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Thirty nationalities in one classroom, multiple faiths, and families who have rebuilt their lives thousands of miles from home. Belonging looks very different from there.

In this episode of The Common Room, Joshua sits down with Gavin Taylor — Assistant Head of High School Pastoral at Emirates International School Jumeirah in Dubai, where he leads student wellbeing, behaviour, student leadership and the wider student experience across the secondary school. He brings over sixteen years in education and eight years living and working in the Middle East.

In this conversation, we cover:

• Why the core principles of pastoral care stay the same, but almost everything else changes
• The biggest mistake new staff make when arriving in the Middle East
• How to build genuine trust with parents from vastly different cultural backgrounds
• The "customers not students" mindset shift that changed how Gavin approaches his work
• What living in the UAE taught him about pastoral care that no training ever could
• Why positive communication matters more than any system or policy

A huge thank you to Gavin for his time, his warmth, and his reminder that if a student can say years after leaving — that school believed in me — then you've done a good job.

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The Common Room is hosted by Joshua Darryl Sussex — it is an independent project, produced in a personal capacity and outside of any professional or institutional role. Views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent any employer, university, or organisation. No guest, organisation, or product featured has paid for or provided any consideration for their appearance.

Follow along and get in touch:

LinkedIn: linkedin/joshuadarrylsussex

Instagram: instagram/the_common_room_podcast/

Website: joshuadarrylsussex.com 

New episodes released regularly — subscribe so you don't miss the next conversation.

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Every school has a commercial layer underneath it. Understanding it isn't a betrayal of the educational mission — it may be the most important thing a leader can do to protect it.

In this episode of The Common Room, Joshua sits down with Greg Parry, founder and director of Global Services in Education, an international school development, management and advisory firm operating across more than thirty-five countries. Australian by background, Greg led schools as head of school and CEO before moving into the investment and development side of the sector, working with investors, developers and operators across the GCC, Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe.

In this conversation, we cover:

• The ceiling most educators hit that has nothing to do with classroom ability
• Why departments get cut and good staff get lost, and how to prevent it
• What investors actually assess when they look at a school
• The financial literacy every school leader should have
• How to speak the language of investors without losing your educational values
• The colonialism problem hiding in international school expansion
• Greg's own route from teacher to global school developer, and why impact rather than position drove every decision

A huge thank you to Greg for his time, his candour, and his generosity in sharing what the other side of the table actually looks like.

Support the show

The Common Room is hosted by Joshua Darryl Sussex — it is an independent project, produced in a personal capacity and outside of any professional or institutional role. Views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent any employer, university, or organisation. No guest, organisation, or product featured has paid for or provided any consideration for their appearance.

Follow along and get in touch:

LinkedIn: linkedin/joshuadarrylsussex

Instagram: instagram/the_common_room_podcast/

Website: joshuadarrylsussex.com 

New episodes released regularly — subscribe so you don't miss the next conversation.

Send us Fan Mail

The notice period clause most candidates skim past. The visa costs that never make it into the offer letter. Izyan sees both sides of that paperwork.

In this episode of The Common Room, Joshua sits down with Izyan, Head of Human Resources at an international school in Singapore. With thirteen years in HR — the last four in international education — she brings a rare practitioner's view of what actually happens behind those closed doors, and why keeping the work human matters more in an increasingly automated one.

In this conversation, we cover:

• The notice period clause most candidates overlook
• The hidden costs of visa applications that rarely get mentioned upfront
• What good HR communication looks like before, during and after a contract is signed
• The biggest misconception staff have about what HR is actually there to do
• How AI is changing HR, and why it's making the role more human, not less
• The challenges expatriates face settling into a new country, and Izyan's advice for anyone considering the move

A huge thank you to Izyan for her time, her honesty, and her generosity in sharing what HR looks like from the inside.

Support the show

The Common Room is hosted by Joshua Darryl Sussex — it is an independent project, produced in a personal capacity and outside of any professional or institutional role. Views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent any employer, university, or organisation. No guest, organisation, or product featured has paid for or provided any consideration for their appearance.

Follow along and get in touch:

LinkedIn: linkedin/joshuadarrylsussex

Instagram: instagram/the_common_room_podcast/

Website: joshuadarrylsussex.com 

New episodes released regularly — subscribe so you don't miss the next conversation.

Send us Fan Mail

Leading inside a British-branded school in China taught Joshua more through the mistakes than the successes. This episode is about both.

In this solo episode of The Common Room, Joshua steps away from the interview format to unpack what that experience actually taught him — the frustrations and hard lessons, and how they ignited the curiosity that became doctoral research.

He introduces Culturally Mediated Leadership, the framework he is developing at the University of Bath, built around five practical lenses.

In this episode:

• Cultural Reflexivity — recognising the assumptions you carry before they shape a decision
• Symbolic Sensitivity — reading what a gesture, a policy or a phrase actually signals in context
• Stakeholder Interpretation — understanding that the same message lands differently for parents, staff and owners
• Adaptive Bridging — holding two institutional logics together without collapsing either
• Strategic Mediation — deciding what to translate, what to hold, and what to let go

Each is grounded in examples, from senior leadership decisions to everyday moments any staff member will recognise, regardless of role or country. The framework is for anyone leading, or working, across cultural, generational or institutional difference — which is most people in international education, most of the time.

Next episode: Izyan Ronedin, Head of HR at an international school in Singapore, on what to look out for in a contract before signing, the common misconceptions about HR, and where the profession is headed as AI reshapes it.

Support the show

The Common Room is hosted by Joshua Darryl Sussex — it is an independent project, produced in a personal capacity and outside of any professional or institutional role. Views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent any employer, university, or organisation. No guest, organisation, or product featured has paid for or provided any consideration for their appearance.

Follow along and get in touch:

LinkedIn: linkedin/joshuadarrylsussex

Instagram: instagram/the_common_room_podcast/

Website: joshuadarrylsussex.com 

New episodes released regularly — subscribe so you don't miss the next conversation.

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A sports injury put Ian Hopkins into teaching by accident. Almost thirty years later, he has led schools on four continents.

In the very first episode of The Common Room, Joshua sits down with Ian — a school leader with over twenty years in senior leadership across the UK, Africa, the Middle East, China and Malaysia. He has served as Headteacher, Principal and Acting Principal in British and international schools, leading learning from Early Years to Year 13 across British, Cambridge and IB curricula. He is currently Primary Principal at Sri KDU International School Penang and is completing an MBA at Heriot-Watt University.

Together, they unpack the question underneath every international career: why international education?

In this conversation, we cover:

• The accidental route in, from injury to headship in the UK
• Thirteen years leading schools across Kenya, Jordan, China and Malaysia
• Culture shock, and the hidden challenges facing the trailing spouse
• What it actually means to live out of a suitcase
• The shift from being done to, to being done with, in leadership and accreditation
• Third culture kids, family sacrifice, and why wellbeing rather than career progression has become the real measure of success

Next episode: Joshua goes solo, on leading in British-branded schools in China and introducing Culturally Mediated Leadership, the framework developed through his doctoral research.

Support the show

The Common Room is hosted by Joshua Darryl Sussex — it is an independent project, produced in a personal capacity and outside of any professional or institutional role. Views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent any employer, university, or organisation. No guest, organisation, or product featured has paid for or provided any consideration for their appearance.

Follow along and get in touch:

LinkedIn: linkedin/joshuadarrylsussex

Instagram: instagram/the_common_room_podcast/

Website: joshuadarrylsussex.com 

New episodes released regularly — subscribe so you don't miss the next conversation.

Send us Fan Mail

An introduction to The Common Room — Where the World Teaches. A podcast for everyone living abroad and part of international education, hosted by Joshua Sussex.

Support the show

The Common Room is hosted by Joshua Darryl Sussex — it is an independent project, produced in a personal capacity and outside of any professional or institutional role. Views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent any employer, university, or organisation. No guest, organisation, or product featured has paid for or provided any consideration for their appearance.

Follow along and get in touch:

LinkedIn: linkedin/joshuadarrylsussex

Instagram: instagram/the_common_room_podcast/

Website: joshuadarrylsussex.com 

New episodes released regularly — subscribe so you don't miss the next conversation.