine now, who
(24:08):
was the who's, the HR in one ofmy old schools in Egypt, saying
to me you know you're so, you'retoo nice, and she meant that in
the in the nicest way, but itreally got to me.
You know, I was reallyreflecting on it and I was.
I was, I was thinking, thinkingman, why is she saying that?
And I think the reason was thatI was taking too long to
(24:30):
address bad behavior.
Bad behavior will very quicklycorrupt and make an environment
very toxic, because if youaccept that other people look
and they see it and and then itspreads.
So now, whilst I would like tothink I use a lot of humor and
I'm approachable, I like tothink so anyway.
One of the things that happensis when I see something and I
(24:53):
don't like it, I say it's betterand I have a conversation about
it and I'm just honest about it.
I must admit that sometimespeople find that a little
intimidating.
I think people might.
You know, a lot of people knowme from LinkedIn and they
probably think you know he's areally happy, jolly guy, you
know.
And then when they come to workwith me, they realize that when
I'm serious it can be a littlebit scary.
(25:13):
At least I'm told that I thinkI'm fine but apparently I can be
intimidating.
But I don't think I'mintimidating for no reason.
I think if you are not puttingkids first and if you are
flouting the rules, theprocedures which have been put
in place to keep them safe andto ensure high standards in the
school, you should expect thatthe person or the people who
lead that are going to take youup on it.
(25:35):
You know it can't be left,otherwise everything crumbles
and the schools which have, youknow, the best standards of
behavior, of ethics, of gradeseven if those, most of the time,
for me aren't the mostimportant but kids who grow up
with a sense of accountabilityand responsibility.
(25:55):
You will find that the samehappens with the staff.
There's accountability andresponsibility amongst the staff
, and then it's ergonomic, itleaks down.
If that isn't there, uh, theneverything, in my opinion,
crumbles.
So there's a time, as a leader,where you have to, you have to
be firm and you have to beprepared to, uh, to call people
(26:15):
out and to show integrity inyour, in your responses, uh,
instead of complaining, you know, about them behind their back
and then not confronting themyeah, no, I'm, I'm completely
with you.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
I mean, when I led schools I did get that whole I'm
intimidating piece, and youknow I'm a tall black woman.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
That's what I'm always saying I'm a six-foot
black man, most of the time in asuit, today's Friday, you know,
with my bald head and my braces, I obviously don't care about.
I'm not worried about whatyou're going to think You've
done something wrong.
I'm going to tell you about itand it works.
Now, the strange thing is I canbe completely opposite with the
(26:57):
kids, especially because I'm anelementary principal, right?
So when it comes to the kidslook their kids I keep telling
my APs don't bring a cageG kidto my office for me to shout at.
It's not going to happen, right, it's not going to happen.
I'm going to end up having aconversation with this kid.
We're going to talk about whatthey did wrong, but I'm not
(27:18):
raising my voice at a KG child.
I absolutely adore children.
It's what has made my entirecareer work.
I build relationships with them.
They connect with me.
They tell me about their livesand their world and how they see
things and I actually listenand I'm not there to intimidate
kids.
You know, if it's different, ifyou send me a grade five kid
and I need to be a bit moreserious with them, I'll do that.
(27:42):
But when it comes to thepreschool and KG and grade one,
they, they, uh, you know we endup, having eaten a bit of
chocolate, talking about howthey can behave better and most
of the time they leave smilingbut feeling safe, and that you
know, I understood and Ilistened no, I get that.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
I used to have grade five boys.
I used to be an elementaryschool principal myself and when
they used to, the teachers usedto like they used to go crazy
and they used to send me thegrade five boys and then the
grade, like we would just sitthere and I mean I'm, I'm
talking to them seriously, butwe're on a level like we're
talking, we end up having yeahwe end up having real
(28:20):
conversations and I'm like,seriously, why?
Speaker 3 (28:23):
did you do that like?
Speaker 2 (28:24):
exactly like what's going on like exactly, and how
did that make?
You feel and you know, and thenin the end some of them used to
be like oh, just send me tomiss wilson then, and I'm like
opposite effect, that's not whatI want.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
That's why I raised that, because I think sometimes
teachers and and and middleleaders they kind of they
misunderstand, they get a littlebit frustrated.
I can tell, tell, because thekid goes back to the classroom
and they're happy.
You know, they sent them to mefor me to give them the grill
and I'm like, no, you do thatwhen they come to me.
I'm going to try to get to thebottom of the issue and try to
(29:01):
understand them a little bitmore and I'm going to do it in a
way which makes them feel safebit more.
And I'm going to do it in a waywhich makes them feel safe.
You know, at the end of the day, as the principal of the school
, I want every child to feelthat as long as I'm there, if
they know that I'm there, if I'maround, that they're safe and
that you know any vulnerabilitythat they've shown, any problem
that they're having, it can getresolved in a way that makes
them feel like somebody'slistening.
(29:22):
You know, and that's number onefor me.
So if you walk into my schooland I mean this, uh, you know
it's going to sound like a brag,but it really, it really isn't.
If you walk into my school andyou do a tour with me and you
walk around, you'll see thereaction the kids have when,
when I'm around them, they, theyare excited, they're happy.
You know they make a lot ofnoise, which is very frustrating
for teachers because I walkinto a classroom, I disrupt the
(29:43):
entire lesson, lesson.
But the kids feel safe.
They feel safe and that's whatthey tell me.
And they come to me when theyfeel something has been unjust.
That's when they come to me,they come to me and they tell me
well, I need to talk to you andI will let them in.
I could be doing a millionother things, but I feel that
frustration.
I say, all right, come in, sitdown.
(30:03):
What that frustration?
I said, all right, come in, sitdown.
What's happened?
And you know, you know littlekids are, sometimes they can't,
they can't express themselveswell and they'll stutter, and
you know they're on the brink ofcrying.
But I will sit and I willlisten and I will try my best to
let them know where I believein that story they were wrong
and how, where they should haveacted different.
But I'll also recognize theirfrustration, why they're, why
(30:25):
they're upset, and then I'll trymy best to actually do
something about it later on.
And I think building thatrelationship with students makes
them feel heard and safe andthat makes school better.
So when that parent said to methe other day I love the spirit
of the school, I think that'swhat she was referring to.
I think it's her child goinghome with happy stories about
(30:46):
what school is and how it'sbeing looked after.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Yeah, I think it's such a good thing when the
nurturing nature of a principaltrickles down to the students of
the school so they know thatwhen they go to that high up
they're not going to be shunnedor ignored.
They're not, they're going tobe heard.
It's so important.
We're going to change gears abit all right okay yeah, let's
(31:13):
talk about your, because I metyou through your content and I
have to tell you you do writevery well.
Put this on record, sam you areone of the writers that I
actually read.
There's some people on linkedin.
I gloss over their posts.
Your posts I read becauseyou're humorous and I love humor
and I love a little bit oftongue in cheek and you know,
(31:35):
how did you start writingcontent on LinkedIn?
What made you start?
Speaker 3 (31:40):
No, I can't, you know .
I really I can't even remember.
I don't know what brought me tothat platform.
I literally can't remember whatbrought me to LinkedIn, but
it's one of my favoriteplatforms because it allows me
to learn from people.
I think I was just a ghost onthere at the beginning.
I was just reading otherpeople's posts for a long time
and trying to learn about thecraft, trying to learn about
teaching and learning and learnwho people are and how they do
(32:03):
things so that I could be abetter practitioner.
I think that's kind of how itstarted.
But then, when I wanted to tellmy story, I had to do it in my
own voice.
I had to do it with the human,because that's who I am, and it
is a little bit tongue in cheeksometimes and a little bit
naughty because that's who I am.
I was that kid at school.
I'm that guy around my familyand friends and it's always
(32:27):
going to be who I am.
So I write from.
I write from the perspective ofthe voice in my head and I
think that's why it comes acrossand resonates with people.
I'm not trying to write a novelor trying to write an academic
paper, or literally.
(32:48):
There's a story in my head andI literally write it the way I
would.
You know how you talk toyourself sometimes after you've
been out with friends, or youknow you come home and you
reflect on it.
Why did I say that?
And what did she mean when shethose conversations?
I literally type them out andum, and that's why I think
(33:08):
sometimes it resonates withpeople, because we all have that
connection with ourselves.
You know, we all tell eachother stories and and and it's,
it's a storytelling technique.
I, I love it.
I, I love it.
I don't write that much.
I'm not as frequent with myposts as maybe I'd like to be.
That's partly because of timeand it's partly because I don't
(33:29):
write unless I've got somethingto say.
You know, I don't write for thesake of writing.
I'm not trying to create abrand.
Maybe I should start thinkingabout it.
I'm getting old but I'm notactually trying to create a
brand on LinkedIn.
I'm just telling the storiesthat go over in my mind and the
(33:51):
response from people has beenfantastic.
I've met so many people here inin doha who who work for the
same company and people whodon't, who come up to me in
workshops and and say, hi, I'mso and so and you know, and I'm
like we've met before they go.
No, no, linkedin, um oh um, youknow, they've been following me
and they've been reading the,the stories and you know, and
(34:12):
we'll talk about them and we getto know each other.
It's really nice.
It's actually uh forprofessionals.
I think LinkedIn is is a greatspace and I really do enjoy, uh,
being on there yeah, I do too.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
um, and I love what you said about just telling your
story and not trying to concoct.
Or you know, if you have astory, one story a week, if it
happens, and if you don't haveone for the month, you just
don't have one.
Don't try to, you know, makesomething up.
Or you got a certificatebecause you stepped outside your
door and then you put Listen,don't come for me unless I sent
(34:48):
for you.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
You know, you know what I, I um, yeah, yeah, you
know you're right, you're right.
Sometimes it is frustratingsometimes, but sometimes I see
why people do that, becausethey're trying to, they're
trying to show that they've,they've, they've advanced in
their careers a little bit andthey want to kind of let the
(35:10):
rest of us know about that.
No-transcript, just tell yourstory.
Everybody's got a story.
Just tell it In whatever voiceyou have.
Tell your story.
That's what we want to know.
We want to know your story.
We will learn more from yourstory and how that PD that you
went on, that certificate youhave, connects to your story
(35:33):
than we care about thecertificate itself.
Who cares about the certificate?
You know what I mean.
It takes time sometimes forpeople to get there, know what I
mean, and.
But it takes time sometimes forpeople to uh, to, to get there.
They're, you know, the ones whodo that.
Um, they, they're the ones thatI think get the followers,
because people want to knowwhere their story is going to
take them yeah, and we're allinterested in stories, you know
(35:54):
so.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
I keep telling we are so I'm gonna ask you your story
now, sam.
Where do you see your careergoing?
What's, what's what?
I'm not gonna ask you for afive-year plan, because I don't
even have one, but what?
What are your hopes like?
When you look at Sam, fromLondon to Cairo, to Doha?
What do you envision foryourself going forward?
Speaker 3 (36:19):
crikey.
This is a really big questionbecause I'm still muddling this
over in my head myself.
I'm 51.
I'm getting old, Lisa.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
You look great though , brethren.
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
West African jeans.
You see, this is what this is,West African jeans.
It's the.
What's the cream?
What's the cream?
Hun Shea butter.
It's the shea butter cream.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
What's the cream hon?
Shea butter, it's the sheabutter.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
It's the shea butter.
I just called that to my wife.
You know what it is, though,when people go, oh, you don't
have any wrinkles.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
You sure you weren't in leadership for that long.
I'm like castor oil honey.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Exactly.
Don't tell the secrets, though,Lisa.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
It's okay, they won't buy it anyway.
Why are you worried?
Speaker 3 (37:01):
The truth is, it's the melanin.
Come on, we're lucky, we are,we're lucky it doesn't show on
us.
For so many years I cut thehair off as well because that
was all going great.
But yeah, I'm getting old.
I think the energy which isrequired to run a school is
something that really does needto be taken into consideration.
It's, you know, it's physicallydemanding.
(37:24):
Um, I'm all over the place andif I, if I'm going to be a good
principal, it means I have to bewhere things are happening.
I can't be in my office.
I need to be in classrooms.
I need to be helping thecounselor chase that kid who,
you know, tried to go for thegate because he's not having a
great day and wanted to, youknow, to get out.
(37:44):
I need to be able to go ontrips.
Every now and again whenthey're happening, I need to be
able to move from one end of thebuilding to another because
there's a meeting and then, andthen to go back to do an
evaluation.
So physically is demanding.
Mentally, of course it'sdemanding.
Everybody wants something,everybody wants something.
Now, as I'm getting older, I'mbeginning to realize the toll
(38:05):
that takes.
I'm getting tired when I gethome, to the point where my
weekends are about recovery.
They're not about enjoying theweekend.
So I think, for me, what I'dlike to do is to be able to
position myself in a group ofschools where I can impart what
(38:28):
I've learned, so that those whohave the energy are able to use
that to make learning better forkids.
Yeah, you know what I mean.
I don't know what that lookslike.
I don't know if it'sconsultancy, I don't know
whether it's some kind ofdirectorship.
I don't know what it looks like.
The title is not important, butwhat I am interested in is
(38:50):
making learning better for kids,and that means using the
experiences and the knowledgethat I picked up along the way
Not everything you will find ina book or in a workshop.
A lot of it is heuristic.
You need to be able to tounderstand what kids need and
and what teachers need, and tobe able to build something out
(39:12):
of that need, so you're alwaysfocused in the right place.
I'd like to be able to do thatand, I don't know, maybe the
next few years we'll uncoveropportunities where that can
happen.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Yeah, I like the fact that you're not planning to go
start a farm somewhere in WestAfrica and take all that
knowledge that you've gainedwith you, and so the system
won't benefit from the richness.
Speaker 3 (39:35):
This is the most noble profession.
It really really is.
You know it's tiring.
I complain to my poor wife allthe time about how tired I am
and how little we areappreciated in today's society
as educators, and I'm alwayscomplaining about it.
But she reminds me and and myfriends remind me and family
remind me, and the kids remindme and parents remind me all the
(39:57):
time that this is probably oneof the most noble professions in
the world.
We have such a responsibilitytowards what the future will
look like.
Every warmongering dictator hada primary school teacher who, if
she had known, or he had known,what this person was going to
turn out like, might have donethings a little bit differently.
Let's do the difference now.
(40:18):
Yeah, because we don't know whowe're dealing with and we have
an opportunity to instillsomething powerful in people
while they are still malleable,you know, while they're still
open to learning, to shapingtheir habits and their
conscience so that when they doreach those positions where they
(40:38):
have to make decisions aboutlife and death, they think about
it just that little bit more.
It sounds dramatic, but it'snot.
All the problems in the worldare created and sustained by us,
by people and people go toschool.
So let's use school to shapebetter people and then we will
(40:58):
have you know, I hope lessproblems.
So you know, it's a very nobleprofession.
I'd love to be on a farm.
I think my mum, who lives inWest Africa, ghana, would love
for me to join her.
She's a proper entrepreneur.
She's in her 80s and is notslowing down in the slightest.
She'd love for me to pack upand come and help her with the
business.
(41:18):
But you know, I'm telling youI'm doing good work here.
I'm helping to shape the livesof some of the future leaders of
a nation, and that's important.
It's important work.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
It is.
So I'm going to ask you thefinal question.
When you're not in recoverymode on the weekend, what are
you doing to enjoy, to relax?
Speaker 3 (41:38):
Oh, I'll tell you what I would do if I could carve
out the time Friday.
Oh, I'll tell you what I woulddo if I could carve out the time
.
Friday is family day, and eventoday I said I've got to do a
very important podcast there'snowhere else missing this.
There's nowhere else missingLisa on Teach Middle East.
I told you we made it, mum,right.
But once we're done, we'll begoing out, we'll probably take a
(41:59):
walk to the mall nearby andwe'll sit down as a family and
we'll have something to eat and,um, I spend time with the
family.
I spend time with my wife, um,and just talk with the kids a
bit, and, you know, get to havethat time.
Uh, friday is also obviouslyprayer day.
So, uh, we dedicate ourselvesto that.
And you know, spiritual renewal, if you like, which is always
(42:23):
needed.
If saturday normally, if I'mhonest, ends up being work, um,
I normally wake up, normal time.
I wake up for for school in theweekday, which is 4 15 in the
morning, I do my prayers, drinkmy coffee, open my laptop, get
the emails out the way, startthe, and then we're out of here
by about 10 to 6.
(42:43):
But if I could, lisa, I would dosome of the things that I love.
One of the things I love is toproduce music.
A lot of people don't know thatI did that a lot when I was
young, something I love.
I love art, I love creating, Ilove film, I love editing.
One day when I'm able to carveout the time and it's on me, I
(43:05):
need to do this.
I need to really give myselfthis time.
I'd just love to be morecreative.
I'd love to tell my storiesthrough film and through writing
and through music, and I needto start carving out that time
for myself, because if you don'tfeed the spirit that drives you
, you won't be able to be aseffective and and help other
(43:28):
people.
You know what I mean, and thatmeans taking time out for
yourself and feeding that spirit, and that's something which my
balance hasn't been good lately,but I'm gonna get myself back
on track all right, we'rewaiting for it, sam.
We're waiting for the music.
We're waiting for the film I'llrelease it.
We're waiting for it.
I'll release it on LinkedInfirst.
Speaker 2 (43:49):
Exclusive.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
Exclusive.
There you go.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
What a pleasure this was.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (43:56):
No, it's been an absolute pleasure, lisa.
We're driving distance.
I've driven to Dubai before.
If I've driven to dubai, I canget to abu dhabi.
We've got to meet up.
All right, invite me to thenext conference I'm there in um.
Speaker 2 (44:09):
I'm there soon, but I will email you uh to see.
Come over to leadership, comeon over it's not that difficult.
I I tell you what.
I've got a panel to put you on,really, yeah, to stir things up
just a little bit there, allright, but you're going to be on
it with K-Sor.
Do you know K-Sor from LinkedIn?
(44:31):
No, yeah, k-sor is kind of likeyou speak their mind yeah, okay
.
So I think I'll put you on itwith Ketur, and then we'll both
all three of us will get bannedtogether.
Speaker 3 (44:42):
Oh boy, oh boy Look out, so yeah, the link, didn't
take over.
Speaker 2 (44:47):
I know.
Speaker 3 (44:48):
You know I'm there for you.
I'm there for you.
I'm inspired by the work thatyou do, lisa, and this is why I
was so excited when you said wewere going to do this.
So yes, whenever you feelthere's an opportunity, give me
a shout, I'll be there, I willdo.
Thank you for being on the pod.
It's a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (45:09):
Thank you for having me.
Thank you for listening to theTeach Middle East podcast.
Visit our websiteteachmiddleeastcom and follow us
on social media.
The links are in the show notes.
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