December 16, 2024 • 32 mins
In this reflective solo episode, Leisa Grace shares the remarkable journey of the Teach Middle East podcast since its launch in 2021. From hosting major educational conferences to creating a global platform for professional development, she explores how the podcast has grown into a vital resource for educators across the Middle East and beyond.
Leisa opens up about her personal path, including her transition during COVID-19 and facing profound loss, while discussing the future of education in an AI-driven world. She shares insights on balancing motherhood with entrepreneurship and her vision for education in the UAE, where innovation meets tradition.
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.
Visit our website https://linktr.ee/teachmiddleeast.
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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):
Well, hello everyone and welcome to the Teach Middle
East podcast.
My name is Lisa Grace and thisis my first solo episode of the
podcast.
Now, it's crazy because I havebeen doing this podcast since
2021, so that's 2021, januaryand my first guest was Bill
(00:36):
Turner.
Shout out to Bill from SearchAssociates and we were talking
back then about the challengesof, you know, recruiting in
COVID.
And since then the podcast hasgrown and grown and this is the
first time I'm ever doing a soloepisode.
(00:57):
So it's kind of it feels strangeand I feel a little bit nervous
.
So if you're watching this onYouTube, if I look a bit out of
my depth or a little bit nervous, so if you're watching this on
YouTube, if I look a bit out ofmy depth or a little bit unsure
of myself, it's because I'venever done this before.
But sometimes you have tochallenge yourself in order to
grow, and that's what I'm doing.
So I actually asked on LinkedInfor people to send me questions
(01:19):
.
I didn't get very manyquestions, which made me wonder
guys, you don't want to knowanything about me and about how
we work here at Teach MiddleEast?
I did get some, I think intotal I got about eight or nine
questions, but five of which wasfrom one person.
So I'm going to try and do mybest to answer as many of them
as much as possible, but I wantto say a big thank you to
(01:43):
everybody who has listened tothis podcast.
You know, it still amazes methat after starting something
with my team that we weren'tsure how it's going to go.
It has grown.
We've had tens of thousands oflisteners from all across the
(02:04):
globe, of thousands of listenersfrom all across the globe.
I have gone to places andpeople have said I listen to
your podcast and, like it stillsurprises me, it still amazes me
that that happens.
And what else is so cool isthat I call sometimes to
different places, differentschools, and people go.
I know your voice and I'm going, oh, and they go.
(02:27):
Oh, yeah, you are the lady fromthe Teach Middle East podcast.
And it is unreal to me becauseI sit in my little office and I
interview some of the bestpeople, the kindest people, the
brightest people in education,and I'm just asking the
questions.
I'm here just simply remainingcurious, wanting to learn,
(02:50):
wanting to be better, wanting togrow, and I get the immense
opportunity of asking questionsof some of the brightest people
that I know, and so when peoplerecognize me for doing that, I
get a little bit surprised, andI'm not it's not like you know
the stupid humble brag like Igenuinely get surprised because,
(03:13):
let's face it, guys, it's onlyme.
I'm Lisa, I'm a teacher in myhead.
That's what I am, that's what Ido, and so it's beautiful.
I want to say a special thankyou to every guest that's ever
been on the podcast since westarted in 2021.
It's been more than 120episodes, so it's definitely
(03:36):
difficult for me to name themall, so I just want to thank all
of them, because every one ofthem brought something special.
Every one of them broughtsomething special.
Every one of them broughtsomething unique.
Every one of them gave ofthemselves and of their time, so
freely and so genuinely, and itis such a privilege.
(03:57):
It's such a privilege.
Now, the plans going forward forthe podcast is that we continue
to unearth some of the greatestminds and talents in education
and bring them to the fore.
Speak to them, give them aplatform, help us learn from
them each and every one of us.
Put them in our AirPods, putthem in our car stereo, put them
(04:21):
on our YouTube, make it widelyavailable to everyone.
I think podcasts are justfantastic for learning and for
professional development and ifyou are listening to this,
please share the podcast.
If you're listening to this andyou know colleagues in your
school they don't know about thepodcast or they don't listen to
(04:42):
podcasts as professionaldevelopment.
Please can I ask, nicely,pretty please.
My sons always say, mommy,pretty please with sprinkles.
Yeah, pretty please withsprinkles.
That you share the podcast.
Go back in the back catalog,look at the episodes that
(05:07):
resonate with you, listen tothem and share them.
Okay, enough begging for theday, right.
So I took some time to look backat my 2024 and it has been a
year of mixed fortunes, mixedemotions.
It was just ups and downs,highs and lows, and the highs
were high and the lows weredeeply low.
So I don't plan my year basedon the boring calendar, because
(05:31):
we work according to theacademic year, so this is not a
natural end of year for us.
Our natural end of year isactually in July.
But since January of 2024, wehave seen some fantastic growth
in our community, here at TeachMiddle East, in the work that
(05:53):
we're doing, in our events.
We started the year with theMiddle East School Leadership
Conference and that was inFebruary.
We carried on throughout theyear with different webinars and
seminars and things online, andthen we also led the Middle
East Teaching and LearningConference and the Welcome
(06:14):
Reception, which was such afabulous event, which then led
into STEM MENA.
Thank you, listen.
Stem MENA pause for the cause,people.
Stem MENA is the best and Iknow I do catalog of events with
our team and we love them alland they're all fantastic.
But STEM teachers are great andthat's just the truth.
(06:36):
So STEM Mina was fabulous.
We had it at the Expo City, atTerra Pavilion.
Thank you to Dean Riley and theteam there at Expo.
And then we held the inauguralMiddle East Language and
Literacy Conference and, oh myGod, how good was that event
Like.
We unearthed some gems at thatevent Gems, I'm telling you.
(07:00):
Thank you to everybody who tookpart in that.
That was great and I reallylook forward to seeing how the
Middle East Language andLiteracy Conference,
affectionately known as MELLC, Ilook forward to seeing how that
is going to grow and develop.
You know, it's one thing to havean idea in your head, but it's
(07:23):
a whole other thing to put thatidea into the world, to give
birth to it, as they say, andthe M-E-L-L-C idea has been in
our heads here at Teach MiddleEast for five years easily, and
we never.
We just couldn't find the rightmix of venue and sponsors and
(07:47):
all that.
It takes all the goodingredients it takes to make an
event fantastic until this year,and it was really really worth
the wait.
So looking forward to planningthat in 2025 with all of our
literacy and language educatorsacross the region.
And then we had this crazybrain idea of launching the AI
(08:12):
in Education Summit.
Now, I have to fess up, thatwas one of those crazy midnight
thoughts Well, more like 3 amthoughts.
I don't know if you get those.
You get those 3 am thoughtsthat keep you awake, that, like,
you get it, you're awake andthat's it for the night.
You can't go back to sleep.
(08:33):
So that's what happened withthe AI and Education Summit, and
now it's going to be a reality.
So on April 24th and 25th, weare going to be hosting that in
Dubai.
24th and 25th, we are going tobe hosting that in Dubai.
But before that, obviously thegood one, the big one MESLC 2025
(08:55):
is going to be on February 5thand 6th.
Now I don't want this wholeepisode to be an announcement of
events, so I'm going to getright into the questions that
have been asked.
Please pardon me if you'rewatching this on YouTube.
I'm going to have to read frommy phone screen, because that's
where the questions are, andthen I will do my best to answer
them as best as possible.
Okay, so question from Zubia.
So, zubia, I'm going to dealwith as many of your questions.
(09:18):
First, if you're listening tothis, shout out to Zubia Ahmed,
she's a good egg.
She's a good egg.
I like her.
So the first one is whatinspired your journey from
teaching to international schoolleadership and eventually
podcasting?
How have these roles shapedyour view of international
education while in the MiddleEast?
(09:38):
Okay, that's a very grown upquestion, zubia.
Was that you or AI girl?
So what inspired my move fromteaching?
So I taught for a while.
I taught in England.
I taught.
Well, when I came here, Ididn't come as a teacher, so I
never taught students per sehere.
Here, I taught teachers dosomething else with my time and
(10:12):
my talents, and it isn't thatdoing teaching the students was
a bad thing, or it's just that Ifelt like I wanted to do
something else.
Now here's my thing.
There is I don't know if it's astigma or if it's just a belief
that when you go into teachingand you start teaching students,
you should stay there forever,and I do not believe that.
And you start teaching students, you should stay there forever,
and I do not believe that.
(10:33):
I believe that we should do ourcall of duty.
You know how the army.
You go in and you are in thearmy for a while, and then you
can come out of the army and youcan do something else.
Not that teaching is like beinga soldier although there are
times, people, there are times.
However, I think you give ityour best when you have the best
in you, and when you feel thatthat's decreasing or you feel
(10:57):
like you could do something else, I think you should.
I think you shouldn't stay ifyou are burnt out, if you are
tired, because you're not givingyour best to the students.
And I got to that point where Iwasn't giving my best to the
students anymore, and so Ithought it was a good time to
find something else to do.
(11:18):
Now.
I will never leave education.
You heard me I won't leaveeducation.
Education might leave me, but Iwon't leave it, and so I didn't
want to go and retrain to dosomething else, I wanted to stay
in education.
Luckily for me, I got recruitedto come to the Middle East as
an advisor with North AngliaEducation, so that kind of
(11:41):
segued me out of the classroom.
But still in education andstill working in schools, and I
was based in Al Ain and I lovedit, and there's a whole long
history of how I went back intoschools after being an advisor
to going back into schoolleadership and leading as an
academic principal for AlShaheen School.
(12:03):
So I did that as well.
So it's not as if when youleave the school or the
classroom, you have to staypermanently out.
You can recharge, do somethingelse, learn some new skills and
then go right back in theclassroom or go right back into
school or school leadership.
There is no rule that says thatyou have to start in the
(12:24):
classroom and stay there for 30,40 years.
If that is not what resonateswith you Now, if that's what
resonates with you, go ahead anddo it Now.
How did I get into podcastingand doing what I do?
I love to write.
I've always been a writer.
(12:45):
I've written since forever.
I used to walk around when Iwas a child, my mom told me that
I used to walk around with abook.
I was either always reading orI was always writing something
in little exercise books, littlepoems, little something.
And I grew up in the church soI'm taking you all the way back
(13:05):
deep right.
And so every Christmas in ourchurch we used to do something
called the Christmas program,which is like where children go
up and they give, you know,speeches or they say poems or
they give what we callrecitations, and so I used to
write mine and I would have minewritten and I would go up
there's a little four or fiveyear old girl and I would say my
(13:28):
little thing and I would comedown and people used to always
say, did she actually write that?
Because they always used to saythat it sounded more
well-written than what a childcould produce.
So I've always had that writingbug or that thing.
And so when I started teachingI would always write articles
(13:49):
etc.
And so when I started teachingI would always write articles
etc.
When I came here I always wrotefor Teach Middle East Before I
became the editor I was just awriter and for all the original
people with Teach Middle Eastwho knew the former editor,
people like Chassie Selawane,all those guys they know the
former editor.
I took over editing full time,obviously, in 2018.
(14:11):
And I think it was just agradual progression.
Now, how did I get intopodcasting, covid?
Covid got me into podcastingbecause we were at home, no way
to have events, no way to reachout to our community.
So we started the Teach MiddleEast podcast and, like I told
you at the beginning of thepodcast, it has just grown and
(14:33):
grown, ok, guys.
So question number two what doyou think are the biggest
opportunities for educators andschool leaders right now and how
can they make the most of theseto empower their students oh, I
told you these were bigquestions, zubia.
To empower their students.
Ooh, I told you, these were bigquestions, zubia.
So I think biggest opportunityright now is for leaders and
(14:55):
well, school leaders andteachers to actually step away
from being didactic and beingmore facilitators and guides for
students.
I think, with the AI revolution, I think a lot of the content
that we normally drill and teachis no longer necessary, because
the content is available sofreely to everybody online and
(15:21):
there are AI tutors and allsorts of things happening.
So now it's a time when I thinkschool leaders and teachers can
become more of guides andfacilitators, and I think also
when everybody's rushing towardsAI and automation, it's time
for teachers and school leadersto teach our students, to tap
(15:42):
more into their human selves,what makes them better human
beings, Teaching them the skillsof empathy, creativity and all
of those skills that will helpthem to become better human
beings.
So there are loads ofopportunities for us to really.
(16:03):
I mean, we've always talkedabout how heavy the content is
and how carrying that contentload as educators is very
difficult.
Well, now AI has given us theopportunity to really tap into
being facilitators, because thatinformation that we normally
would have to cram is no longernecessary, since students can
(16:26):
access that online.
I don't know what everybodyelse thinks, but I'd love some
more answers to this questionfrom more learned folks online.
Ooh, ooh, I love this question.
It says what's one thing youdidn't learn in schools that
completely changed how you seethe world.
That's a good question.
(16:47):
So the one thing I didn't learnin school was about the
compound effect.
Now I read this book, I thinkmaybe seven, eight, nine years
ago by Darren Hardy, called theCompound Effect, and I think
that book should be a must readfor every student Now.
That book is about the natureof how things build and grow
(17:10):
little by little, incrementally,and we always talk about
incremental gains.
But the compound effect is afantastic thing and I learned
that both for life in terms ofthe work that I do, how little
steps amount to big change overtime.
But I also learned that inevery aspect of my life, whether
(17:35):
it's how I raise my kids, how Inavigate my marriage, how I
navigate my finances.
It's all about small steps thatcompound over time.
I think, a lot of things.
Now people want it to be donefast and quick, but the compound
effect, I think, is one of thegreatest things.
(17:56):
It's one of the most effectiveways of building a life, making
little steps towards your goalsevery single day, because
eventually, when you look behindyou, you would have reached so
much further with those tinysteps that you take, instead of
waiting for that big push.
(18:17):
No, make little changes everyday.
So the compound effect, I think, has completely changed the way
I think about life and thingsin general.
Oh, this is a good one, zubia,and the last one I'm going to
answer from you, but this one, Ithink, I really want to answer
it.
It says what's your message foranyone going through some tough
(18:37):
stuff at the moment?
Hmm, so, as you know, I wentthrough as you know or you might
not know, actually that thisyear I lost my brother and I
spoke about it in my newsletter.
But I kind of spoke about it ina way that only if you really
read my newsletter line by linewould you have seen where I have
(19:02):
mentioned it.
As we know, in this fast movingage, many people do not read in
detail and that's unfortunate.
But I lost my brother in June,on June 3rd to be exact, and it
plunged me into grief, anxiety,depression, I don't know what.
(19:22):
I didn't have Like my wholeworld spun.
It was hard and the reason itwas so hard is because my
brother was my best friend.
Like he was the person I wouldcall.
And I'm not going to tear up,I'm just going to power through
(19:43):
this.
He was the person I would call.
I'm just going to power throughthis.
He was the person I would callto tell everything.
And I don't know if you havesomebody like that in your life
where I would call him to tellhim stupid thing.
Like I went to the shop.
I was supposed to spend ahundred dirhams, I spent 200 and
he would be like what's wrongwith you, man?
And I would be like I boughtthis thing and this thing is
(20:04):
like you're not even going touse it, is it?
And like just the stupidestthing.
Or I would call him.
I'd be like guess where I'mtraveling to?
And he didn't travel much.
He didn't travel at all, to behonest, and he would marvel at
the places I've seen in theworld and I would educate him
and he would make jokes and wewould have fun and we would talk
(20:24):
about life and my kids and hiskids and we would talk about
holidays.
He made my holidays fun when Iwent to see him and we would
just have fun and he loved myhusband and my husband loved him
.
I lost all of that in like that.
He had a stroke and he was gone.
He was gone and it made me Idon't know.
(20:47):
It took the breath out of meand it also made me realize the
fragility of life and it made merespect life a lot more.
And for anyone going through atough time, I would say go
through it with the hope thatthings will look better on the
(21:08):
other side, but also go throughit with the eyes of someone
searching for the lesson.
What should I learn from this?
What should I gain?
And I know that's hard and Idon't want to come off
philosophical and I don't wantto come off fake like, oh, I
(21:28):
just go, I just went through itand found the lesson.
That's rubbish.
Like I was just crying, I was amess.
I was a mess, but at a certainpoint I started to say where,
where do I go from here?
How do I live now withouthaving him?
What's my next move?
And those questions.
(21:48):
I became more clear on theanswers.
Now here's something else, andyou know I respect everyone's
beliefs.
I understand that we're not allgoing to follow the same
beliefs, but I'm a Christian andmy prayer, life and my walk
with God that's what reallyhelped me.
(22:09):
And my family rallied around me, and my sons and my husband and
my friends.
They never left me, like mycommunity.
Even people on LinkedIn whoread my newsletter texted me.
Those things meant everything.
(22:30):
So if you're going through atough time, reach out.
Hold the people that you haveclosest to you dear.
Turn to them for help.
Don't try to do it alone.
Don't try to be a hero.
Just take the help, and that'swhat I would say.
All right, so that's it forZubia's questions.
(22:50):
Now I go into some that I got inmy inbox.
It says you were recentlyinvolved in the Women in
Education Leadership Networkevent.
What do you believe are some ofthe most effective ways in
promoting gender equity in thefield?
Mmm, nice question Right Now.
(23:13):
To promote gender equity reallyis down to the structures being
dismantled.
It really is about recognizingtalent and kind of, dare I say,
dismantling the boys club.
Now, men and women thrive whenthere's equity, and I know that
(23:36):
sounds, you know, all hair fairy, but it is true, we all thrive
when there is equity.
And so for this to happen, thenwe're going to have to start
being intentional.
How are we recruiting?
How are we shortlisting?
Who is making those decisions?
Why are certain decisions beingmade?
(23:56):
We have to start questioningthese things, because there is
no other way of changing asystem than dismantling it and
building it again from theground up, and that's how I
think we will start to get someequity.
It is strange some of thestatistics that come out,
because it talks about over 80%of the workforce being female,
(24:19):
but then, once you start goinginto the leadership realm, as in
middle and senior leadership,the number of women at the top
starts to really decrease, andso you find that it's less than
40% of those top positions arebeing held by women.
Now that has to be somethingthat sparks some kind of
(24:41):
attention, because how is thatpossible?
Are we not getting the rightmentorship?
Are we not getting the rightopportunities as women?
And then, when we start to talkabout equity, we can't do it
just on a gender.
We have to talk about inclusionof all, talking about race,
talking about neurodiversity.
(25:02):
All of that has to come intoplay, can't just be for some and
not for all, because the wholesystem benefits when we include
everyone.
That's how I think we ought tobe able to do it.
This is from one of my Roundupreaders.
She says you curate the latestnews and trends in your
(25:23):
newsletter.
What emerging trends do youfind most promising for the
future of education in theMiddle East?
Oh, there's a lot, I know.
You know I'm going to talkabout AI because I am fascinated
by it.
But AI, yes, I think that it'sgoing to be the biggest
disruptor of any disruptionsthat we have seen, and I don't
(25:45):
know how it's going to happen,and I don't, you know, purport
to be some kind of AI expert oranything, but I can see it.
Guys, like my little spectacles, my little glasses, are seeing
it.
It's coming and it's going todisrupt and I think middle-east
schools are doing great at goingahead of it and trying to see
(26:07):
how they can harness it.
So I'm hopeful for our region,but I also know that globally,
different schools are doingdifferent things and we have the
summit coming up where we'regoing to bring people together
to discuss this.
I also think, for this region,and especially the UAE, the
(26:29):
ambition of the leadership andwhat they want to do with
education, with their differentstrategies and action plans,
makes for really hopeful reading.
And I think, when you thinkabout what we have here as a
strength, we have a really densepopulation of international
schools per capita and the willto change and the ability to do
(26:53):
some fascinating things.
So I'm really excited aboutwhat the future holds for
education in this region.
I've been here in the MiddleEast well in the UAE
particularly for the past 14years, and I'm just watching it
grow and develop from strengthto strength and I'm hopeful, for
(27:14):
as long as I'm allowed to behere.
I'm really excited to see whereit all goes.
Okay, guys.
So my final question comes in,and it says balancing.
Final question comes in, and itsays balancing how do you
balance the role of being amother, an educator, an
entrepreneur?
What advice would you offer toothers striving to achieve a
(27:36):
similar balance?
You ready for some honest talk?
Put your earphones in.
I am not balancing.
I am not balancing, guys.
I will not lie to you.
I told you I want to be astruthful on my platforms as
possible.
I'm not balancing.
Let me give you an idea.
(27:56):
When we have team meetings andstuff, there are times when I
work until 2 am.
So I work in the morning, thenI take a break.
When my kids come home, thenI'm with them, then I do dinner,
then I do bedtime, you know,might do homework, then bedtime,
etc.
And then, once I have dinnerwith my husband and he goes off
(28:20):
on his work he is an accountant,so he's quite busy Once that is
done, I'm back in my office,from sometimes nine till
midnight, sometimes till one,sometimes till two.
I'm not really balancing, and itis difficult.
The one thing I have to say,though, is I don't feel burnt
(28:41):
out, I don't feel tired.
I feel tired, but I don't feeltired to the point of giving up.
And the reason is I enjoy everysingle thing that I'm doing.
I really, really love it.
It's not easy.
I do complain about, oh I'mtired or I'm this or I'm that,
but I enjoy it so much.
(29:02):
But there are things that I'veput in place and guardrails that
I've put in place.
First of all, I make sure Iwork out five days a week.
I know the muscles don't showit, but they're there.
I do try to eat well.
So I eat very balanced.
I eat very nutritious food.
I'm very particular with what Ieat and I do try to get some
(29:25):
rest.
Yes, I know I stay up late, butI might start my mornings a
little bit later if that's thecase, and I try to get six to
eight hours of sleep every day.
And I also try to keep myselfhydrated and I try to keep my
spiritual life in check, myprayer life in check, because
(29:46):
you can't find balance.
Anyone who says to you oh I'mable to do everything neatly,
please send them my way.
I really want to learn fromthem.
I do make sure I take holidays.
In the summer I travel with myfamily quite a lot.
I love to travel, so that'ssomething that we do in the
(30:06):
winter, like this winter break.
This is the last episode ofthis term, which therefore means
for the next two weeks or so, Iwill not be online as much.
I will schedule all my posts onLinkedIn, so there will be a
post every day, but I won't beat the keyboard, I won't be on
my phone.
For most of the time I'll beeither by the beach or cooking
(30:29):
or entertaining friends or goingout or going to go see a
concert or something.
So I do make time for fun.
I love to dance, I love to sing, I love to have a good time,
like everybody else.
But it is not always like thatand I feel like I don't want to
mislead anyone to think I havethe perfect balance to life.
(30:51):
No, there are times when I worklike a slave, like I work and
work and work.
When there are events, we havea small team, we're not a big
team, and so when there areevents, we work nonstop.
So I think one of the keythings I would say to anybody
who's looking for balance isjust try to do things you enjoy
(31:13):
as much as possible.
There is.
The only balance I would saythere is.
That you have to create is abalance between what you enjoy
and what makes you money so thatyou can pay your bills.
If you can find that niceequilibrium with doing what you
enjoy and also being able totake care of your financial
(31:33):
obligation, then that's a sweetspot, and that doesn't mean
entrepreneurship, it could meanyour career, it could mean your
job.
So again, I appeal to anyonewho's got that balance right
Holler at your girl.
She wants to know how you didit.
Well, guys, that's the end ofthis episode of the podcast.
How did I do for my first soloepisode?
(31:55):
Give me some encouragement.
Should I do more solo episodes?
Do you have more questions forme that you would like me to
answer?
Please leave a comment whereveryou listen to this podcast.
I look forward to working withyou in 2025.
I'm looking forward to a greatyear.
Have a fantastic winter break,god bless, thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Thank you for listening to the Teach 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):
Well, hello everyone and welcome to the Teach Middle
East podcast.
My name is Lisa Grace and thisis my first solo episode of the
podcast.
Now, it's crazy because I havebeen doing this podcast since
2021, so that's 2021, januaryand my first guest was Bill
(00:36):
Turner.
Shout out to Bill from SearchAssociates and we were talking
back then about the challengesof, you know, recruiting in
COVID.
And since then the podcast hasgrown and grown and this is the
first time I'm ever doing a soloepisode.
(00:57):
So it's kind of it feels strangeand I feel a little bit nervous
.
So if you're watching this onYouTube, if I look a bit out of
my depth or a little bit nervous, so if you're watching this on
YouTube, if I look a bit out ofmy depth or a little bit unsure
of myself, it's because I'venever done this before.
But sometimes you have tochallenge yourself in order to
grow, and that's what I'm doing.
So I actually asked on LinkedInfor people to send me questions
(01:19):
.
I didn't get very manyquestions, which made me wonder
guys, you don't want to knowanything about me and about how
we work here at Teach MiddleEast?
I did get some, I think intotal I got about eight or nine
questions, but five of which wasfrom one person.
So I'm going to try and do mybest to answer as many of them
as much as possible, but I wantto say a big thank you to
(01:43):
everybody who has listened tothis podcast.
You know, it still amazes methat after starting something
with my team that we weren'tsure how it's going to go.
It has grown.
We've had tens of thousands oflisteners from all across the
(02:04):
globe, of thousands of listenersfrom all across the globe.
I have gone to places andpeople have said I listen to
your podcast and, like it stillsurprises me, it still amazes me
that that happens.
And what else is so cool isthat I call sometimes to
different places, differentschools, and people go.
I know your voice and I'm going, oh, and they go.
(02:27):
Oh, yeah, you are the lady fromthe Teach Middle East podcast.
And it is unreal to me becauseI sit in my little office and I
interview some of the bestpeople, the kindest people, the
brightest people in education,and I'm just asking the
questions.
I'm here just simply remainingcurious, wanting to learn,
(02:50):
wanting to be better, wanting togrow, and I get the immense
opportunity of asking questionsof some of the brightest people
that I know, and so when peoplerecognize me for doing that, I
get a little bit surprised, andI'm not it's not like you know
the stupid humble brag like Igenuinely get surprised because,
(03:13):
let's face it, guys, it's onlyme.
I'm Lisa, I'm a teacher in myhead.
That's what I am, that's what Ido, and so it's beautiful.
I want to say a special thankyou to every guest that's ever
been on the podcast since westarted in 2021.
It's been more than 120episodes, so it's definitely
(03:36):
difficult for me to name themall, so I just want to thank all
of them, because every one ofthem brought something special.
Every one of them broughtsomething special.
Every one of them broughtsomething unique.
Every one of them gave ofthemselves and of their time, so
freely and so genuinely, and itis such a privilege.
(03:57):
It's such a privilege.
Now, the plans going forward forthe podcast is that we continue
to unearth some of the greatestminds and talents in education
and bring them to the fore.
Speak to them, give them aplatform, help us learn from
them each and every one of us.
Put them in our AirPods, putthem in our car stereo, put them
(04:21):
on our YouTube, make it widelyavailable to everyone.
I think podcasts are justfantastic for learning and for
professional development and ifyou are listening to this,
please share the podcast.
If you're listening to this andyou know colleagues in your
school they don't know about thepodcast or they don't listen to
(04:42):
podcasts as professionaldevelopment.
Please can I ask, nicely,pretty please.
My sons always say, mommy,pretty please with sprinkles.
Yeah, pretty please withsprinkles.
That you share the podcast.
Go back in the back catalog,look at the episodes that
(05:07):
resonate with you, listen tothem and share them.
Okay, enough begging for theday, right.
So I took some time to look backat my 2024 and it has been a
year of mixed fortunes, mixedemotions.
It was just ups and downs,highs and lows, and the highs
were high and the lows weredeeply low.
So I don't plan my year basedon the boring calendar, because
(05:31):
we work according to theacademic year, so this is not a
natural end of year for us.
Our natural end of year isactually in July.
But since January of 2024, wehave seen some fantastic growth
in our community, here at TeachMiddle East, in the work that
(05:53):
we're doing, in our events.
We started the year with theMiddle East School Leadership
Conference and that was inFebruary.
We carried on throughout theyear with different webinars and
seminars and things online, andthen we also led the Middle
East Teaching and LearningConference and the Welcome
(06:14):
Reception, which was such afabulous event, which then led
into STEM MENA.
Thank you, listen.
Stem MENA pause for the cause,people.
Stem MENA is the best and Iknow I do catalog of events with
our team and we love them alland they're all fantastic.
But STEM teachers are great andthat's just the truth.
(06:36):
So STEM Mina was fabulous.
We had it at the Expo City, atTerra Pavilion.
Thank you to Dean Riley and theteam there at Expo.
And then we held the inauguralMiddle East Language and
Literacy Conference and, oh myGod, how good was that event
Like.
We unearthed some gems at thatevent Gems, I'm telling you.
(07:00):
Thank you to everybody who tookpart in that.
That was great and I reallylook forward to seeing how the
Middle East Language andLiteracy Conference,
affectionately known as MELLC, Ilook forward to seeing how that
is going to grow and develop.
You know, it's one thing to havean idea in your head, but it's
(07:23):
a whole other thing to put thatidea into the world, to give
birth to it, as they say, andthe M-E-L-L-C idea has been in
our heads here at Teach MiddleEast for five years easily, and
we never.
We just couldn't find the rightmix of venue and sponsors and
(07:47):
all that.
It takes all the goodingredients it takes to make an
event fantastic until this year,and it was really really worth
the wait.
So looking forward to planningthat in 2025 with all of our
literacy and language educatorsacross the region.
And then we had this crazybrain idea of launching the AI
(08:12):
in Education Summit.
Now, I have to fess up, thatwas one of those crazy midnight
thoughts Well, more like 3 amthoughts.
I don't know if you get those.
You get those 3 am thoughtsthat keep you awake, that, like,
you get it, you're awake andthat's it for the night.
You can't go back to sleep.
(08:33):
So that's what happened withthe AI and Education Summit, and
now it's going to be a reality.
So on April 24th and 25th, weare going to be hosting that in
Dubai.
24th and 25th, we are going tobe hosting that in Dubai.
But before that, obviously thegood one, the big one MESLC 2025
(08:55):
is going to be on February 5thand 6th.
Now I don't want this wholeepisode to be an announcement of
events, so I'm going to getright into the questions that
have been asked.
Please pardon me if you'rewatching this on YouTube.
I'm going to have to read frommy phone screen, because that's
where the questions are, andthen I will do my best to answer
them as best as possible.
Okay, so question from Zubia.
So, zubia, I'm going to dealwith as many of your questions.
(09:18):
First, if you're listening tothis, shout out to Zubia Ahmed,
she's a good egg.
She's a good egg.
I like her.
So the first one is whatinspired your journey from
teaching to international schoolleadership and eventually
podcasting?
How have these roles shapedyour view of international
education while in the MiddleEast?
(09:38):
Okay, that's a very grown upquestion, zubia.
Was that you or AI girl?
So what inspired my move fromteaching?
So I taught for a while.
I taught in England.
I taught.
Well, when I came here, Ididn't come as a teacher, so I
never taught students per sehere.
Here, I taught teachers dosomething else with my time and
(10:12):
my talents, and it isn't thatdoing teaching the students was
a bad thing, or it's just that Ifelt like I wanted to do
something else.
Now here's my thing.
There is I don't know if it's astigma or if it's just a belief
that when you go into teachingand you start teaching students,
you should stay there forever,and I do not believe that.
And you start teaching students, you should stay there forever,
and I do not believe that.
(10:33):
I believe that we should do ourcall of duty.
You know how the army.
You go in and you are in thearmy for a while, and then you
can come out of the army and youcan do something else.
Not that teaching is like beinga soldier although there are
times, people, there are times.
However, I think you give ityour best when you have the best
in you, and when you feel thatthat's decreasing or you feel
(10:57):
like you could do something else, I think you should.
I think you shouldn't stay ifyou are burnt out, if you are
tired, because you're not givingyour best to the students.
And I got to that point where Iwasn't giving my best to the
students anymore, and so Ithought it was a good time to
find something else to do.
(11:18):
Now.
I will never leave education.
You heard me I won't leaveeducation.
Education might leave me, but Iwon't leave it, and so I didn't
want to go and retrain to dosomething else, I wanted to stay
in education.
Luckily for me, I got recruitedto come to the Middle East as
an advisor with North AngliaEducation, so that kind of
(11:41):
segued me out of the classroom.
But still in education andstill working in schools, and I
was based in Al Ain and I lovedit, and there's a whole long
history of how I went back intoschools after being an advisor
to going back into schoolleadership and leading as an
academic principal for AlShaheen School.
(12:03):
So I did that as well.
So it's not as if when youleave the school or the
classroom, you have to staypermanently out.
You can recharge, do somethingelse, learn some new skills and
then go right back in theclassroom or go right back into
school or school leadership.
There is no rule that says thatyou have to start in the
(12:24):
classroom and stay there for 30,40 years.
If that is not what resonateswith you Now, if that's what
resonates with you, go ahead anddo it Now.
How did I get into podcastingand doing what I do?
I love to write.
I've always been a writer.
(12:45):
I've written since forever.
I used to walk around when Iwas a child, my mom told me that
I used to walk around with abook.
I was either always reading orI was always writing something
in little exercise books, littlepoems, little something.
And I grew up in the church soI'm taking you all the way back
(13:05):
deep right.
And so every Christmas in ourchurch we used to do something
called the Christmas program,which is like where children go
up and they give, you know,speeches or they say poems or
they give what we callrecitations, and so I used to
write mine and I would have minewritten and I would go up
there's a little four or fiveyear old girl and I would say my
(13:28):
little thing and I would comedown and people used to always
say, did she actually write that?
Because they always used to saythat it sounded more
well-written than what a childcould produce.
So I've always had that writingbug or that thing.
And so when I started teachingI would always write articles
(13:49):
etc.
And so when I started teachingI would always write articles
etc.
When I came here I always wrotefor Teach Middle East Before I
became the editor I was just awriter and for all the original
people with Teach Middle Eastwho knew the former editor,
people like Chassie Selawane,all those guys they know the
former editor.
I took over editing full time,obviously, in 2018.
(14:11):
And I think it was just agradual progression.
Now, how did I get intopodcasting, covid?
Covid got me into podcastingbecause we were at home, no way
to have events, no way to reachout to our community.
So we started the Teach MiddleEast podcast and, like I told
you at the beginning of thepodcast, it has just grown and
(14:33):
grown, ok, guys.
So question number two what doyou think are the biggest
opportunities for educators andschool leaders right now and how
can they make the most of theseto empower their students oh, I
told you these were bigquestions, zubia.
To empower their students.
Ooh, I told you, these were bigquestions, zubia.
So I think biggest opportunityright now is for leaders and
(14:55):
well, school leaders andteachers to actually step away
from being didactic and beingmore facilitators and guides for
students.
I think, with the AI revolution, I think a lot of the content
that we normally drill and teachis no longer necessary, because
the content is available sofreely to everybody online and
(15:21):
there are AI tutors and allsorts of things happening.
So now it's a time when I thinkschool leaders and teachers can
become more of guides andfacilitators, and I think also
when everybody's rushing towardsAI and automation, it's time
for teachers and school leadersto teach our students, to tap
(15:42):
more into their human selves,what makes them better human
beings, Teaching them the skillsof empathy, creativity and all
of those skills that will helpthem to become better human
beings.
So there are loads ofopportunities for us to really.
(16:03):
I mean, we've always talkedabout how heavy the content is
and how carrying that contentload as educators is very
difficult.
Well, now AI has given us theopportunity to really tap into
being facilitators, because thatinformation that we normally
would have to cram is no longernecessary, since students can
(16:26):
access that online.
I don't know what everybodyelse thinks, but I'd love some
more answers to this questionfrom more learned folks online.
Ooh, ooh, I love this question.
It says what's one thing youdidn't learn in schools that
completely changed how you seethe world.
That's a good question.
(16:47):
So the one thing I didn't learnin school was about the
compound effect.
Now I read this book, I thinkmaybe seven, eight, nine years
ago by Darren Hardy, called theCompound Effect, and I think
that book should be a must readfor every student Now.
That book is about the natureof how things build and grow
(17:10):
little by little, incrementally,and we always talk about
incremental gains.
But the compound effect is afantastic thing and I learned
that both for life in terms ofthe work that I do, how little
steps amount to big change overtime.
But I also learned that inevery aspect of my life, whether
(17:35):
it's how I raise my kids, how Inavigate my marriage, how I
navigate my finances.
It's all about small steps thatcompound over time.
I think, a lot of things.
Now people want it to be donefast and quick, but the compound
effect, I think, is one of thegreatest things.
(17:56):
It's one of the most effectiveways of building a life, making
little steps towards your goalsevery single day, because
eventually, when you look behindyou, you would have reached so
much further with those tinysteps that you take, instead of
waiting for that big push.
(18:17):
No, make little changes everyday.
So the compound effect, I think, has completely changed the way
I think about life and thingsin general.
Oh, this is a good one, zubia,and the last one I'm going to
answer from you, but this one, Ithink, I really want to answer
it.
It says what's your message foranyone going through some tough
(18:37):
stuff at the moment?
Hmm, so, as you know, I wentthrough as you know or you might
not know, actually that thisyear I lost my brother and I
spoke about it in my newsletter.
But I kind of spoke about it ina way that only if you really
read my newsletter line by linewould you have seen where I have
(19:02):
mentioned it.
As we know, in this fast movingage, many people do not read in
detail and that's unfortunate.
But I lost my brother in June,on June 3rd to be exact, and it
plunged me into grief, anxiety,depression, I don't know what.
(19:22):
I didn't have Like my wholeworld spun.
It was hard and the reason itwas so hard is because my
brother was my best friend.
Like he was the person I wouldcall.
And I'm not going to tear up,I'm just going to power through
(19:43):
this.
He was the person I would call.
I'm just going to power throughthis.
He was the person I would callto tell everything.
And I don't know if you havesomebody like that in your life
where I would call him to tellhim stupid thing.
Like I went to the shop.
I was supposed to spend ahundred dirhams, I spent 200 and
he would be like what's wrongwith you, man?
And I would be like I boughtthis thing and this thing is
(20:04):
like you're not even going touse it, is it?
And like just the stupidestthing.
Or I would call him.
I'd be like guess where I'mtraveling to?
And he didn't travel much.
He didn't travel at all, to behonest, and he would marvel at
the places I've seen in theworld and I would educate him
and he would make jokes and wewould have fun and we would talk
(20:24):
about life and my kids and hiskids and we would talk about
holidays.
He made my holidays fun when Iwent to see him and we would
just have fun and he loved myhusband and my husband loved him
.
I lost all of that in like that.
He had a stroke and he was gone.
He was gone and it made me Idon't know.
(20:47):
It took the breath out of meand it also made me realize the
fragility of life and it made merespect life a lot more.
And for anyone going through atough time, I would say go
through it with the hope thatthings will look better on the
(21:08):
other side, but also go throughit with the eyes of someone
searching for the lesson.
What should I learn from this?
What should I gain?
And I know that's hard and Idon't want to come off
philosophical and I don't wantto come off fake like, oh, I
(21:28):
just go, I just went through itand found the lesson.
That's rubbish.
Like I was just crying, I was amess.
I was a mess, but at a certainpoint I started to say where,
where do I go from here?
How do I live now withouthaving him?
What's my next move?
And those questions.
(21:48):
I became more clear on theanswers.
Now here's something else, andyou know I respect everyone's
beliefs.
I understand that we're not allgoing to follow the same
beliefs, but I'm a Christian andmy prayer, life and my walk
with God that's what reallyhelped me.
(22:09):
And my family rallied around me, and my sons and my husband and
my friends.
They never left me, like mycommunity.
Even people on LinkedIn whoread my newsletter texted me.
Those things meant everything.
(22:30):
So if you're going through atough time, reach out.
Hold the people that you haveclosest to you dear.
Turn to them for help.
Don't try to do it alone.
Don't try to be a hero.
Just take the help, and that'swhat I would say.
All right, so that's it forZubia's questions.
(22:50):
Now I go into some that I got inmy inbox.
It says you were recentlyinvolved in the Women in
Education Leadership Networkevent.
What do you believe are some ofthe most effective ways in
promoting gender equity in thefield?
Mmm, nice question Right Now.
(23:13):
To promote gender equity reallyis down to the structures being
dismantled.
It really is about recognizingtalent and kind of, dare I say,
dismantling the boys club.
Now, men and women thrive whenthere's equity, and I know that
(23:36):
sounds, you know, all hair fairy, but it is true, we all thrive
when there is equity.
And so for this to happen, thenwe're going to have to start
being intentional.
How are we recruiting?
How are we shortlisting?
Who is making those decisions?
Why are certain decisions beingmade?
(23:56):
We have to start questioningthese things, because there is
no other way of changing asystem than dismantling it and
building it again from theground up, and that's how I
think we will start to get someequity.
It is strange some of thestatistics that come out,
because it talks about over 80%of the workforce being female,
(24:19):
but then, once you start goinginto the leadership realm, as in
middle and senior leadership,the number of women at the top
starts to really decrease, andso you find that it's less than
40% of those top positions arebeing held by women.
Now that has to be somethingthat sparks some kind of
(24:41):
attention, because how is thatpossible?
Are we not getting the rightmentorship?
Are we not getting the rightopportunities as women?
And then, when we start to talkabout equity, we can't do it
just on a gender.
We have to talk about inclusionof all, talking about race,
talking about neurodiversity.
(25:02):
All of that has to come intoplay, can't just be for some and
not for all, because the wholesystem benefits when we include
everyone.
That's how I think we ought tobe able to do it.
This is from one of my Roundupreaders.
She says you curate the latestnews and trends in your
(25:23):
newsletter.
What emerging trends do youfind most promising for the
future of education in theMiddle East?
Oh, there's a lot, I know.
You know I'm going to talkabout AI because I am fascinated
by it.
But AI, yes, I think that it'sgoing to be the biggest
disruptor of any disruptionsthat we have seen, and I don't
(25:45):
know how it's going to happen,and I don't, you know, purport
to be some kind of AI expert oranything, but I can see it.
Guys, like my little spectacles, my little glasses, are seeing
it.
It's coming and it's going todisrupt and I think middle-east
schools are doing great at goingahead of it and trying to see
(26:07):
how they can harness it.
So I'm hopeful for our region,but I also know that globally,
different schools are doingdifferent things and we have the
summit coming up where we'regoing to bring people together
to discuss this.
I also think, for this region,and especially the UAE, the
(26:29):
ambition of the leadership andwhat they want to do with
education, with their differentstrategies and action plans,
makes for really hopeful reading.
And I think, when you thinkabout what we have here as a
strength, we have a really densepopulation of international
schools per capita and the willto change and the ability to do
(26:53):
some fascinating things.
So I'm really excited aboutwhat the future holds for
education in this region.
I've been here in the MiddleEast well in the UAE
particularly for the past 14years, and I'm just watching it
grow and develop from strengthto strength and I'm hopeful, for
(27:14):
as long as I'm allowed to behere.
I'm really excited to see whereit all goes.
Okay, guys.
So my final question comes in,and it says balancing.
Final question comes in, and itsays balancing how do you
balance the role of being amother, an educator, an
entrepreneur?
What advice would you offer toothers striving to achieve a
(27:36):
similar balance?
You ready for some honest talk?
Put your earphones in.
I am not balancing.
I am not balancing, guys.
I will not lie to you.
I told you I want to be astruthful on my platforms as
possible.
I'm not balancing.
Let me give you an idea.
(27:56):
When we have team meetings andstuff, there are times when I
work until 2 am.
So I work in the morning, thenI take a break.
When my kids come home, thenI'm with them, then I do dinner,
then I do bedtime, you know,might do homework, then bedtime,
etc.
And then, once I have dinnerwith my husband and he goes off
(28:20):
on his work he is an accountant,so he's quite busy Once that is
done, I'm back in my office,from sometimes nine till
midnight, sometimes till one,sometimes till two.
I'm not really balancing, and itis difficult.
The one thing I have to say,though, is I don't feel burnt
(28:41):
out, I don't feel tired.
I feel tired, but I don't feeltired to the point of giving up.
And the reason is I enjoy everysingle thing that I'm doing.
I really, really love it.
It's not easy.
I do complain about, oh I'mtired or I'm this or I'm that,
but I enjoy it so much.
(29:02):
But there are things that I'veput in place and guardrails that
I've put in place.
First of all, I make sure Iwork out five days a week.
I know the muscles don't showit, but they're there.
I do try to eat well.
So I eat very balanced.
I eat very nutritious food.
I'm very particular with what Ieat and I do try to get some
(29:25):
rest.
Yes, I know I stay up late, butI might start my mornings a
little bit later if that's thecase, and I try to get six to
eight hours of sleep every day.
And I also try to keep myselfhydrated and I try to keep my
spiritual life in check, myprayer life in check, because
(29:46):
you can't find balance.
Anyone who says to you oh I'mable to do everything neatly,
please send them my way.
I really want to learn fromthem.
I do make sure I take holidays.
In the summer I travel with myfamily quite a lot.
I love to travel, so that'ssomething that we do in the
(30:06):
winter, like this winter break.
This is the last episode ofthis term, which therefore means
for the next two weeks or so, Iwill not be online as much.
I will schedule all my posts onLinkedIn, so there will be a
post every day, but I won't beat the keyboard, I won't be on
my phone.
For most of the time I'll beeither by the beach or cooking
(30:29):
or entertaining friends or goingout or going to go see a
concert or something.
So I do make time for fun.
I love to dance, I love to sing, I love to have a good time,
like everybody else.
But it is not always like thatand I feel like I don't want to
mislead anyone to think I havethe perfect balance to life.
(30:51):
No, there are times when I worklike a slave, like I work and
work and work.
When there are events, we havea small team, we're not a big
team, and so when there areevents, we work nonstop.
So I think one of the keythings I would say to anybody
who's looking for balance isjust try to do things you enjoy
(31:13):
as much as possible.
There is.
The only balance I would saythere is.
That you have to create is abalance between what you enjoy
and what makes you money so thatyou can pay your bills.
If you can find that niceequilibrium with doing what you
enjoy and also being able totake care of your financial
(31:33):
obligation, then that's a sweetspot, and that doesn't mean
entrepreneurship, it could meanyour career, it could mean your
job.
So again, I appeal to anyonewho's got that balance right
Holler at your girl.
She wants to know how you didit.
Well, guys, that's the end ofthis episode of the podcast.
How did I do for my first soloepisode?
(31:55):
Give me some encouragement.
Should I do more solo episodes?
Do you have more questions forme that you would like me to
answer?
Please leave a comment whereveryou listen to this podcast.
I look forward to working withyou in 2025.
I'm looking forward to a greatyear.
Have a fantastic winter break,god bless, thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Thank you for listening to the Teach Middle
East podcast.
Visit our websiteteachmiddleeastcom and follow us
on social media.
The links are in the show notes.
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