What is your plan for the next time you recruit? What stage are you at in your life and career? What experiences are you hoping for in your next school, city, and country?

To assist you in making this big, life-changing decision, we once again reached out to our trusted veteran panel of Amy Hunt, Rob Howe, and David Ross — this time to discuss how to make such an important life pivot.

Amy is currently teaching Psychology and Science of Mind at Nueva School in San Francisco. She left the US at age 25 to teach IB English in Ethiopia, where she met her husband, Lee. They taught together in Rio, Minnesota, Barcelona, São Paulo, and Brussels before returning to the US in 2020. Amy is also a yoga therapist who reads, loves murder shows and pickleball, takes hikes and cold plunges, and tries to coax her three 20-something children to fly the nest. 

David is retired  He began teaching in Los Angeles, then moved to Malaysia with his family for 6 years.  He then took a one-year sabbatical with his family to bike across Europe, then taught in Vietnam for nine years. He enjoys SCUBA diving, free diving, playing in a band, pickleball, staying fit, and cooking. He is also a proactive investor and proponent of financial literacy.

Rob Howe is a businessman and international educator. He began his career in the technology industry. After a 1.5-year sabbatical, he met his wife, an international teacher, and decided to become one. He first taught for 2 years in Jakarta, Indonesia. He then returned to the USA, started a new career in sustainability consulting, and adopted two children from India. In 2014, he returned to overseas teaching in Lebanon, Zimbabwe, and finally Vietnam. 

Our Guiding Question was “When putting your recruiting plan together, what are some key criteria to guide you when looking at potential schools, cities and countries?”

Here are some of the topics covered in this episode:

• Assessing your current stage in life/career, along with clarifying your values
• Creating a recruiting plan: Listing the criteria you desire in your next school/ city/country and doing your research
• Defining the non-negotiables for your search
• Unpacking numerous criteria from our blog post, “Profiling Schools, Cities, and Countries”
• Final thoughts and recommendations from our panelists

Resources mentioned in the episode:

Profiling Schools, Cities and Countries blog post at the Educators Going Global Info Hub

Recorded June 19, 2025.

Categories: Recruiting | School Life | Finances | Parenting | Transitions | Travel

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

We have wanted to do this show for ages. We so admire women leaders, and some major players joined us for this interview! Kim Cofino is a well-known voice in the areas of women in leadership and instructional coaching. Madeleine Maceda Heide was a head of school on three continents and is a co-founder of the AMISA Women in Leadership organisation. Rhonda Norris is Superintendent of International Schools Group in Saudi Arabia and was a head of school in the Caribbean and in Asia, and Heather Naro is Head of Schutz School in Alexandria, Egypt. Their wisdom runs deep and their compassion is overflowing. This was a heartfelt, intimate conversation where the ladies shared their best tips for aspiring women leaders, with a big one being: “Go for it!”

Check out our website for the full bios of these incredible women.

Our Guiding Question was “What have been some of your most useful lessons learned as a woman leader in International Education?”

Here are some of the topics covered in this episode:

• Reasons for becoming leaders
• Pathways to leadership
• Barriers to women becoming leaders
• Steps to take to become a leader
• Advice not to take along the way
• The importance of mentoring, modeling, perspective taking, service, adaptability and more!

Resources mentioned:

The Association for the Advancement of Instructional Coaching in International Schools - AAICIS

AMISA Women in Leadership website

Carney Sandoe

Kim’s Website, Eduro Learning, book co-authored with Christina Botbyl -  Finding Your Path as a Woman in School Leadership

Kim’s Coach Better Podcast 

Episode 82 with Claire Gaul On Followership and the Complexities of International Teaching

International Schools Group 

Contact Info: Kim Cofino  Heather Naro  Madeleine Maceda Heide  Rhonda Norris

The show was recorded on June 16, 2025

Categories: Leadership | School Life

Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information and consider joining our Patreon community at patreon/educatorsgoingglobal!

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

The data is quite conclusive: young people around the world are struggling. Research and books such as The Anxious Generation highlight the negative effects of technology and social networks on our students.

We also know that two common themes in international schools are academic pressure and high expectations for students applying to university.

On a more positive note, we are seeing a growing trend of schools placing greater emphasis on a holistic approach to supporting students.

In this interview, we learn how the Dean of Students at one school helps lead and coordinate efforts to stay ahead of these trends.

We speak with Andy Vaughan, a Dean of Students at an international school, about his role in providing leadership to help students develop the life skills needed to overcome struggles and chart their pathway toward full and healthy lives.

Andy is a Kiwi who has been living overseas with his family for the past 20 years teaching and leading in South East Asia. Currently working at the High School Dean of Students at International School Bangkok, Andy was previously the Athletics Director at ISB and in the past has taught Physical Education, Science, Health and Outdoor Education. He is passionate about establishing systems in schools that proactively ensure we support student well being to ensure all students feel like they belong and are cared for.

Our guiding questions were: “What does a Dean of Students do? How has the role of Dean of Students evolved over time? What trends are you observing around this role in international schools going forward?”

Here are a few of the topics covered in this episode:

• The impetus for and evolution of the Dean of Students role at Andy’s school
• A breakdown of the job description
• The importance of using data to support students
• Lessons learned from the role
• Observations about digital wellness
• Advice on how to move into leadership positions
• Trends in the role of Dean of Students and in international schools in general

Resources shared in this episode:

Mario Education
Google Looker Studio
Parenting in the Digital Age & Family Wellness Workshop (Slideshow) 

The show was recorded on June 22, 2025.

Categories: School Life | Parenting | Wellness

Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information and consider joining our Patreon community at patreon/educatorsgoingglobal!

Email us with comments or suggestions at [email protected]

Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube.

Listen on your favorite podcast app: connect from our share page.

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

What does the term "followership" mean to you? Our guest, Claire Gaul, joined us to delve into what it means to be a follower in international schools. She wrote a blog post for our learning hub that really got Audrey and me thinking about how being a follower connects to leadership in international schools—a theme that runs through many of our shows.

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

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

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

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

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

Resources mentioned in the episode:

Profiling Schools, Cities and Countries blog post

Claire’s blog post on our website.

Claire's Contact Information:  LinkedIn

This episode was recorded on March 15th, 2025.

Categories: Wellness | Leadership | School Life | Recruiting 

Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information and consider joining our Patreon community at patreon/educatorsgoingglobal!

Email us with comments or suggestions at [email protected]

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

Change. It can be exciting. It can also be tough. And it happens a lot in international schools. At first, new ideas and the buzz around implementing them can feel electrifying. But here’s the catch: often, the people involved, the processes, and the long-term sustainability of these ideas—whether they’re initiatives or programs—don’t quite make it past the starting line.

So, why does this happen? And how do we successfully navigate the twists and turns of the change process? 

Audrey and David have been through countless new initiatives in schools over the years, and we have often wondered what makes some changes "stick" while others fall flat. That curiosity led us to Dr. Jim Reese. Many of you may know Jim, either as the previous facilitator of the Harvard Project Zero Summer Institutes or as a trusted consultant in your own school.

Jim lives in Washington, DC. After a long career teaching in international and U.S.  schools, he now works as a consultant with schools, museums, and educational organizations. Jim has a long-term affiliation with Project Zero, a research group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. 

In 2004, along with Dr. David Perkins from Harvard, Jim co-authored an article about managing change in a school to help it last. The article was called "When Change Has Legs: Four key factors help determine whether change efforts will be sustained over time." Each "leg" refers to one aspect of the change; all 4 are required for the change to last.

Our guiding question for the episode was, “What are proven ways to bring about sustainable change in international schools?”

The Four Legs of Sustainable Change are:

• Frameworks — Structures that guide and support learning
• Leaders — People who champion and drive the process
• Community — Collective buy-in and engagement from everyone involved
• Institutionalization — Embedding change so it becomes part of the school’s DNA

Resources cited in the episode: 

When Change Has Legs

Harvard Project Zero

Edtech Co-Op Podcast interview with Jim (2015) 

Professional Development Collaborative at Washington International School 

Jim's Contact Information: LinkedIn

Categories: PD | Leadership | School Change 

This episode was recorded on April 14th, 2025.

Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information and consider joining our Patreon community at patreon/educatorsgoingglobal!

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

Let’s be honest. Teaching and learning have changed somewhat over the years, but schools as institutions can still “feel” very similar to how they did when my grandfather was a school superintendent back in the 1940s. So what are some ways we can reimagine school? It takes a real visionary to think outside of this rigid box, wouldn’t you say? Our guest on this episode, educator and author Paul Halford, is one such visionary. Paul guides us through his perspective on reimagining schools.

Paul Halford has worked in education for over 50 years including 35 in management. His diverse career included Catholic, Jewish, Anglican, Islamic, government, international and alternative schools. He has twice been nominated for National Excellence Awards. In 2004 and in 2006 his schools received National Awards for Excellence and Improvement. He has led International schools in Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Malaysia.  

Our guiding question for this episode was: “How do educators and schools go about reimagining themselves?”

In this show, Paul covers several topics, including:

• Paul’s reasons for writing his book, My Educated Life: Lessons from Leading and Reimagining Schools
• Schools’ search for legitimacy
• Paul’s early career working at a parent-designed alternative school in Australia
• The importance of trust, care, and hope in schools, as modeled by school leaders
• Leadership tools to promote trust, care, and hope
• Connections to the work of school change pioneer Michael Fullan
• The process of reimagining schools moving forward

Resources mentioned in the episode:

My Educated Life: Lessons from leading and reimagining schools by Paul Halford

Michael Fullan The New Meaning of Educational Change

This episode was recorded on March 20, 2025.
Categories: School Life | Leadership | Change 

Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information and consider joining our Patreon community at patreon/educatorsgoingglobal!

Email us with comments or suggestions at [email protected]

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Listen on your favorite podcast app: connect from our share page.

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

Where do new schools come from? Our research and guest insights reveal that new schools are regularly emerging, with many others planned for construction in the near future. What does this mean for you as you seek to be an informed international educator while navigating the recruiting process?

What are some “under the hood” aspects of startup schools you should be examining? What are the advantages and potential disadvantages of working at a newly-established school?

With these questions in mind, we reached out to Greg Parry, an expert in starting schools. Greg leads Global Services in Education (GSE), a company he founded that collaborates with investors, developers, and school management providers to design, build, and manage new schools.

Greg is a visionary leader, educator, and acclaimed author with an exceptional track record in the field of international education. From his home country of Australia to the United States, India, Africa, Myanmar, China, South America, South Korea, Japan and the Middle East, Greg's insights have transformed education systems and elevated learning outcomes. He has trained teachers and principals worldwide, focusing on critical thinking, language development, and leadership. Greg's expertise in school start-up projects, curriculum development, and effective leadership strategies has solidified his authority in the field.

For this episode, we focused on a few guiding questions:

1. What do international educators need to know about the rapid growth of new international schools? 
2. Who are some of the major players, and what criteria should educators consider when evaluating these schools?
3. What are some current trends in international education?

Resources mentioned in the episode:

Global Services in Education (GSE)

Global Services in Education Blog

Greg’s TEDx Talk 

Steps to Setting Up a New School

Five Trends That Will Redefine International Schools in 2025

Educators Going Global: Profiling Schools, Cities and Countries

Greg's Contact Information: 

LinkedIn

 This episode was recorded on April 9th, 2025.
Categories: Recruiting | Leadership | School Life | New Schools 

Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information and consider joining our Patreon community at patreon/educatorsgoingglobal!

Email us with comments or suggestions at [email protected]

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

How can schools integrate Social-Emotional Learning, Belonging, Global Citizenship and Creative Expression in one beautiful package? By prioritizing a crucial aspect of schooling: The Arts. And yet The Arts are often relegated to “encore” status, underfunded or even dispensed with duiring budget crunches.

For this show, we assembled a talented panel of guests who represented years of experience and an array of artistic disciplines: Film, Theater, Art and Music.

David Gran has developed and taught film programs for 20 years  in the U.S., Shanghai, and Chile. He was a co-founder of SAS’s Innovation Institute and Nido’s Changemakers program, the Shanghai Student Film Festival and the InThinking site for IB Film. David is also a former columnist for School Arts Magazine.

Tina Casey is the HS Theater Teacher and the Performing Arts Director at ISKL. She has been working overseas for over 30 years, including 15 years in Malaysia. This year marks Tina’s final year at ISKL, after which she will return home with her husband to Northern Ontario for a "nap year" before deciding on next steps.

Nick Stonehouse is an art and design educator currently working in HCMC, Vietnam. He has taught in multiple curricula at a range of ages, from Early Childhood to Secondary. At present, Nick is thoroughly enjoying teaching grades 2 and 3 art. Nick is also an avid photographer, artist, art enthusiast, and world traveler.

Scott Rogal has taught in Canada, Hong Kong and Vietnam. Currently, he teaches Band at the American School of Bahrain and conducts the Jazz Orchestra of Bahrain, a semi-professional ensemble featuring many of Bahrain’s top musicians. He is also an active composer who writes and publishes through ApRo Music in Canada. 

Our guiding question for the show was “What are some characteristics that describe international school arts programs?”

Our panelists shared many insights around implementing an arts program while also sharing specifics about their individual domains of music, theater, film and art. 

Here are a few of the topics covered: 

• What a standard K-12 arts program from a holistic perspective can look like
• Unpacking the components of an arts program including mission/vision, infrastructure, curricular outcomes, etc. 
• Painting the picture of what music, theater, film and art look like in ES, MS and HS

This was a rich discussion with each participant chiming in with their takes while sharing experiences from their careers. We has so many questions that plans are already being made for a follow-up recording!

This episode was recorded on March 29, 2025.

Categories: The Arts | SEL | Life Skills

Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information and consider joining our Patreon community at patreon/educatorsgoingglobal!

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

We enjoyed our first interview with Dave McMaster so much that we spoke with him a second time! If you missed the first interview on what it is like to start an international school, definitely check it out – it’s Episode 74. Dave also recorded two Going Global Stories for us. Head to our information hub to enjoy those. 

Dave has 35 years of K-12 education experience, primarily in leadership roles in Canada, Hong Kong, and Bahrain. He joined the Esol organization in Bahrain in September 2018, and led the founding team in establishing the American School of Bahrain, which opened its doors to just over 100 students amid the COVID-19 Pandemic and has grown to nearly 800 students in its first five years of operation.

Prior to this role, Dave served as Principal and Head of School at the Canadian International School of Hong Kong. During his tenure, he spearheaded the authorization process for the full slate of International Baccalaureate (IB) programs. Within six years, CDNIS DP students ranked in the top 10% of IB schools worldwide, and CDNIS was recognized as the top international school in Hong Kong for seven consecutive years. Dave has founded three schools, including the American School of Bahrain.

Dave’s authenticity as an educational leader motivates the entire school community to continually improve, ensuring excellence in educational provision. He strongly believes that cultivating a school culture based on mutual respect, happiness, and high yet realistic expectations will lead to a fruitful educational experience for students. He emphasizes the "smile index" as a key barometer for assessing a school's success. Dave also has extensive experience in recruiting, hiring, and retaining top educators, which he considers crucial to the success of founding ASB.

Dave holds a Bachelor of Education from Queen's University. He also earned a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from San Diego State University.

Our Guiding Question was, “What is it like teaching and living in the Middle East?”

Here are a few of the topics covered in this episode:

• What teachers can experience teaching in a fairly typical Middle Eastern international school
• Some advantages of and expectations for living in the Middle East as expats, particularly in Bahrain

Resources mentioned in the episode:

American School of Bahrain

Dave's Contact Information: 

LinkedIn

Instagram

The show was recorded on February 16, 2025.

Categories: School Life | Travel | Recruiting | Bahrain

Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information and consider joining our Patreon community at patreon/educatorsgoingglobal!

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

As international educators, like so many others, in a sense, we tend to write chapters to our life stories. These stories can be organized by countries, schools, travel, and, of course, the regular categories of relationships, family, children, aging, and so on.

We were fortunate to catch our guest, Mark Lewis, just as he was reflecting about the chapters of his international experiences, with his retirement coming up in a couple of months.

Mark is a seasoned international educator with experience at the International School Manila, American International School Riyadh, Concordia International School Shanghai, Bodwell International School, International School Ho Chi Minh City-American Academy, and BASIS Park Lane Harbour. He is currently a principal and teacher in the public school system in Canada.

One of Mark’s core beliefs is that many of the world's future leaders will emerge from students educated in international schools. These students are often multilingual, have received top-tier education, networked with ambitious peers, come from families of means, and almost always pursue higher education degrees—traits that are well-suited to leadership roles. This leadership may manifest in local communities, small business ventures, significant corporate positions, or even public office. It is crucial that international schools continue preparing their students for leadership roles by fostering a skill set that goes beyond academic excellence.

We asked "soon-to-be-retired" Mark the guiding question: “What are some of your lessons learned from the various roles you experienced during your years of going global?”

With such a long career in international schooling, Mark had a lot of gems to share with us:

• Commonalities of international schools in Asia
• Characteristics of international schools specifically in China
• Clarifications between legacy international schools, bilingual schools, and local-student-majority schools
• A look at for-profit schools and the various forms they can take
• Working with school boards
• “Leaky boundaries” in international schools
• Repatriating to one’s home country
• A rapid-fire sharing of lessons learned from Mark’s career overseas

Resources mentioned in the episode:

EARCOS East Asia Regional Council of Schools

NESA - Near East/South Asia Council of Overseas Schools

Mark’s Contact Information: 

LinkedIn

This episode was recorded on March 23, 2025. 
Categories: Leadership | Change | School Life | School Types

Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information and consider joining our Patreon community at patreon/educatorsgoingglobal!

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