Today’s guest is Olli-Pekka Heinonen, one of the significant voices in global education and a leader who has spent decades shaping how the world thinks about learning.

Olli-Pekka is the Director General of the International Baccalaureate, guiding a worldwide community of schools committed to developing curious, capable and principled young people. Before stepping into this global role, he served as Finland’s Minister of Education and Culture and later as State Secretary, playing a key part in the evolution of Finland’s internationally respected education system.

He is also the author of Learning as if Life Depended on It, a powerful reflection on why education must help us see the world anew. Drawing on Finnish heritage, statesmanship and a deep understanding of global challenges, Olli-Pekka explores what it means to move beyond being overtrained and undereducated, and why learning is central to the future of humanity itself.

In this conversation, we explore leadership, identity, global responsibility, and what it truly means to educate for a world that is changing faster than any curriculum ever could.

It’s thoughtful, expansive, and quietly urgent. A conversation that reminds us why this work matters so much.

Heidi Horne is a Stress Strategist, keynote speaker, and Wiley author of The One-Minute Reset, available across Australia. For close to 20 years, she’s worked in high-pressure environments where burnout is common and attention is constantly pulled in a hundred directions.

Heidi believes that when stress hits, we don’t need more theory or another long program. We need something simple, practical, and backed by science. Her work focuses on powerful resets that take 60 seconds or less and can be used right in the moment, before stress hijacks focus, performance, or well-being.

Trusted by organisations including Bupa, Rydges, and Cisco, Heidi is also a regular voice across television, radio, and print media. She helps people and teams find calm and clarity when the pressure is real, not later, but right there in it.

Natalie is a passionate and enthusiastic teacher who shares her journey and key takeaways from a career in education spanning decades. Having taught across a wide range of year levels, she reflects on the insights, strategies and practical tools she has gathered along the way. In this conversation, we explore what experience really teaches you about the craft of teaching. Whether you’re early in your career or a seasoned educator, Natalie’s hope is that teachers feel supported, inspired and genuinely valued in the work they do every day.

Today on The Art of Teaching, I’m joined by Katharine Birbalsingh, one of the most talked-about and uncompromising voices in education. As headteacher of Michaela Community School, Katharine has challenged long-held assumptions about behaviour, curriculum and equity, advocating for high expectations, explicit teaching and a knowledge-rich education for every child. In this conversation, we explore school culture, discipline, leadership and what it really takes to create classrooms where all students can thrive.

Today on the podcast, I’m joined by Jim Knight, one of the most influential voices in instructional coaching anywhere in the world.

Jim is the founder of the Instructional Coaching Group and the creator of the Impact Cycle, a practical, research-informed framework that has shaped how schools think about coaching, professional growth and instructional improvement. His work has supported thousands of teachers, coaches and school leaders to focus on what matters most, improving teaching in ways that genuinely lift student learning.

Jim has authored several landmark books, including Instructional Coaching, Better Conversations and The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching. What sets his work apart is its clarity, its respect for teachers, and its unwavering belief that professional learning works best when it is collaborative, focused and deeply human.

In this conversation, we explore what great coaching really looks like in practice, why relationships sit at the heart of improvement, and how leaders can create the conditions for meaningful growth rather than compliance. It’s a thoughtful, practical discussion that speaks directly to teachers, coaches and school leaders at every stage of their journey.

Let’s get into it.

Today I'm joined by Tim Bullard, a leader whose career spans law, public policy and large-scale education reform. Tim began his professional life as a lawyer before moving into senior policy roles in Australia and the United Kingdom. Over more than a decade with the Department of Premier and Cabinet in Tasmania, he played a key role in major national reforms, including the development of Child and Family Learning Centres and the negotiations around the Gonski schools funding agreement. In 2016, Tim joined the Tasmanian Department of Education and later became Secretary of the Department for Education, Children and Young People, where he led the integration of education, child safety and youth justice into a single values-based system focused on ensuring every child and young person is known, safe, well and learning. Most recently, Tim has been appointed CEO of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, @aitsleduau, commencing October 2024. It’s a thoughtful conversation about leadership at scale, the complexity of education systems, and what it takes to build structures that truly support teachers, schools and young people.

Natalie, co-founder of Amplify Music Education, sits at the meeting point of music, education and entrepreneurship. From being the kid who woke early every Saturday to watch Rage, collecting CDs, vinyl and ticket stubs, to helping build a national organisation championing high-quality music education, her story is shaped by curiosity, persistence and a deep conviction that music matters.

In this conversation, we explore what music offers young people beyond technique and theory, why school leaders need to rethink the place of the arts, and what it takes to build something meaningful from the ground up. Natalie brings a grounded honesty, quiet optimism and a practical, solutions-focused way of thinking that lingers long after the conversation ends.

If you care about creativity, leadership and creating schools where music is valued for the role it plays in students’ lives and communities, this is a conversation worth spending time with.

I’m joined today by Professor Viviane Robinson, one of the most influential thinkers in educational leadership. This is the second time that I have the privilege of speaking with her.

John Goh is an educator who has never been afraid to question the way schools work, or why they work that way at all.

Across his career as a principal and system leader, John has led bold changes around time, space and learning culture, always with a clear focus on what helps students thrive. Known for opening walls, rethinking routines and building strong partnerships with families and industry, his work shows what’s possible when curiosity and courage sit at the centre of leadership.

John is also a sought-after speaker with a strong online presence, sharing practical ideas about innovation, technology and human-centred school design. His thinking continues to challenge leaders to move beyond compliance and towards schools that feel alive, purposeful and deeply connected to their communities.

If you’d like this tightened further, reframed as a “coming soon” teaser, or written in a more conversational podcast voice, I’m happy to shape it.

Next is a conversation I recently had with Casey Ellis, a global leader in cybersecurity and the founder of Bugcrowd.