The PilotEd Podcast

Armen Melkonian is PilotEd’s first guest in over a year, due to a busy schedule in a new role for me, and also a time of renewed commitment and focus on making a concerted effort to speak to guests who are not content to do things the way they have always been done, and who are not content to sit quietly in the face of discrimination. Armen embodies both of these things, and many more qualities besides. I was delighted to meet him on a recent visit he made to my school, the British School of Barcelona, and I knew he was an extremely intelligent activist from the start.

Despite suffering multiple layers of discrimination (his Syrian Bachelors degree unrecognised by the system in Europe, intolerance of his accent in his third language, anti-refugee and homophobic sentiment),  he refused to accept less and was not prepared to take any roles that did not allow him to live his truth.

Armen is nominated for an award with UAF, a body providing support to refugee students and professionals in their studies and in finding suitable employment on the Dutch labour market since 1948:  you can vote for him here in October 2022: https://www.uaf.nl/uaf-award/armen/?utm_source=armen&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=uafaward

(Stem op Armen means "vote for Armen")

Welcome back listeners! Series 2, Ep1 opens with Moustafa Ezz, Director of International Recruitment & Strategy at Huron at Western University in Ontario, Canada.

Moustafa’s perspective is one that has been informed by both his own international school experience and his first hand understanding of inequality and deep injustices he witnessed growing up in the Gulf. Knowing more about his past and what it means for the non-traditional students recruited by his team, we can ensure that in lesser-seen, or lesser-visited parts of their world, innovation and adaptation in a post-COVID world can continue. Admissions conversations can and must remain global despite flights being largely grounded, because talent is still evenly distributed even if opportunities are not. We may however have to re-imagine what college looks like, at least in the short term. Leaders like Moustafa help to lay down the gauntlet for colleagues in international recruitment. Huron’s website says that their liberal arts and ethics curriculum aims to give personalized learning experiences to students while also developing their character, and that the result is students who are formidable Leaders with Heart who care about the people and world around them. With Leaders like Moustafa at the helm, they are sure to fulfill that mission.

In this final episode of the first season, I met former international school students Clara Reynolds and Xoài David, two twenty-one year olds on a mission to decolonise the curriculum in the world of international education. Their movement began as “decolonise the IB” and is now the Organisation to Decolonise International Schools. It has taken hold and empowered other international school alumni, teachers and students. In this episode they explain their aims to eradicate racism and encourage a more globally ethical outlook in teaching and learning: from learning about native histories and cultures to diversifying hiring and recruitment practices. They’re two impressive young women on a mission to do right, and I’m delighted to finish the season with their voices. As IB-educated students they have taken up a huge piece of much-needed work on accountability & amplification of diverse voices in our world of international education. They have also taken swift action in a way that should make us as educators sit up and take notice. This generation are not going to accept the glossy brochure version of international school life if diversity at schools is just paying lip-service. Students, educators and parents are beginning to ask hard questions of their leadership committees and boards. It’s an uncomfortable, pressing issue that erupted again and again this year in our news media and reminded us all of the hard truths: there are still gender, disability and racial inequalities in terms of senior international school leadership and our practices and policies. We saw conversations and public statements on Black Lives Matter and anti-racist policies posted in international school fora from the Council of International Schools and the International Association of College Admissions Counselors, and witnessed allyship groups such as the Association of International Educators and Leaders of Color and BAMEed doubling down on prejudice and inequality in international school systems, making vocal calls for change heard. What Clara and Xoài remind me is that schools are community organisations whose reach is felt long after students leave the gates. The most future-ready and respected leaders are currently putting resources into ensuring that they not only retain, but champion and listen to the diverse voices of their staff and students. If there aren’t any: then it’s some hard questions need to be asked.

Meet Hannah Wilson, an independent consultant and facilitator who specialises in leadership development and training. Hannah was one of the founding members of the Women in Education Leadership movement WomenEd in the UK. She is a DfE coach for the Women Leading in Education initiative and an advocate for flexible working. She specialises in: Diversity, Inclusion and Equality, Professional Learning, Early Career Teachers, Mental Health and Wellbeing.

I met Hannah through my work with WomenEd, but she is a twitter superstar in her own right and I had seen her posts long before I connected with her. As a vocal champion of serving under-represented voices in leadership, she leads by example, taking decisions led by strong core values and modeling what it means to be an ethical leader: coincidentally, that’s also her twitter handle. After speaking to both Lawrence and Hannah I have been struck by a strong similarity in their outlooks: We need to think about the umbrella of all the diversities, and the need for the majority to consider our individual power and privilege as well as that of the groups we identify with. We need to think about all of the "protected characteristics". These refer to the 2010 The Equality Act passed in the UK, and identify groups protected by equality legislation – age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion,sexual orientation, or civil status. Being able to understand the terminology and the fact that discrimination exists in many forms helps us all to recognise our own privileges and unexamined advantages at work and in the world at large, and it shows that the fight to eradicate discrimination is a bigger one than many of us initially think. But it also binds us in that fight in different, powerful ways.

WomenED is just one of those tribes, but there are many others, with different focal points: BAMEed, AIELOC, Daily Writing Challenge group on twitter, seeking out empowering conferences online to be part of, peer support circles and educator coaching sessions.

Further sources & notes:

Kevin Simpson founded The Association of International Educators and Leaders of Color (AIELOC) - an org devoted to amplifying the work of international educators and leaders of color with a focus on advocacy, learning, and research. Kevin is an entrepreneur and educator whose work came into my frame of reference earlier this year when I was introduced to the AIELOC group by a colleague and friend. Since 2008, Simpson has been focused on education in the MENA region, assisted numerous schools with accreditation, training, development, and served as a thought partner to investors on school start-up projects. Simpson is co-founder of the UAE Learning Network, has co-authored papers on American curriculum in the MENA region with a focus on Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, social studies, the arts, and the history of American Education in the UAE.  His company, KDSL Global is an education consulting company based in the USA and in the UAE. Simpson and his team have served thousands of schools, organizations, educators, and leaders worldwide in over 20 countries.

One of the biggest takeaways from speaking to Kevin for me was his tireless commitment to the various communities he serves. Starting with the community of his 4th grade classroom, and ensuring their exposure to global reference points, and then broadening out to his AIELOC work to elevate and amplify voices of educators of colour - specifically certain groups such as female leaders of colour. AIELOC’s work is in many ways just beginning to be seen by those educators who were not already a part of the affinity group, and that is also part of the issue. If as an educator I was not taking the time to understand that this group needed to exist back in 2017, then I was also not paying attention to my own privileges. As a person of mixed heritage who “can pass” for white, has a British passport and has never been knowingly overlooked in the international school system for my ethnicity, I am aware that I have lived an entirely privileged experience within the sector. Knowing that more visible minorities experience the gamut from microagressions about well-spokeness, all the way through to blatant discrimination, I am acutely aware that those of us who don’t experience this have a duty to call it out, and support our colleagues who do have to live it. As Kevin says, it is everyone’s work to do, and it starts with the individual first.

Talking to Kevin and engaging with AIELOC has broadened my perspective and re-affirmed my commitment to the self-enquiry, learning and unlearning he spoke about. If you have been undertaking similar work, I encourage you to follow AIELOC on twitter, @globalKDSL and the AIELOC group on facebook if you identify as an educator of color. And even if you are not, then there is a fantastic list of ways in which you can lead for change in your own organisations, starting with the investigation of school or university policies, the use of mentoring and investment in professional development of staff as well as the creation of leadership pipelines

Resources: AIELOC: http://aieloc.org Black in International Schools Instagram:

Welcome back to Episode 10 of PilotEd. Series one is drawing to a close, but this week’s guest was something of a surprise appearance. She’s an education heroine of mine. Rebecca Zeigler Mano is the founder of EdMatters Africa, the USAP Community School in Zimbabwe, and she co-founded the HALI Access Network.  HALI stands for High Acheiving Low Income, and its 20+ organizations work in more than 30 countries across Africa, supporting thousands of students on their journeys to find post-secondary options with funding.

Rebecca is active as a presenter, trainer and leader in international education organisations such as NAFSA, IACAC, and CIS where I saw a moving keynote from her on USAP’s work last November. That speech led me to reach out directly to Rebecca. I was, as you can imagine, delighted to discover that she listens to PilotED on her morning walks, and that she could make time to be a guest.

Speaking to Rebecca was an inspiring experience in so many ways.  She  understands that she cannot be a voice for the whole continent, nor even for the direct experience of her Zimbabwean students, but as with any great champion or ally, she is intentional about how and where she uses her influence. She is a powerful advocate for access and inclusion in her communities in Zimbabwe, the USA and across international higher education. The HALI network’s goals are to share ideas, resources and experiences to improve their work with high-achieving, low-income students, to provide relevant and insightful information to the wider college admissions and international education community, to advocate on issues affecting high-achieving low-income international students and to increase scholarship opportunities and support for high-achieving low-income students.

If you are listening and you work for a university that strives for diversity and inclusion, there is a clear call to action here if you’re not already seeking out opportunities to work alongside organisations like HALI and USAP. There are so many others out there. To any other educator who has been profoundly moved, as I am, by what Rebecca and her team of alumni, supporters, and friends do: then you can support their work directly. 

This episode is an educator call to action.  Given the current global protests we are seeing around the need to reform race relations and eradicate structural racism in our societies, for us as educators the most effective way to do this arguably begins with how we select our teachers and leaders in our schools and universities.

This week’s guest is Lawrence Alexander, the Director of Equity and Inclusion at Carney Sandoe & Associates - the largest educational consulting and staffing firm in the US. He facilitates in-house training on best practices around implicit bias and equitable decision making, and is responsible for finding leaders who commit to equity and inclusion in their work in education. He also develops educational opportunities for school partners and closely monitors trends and changes in the profession.

Initially I wanted to understand how Lawrence was balancing the increased interest and demand for his work with the very real challenges he faces as a person of colour working in education in America. Having worked largely in international education settings, it might be easy to imagine that diversity and inclusion is a given, however as Lawrence eloquently put it, we all have a tendency to microwave our global understanding by parochial experiences, which in “diverse” education settings, may make us feel like we know more people than we do authentically.

The danger of a single story is as relevant to any minority or under-represented group - however in life, education, the criminal justice system, the workplace: the odds are stacked against black people. As educators who must continue to innovate to prepare students for the challenges that lay ahead, checking & acknowledging privilege and practising allyship is important work that all of us must do, no matter our histories, gender, skin colour or politics.

I thank Lawrence for his extensive, excellent reading list that brought to light many issues that I too, am ignorant of. It doesn’t matter how diverse your own background is: there’s always more to be learned, and many many other voices to hear from.

Michael Eric Dyson - Tears We Cannot Stop

Austin Channing Brown: I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World for Whiteness

Robin DiAngelo - White Fragility

Glenn Singleton - Courageous Conversations about Race

Debby Irving: Waking up White

Kimberlé Crenshaw - The Urgency of Intersectionality  TED talk

Dr Dena Simmons - How Students of Color Confront Impostor Syndrome TED talk

Ali Michael - How Can I Have a Positive Racial Identity? I'm White! TED talk

Peter Derby-Crook MBE is the Director of Education at China’s Dipont Education Group. Peter’s expansive career in international teaching and headship positions has seen him lead schools in Dubai, Jakarta, Tokyo, Oman, and Singapore as well as two headships in the United Kingdom. In October 2018 he received an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire), one of the UK’s highest honors, for his services to British communities abroad through education. He is also a passionate advocate for change in existing school systems using kindness, and he shows a deep understanding of the nature of childhood.

Peter’s caring, nurturing approach comes from an understanding of being a not-traditionally academic student himself. His refreshing honesty about his trajectory towards being such a successful educator starts with a story of his own trials at school and with exam-taking. I started out by asking him about his journey towards teaching, given his trials and tribulations with formal exams at school.

It's clear that Peter appreciates each of his students deeply, and comes across as an inclusive educator who places equal value on the subjects they are learning. Perhaps that mindset emerged from his primary school training to begin with, where subjects are often more blended and intertwined into projects. It’s also from this holistic viewpoint that Peter views each of the children in his care. Speaking of his new paradigm for schools: that of centres for "learning and growing", his goal is to create and develop children who show gratitude, non-judgement, presence, confidence, risk-taking and who feel free to stay true to the non academic passions and interests they have. Similarly to Corey Johnson of Imagine Scholar in Ep6, Peter is concerned most with developing healthy, happy individuals who flourish and continue to flourish beyond their success measured at school, or at university. He mentions Simon Sinek’s "Find Your Why" as an inspiration; another overlap for recommended reading that some listeners may already be familiar with.

He’s not content with producing “really nice children who are largely unmotivated to help others” but speaks of lifelong learning and growing, celebrating the stories of success of non-traditional achievers and those who made a difference in the world despite having a non-linear trajectory. Peter is one of a rare breed of senior leaders in education who can admit that he failed something at school, and yet, here he is, helping others to appreciate the breadth and diversity of skills and achievements that we manage in life. The gauntlet he has thrown down for any of us working in education is an important one: to start with “why” - this simple question has been instrumental for change since time immemorial.

Imagine Scholar, set up by Corey 10 years ago, is a not for profit programme, somewhere between a community based organisation, an after school programme and a university access programme. It serves a unique and personalised education to promising and motivated young people from disadvantaged communities in the Nkomazi district of South Africa.

Imagine Scholar has seen hundreds of talented young South Africans join universities at home and abroad, and go on to selective educational programmes around the world on full scholarships, but success at Imagine Scholar is celebrated in many forms and focuses on the individual's kindness to others, happiness and service in their community, rather than any traditional metrics: Corey is happy if his students leave the program making the best use of their "dynamic kindness".

Imagine Scholar has understood these simple values, and is proud of each of their students, whether they have travelled far and wide or stayed close to home, because the seeds of change they planted in their students have a knock-on effect in every community they join. And I’m reminded again, of Ron Berger’s little Massachusetts community of nurses, firefighters and plumbers who now could save his life one day, and the higher meaning of what education can be: helping those around us to do good work that you could trust with your life.