The Staffroom

In this week’s episode of The Staffroom, we were fortunate to speak with award-winning technology consultant and inspirational change-management expert Abdul Chohan. We also spoke with our very own change-management champion, Vice Principal of Corpus Christi College, Karen Prendergast.

Abdul Chohan is a well-known leader and recognised for his integration of digital learning strategies in a number of UK schools. In the episode, Abdul speaks with us about his pioneering work in developing change through his philosophy of simplicity and reliability at Essa Academy and the Olive Tree School.

Here’s a break-down of our chat with Abdul complete with time-stamps:

Karen Prendergast is known for leading change at Corpus Christi College by developing a school-wide teaching and learning philosophy with the University of Southern Queensland. Karen speaks with us about the valuable factors which underpin a change in school culture.

Here’s what we asked her:

We hope you enjoy this episode of The Staffroom and find Abdul and Karen’s leadership vision as inspirational as we did.

We wish Abdul and Karen all the best for 2018 and the development of their organisations.

Until next time!

Jamie, Michael and Tessa

Twitter:

@XpatEducator

@Michael_Royall

@tessa_johnson2

In this week’s episode of The Staffroom, we were privileged to speak with former head-teacher, consultant, prolific blogger and author, Tom Sherrington. 

With a large online following, Tom is well-known across the world for his wise, balanced and practical ideas which he shares regularly on Twitter and on his well-known blog, teacherhead.com. In the episode, Tom speaks with us about his hugely popular book, The Learning Rainforest which strikes a balance between the big-picture of great schools and the invaluable detail of what makes great teaching.  

We genuinely enjoyed chatting with Tom. His experience, insight and intellect shone throughout our interview.

So, without further a due here’s a break-down of our chat complete with time-stamps:

We hope you enjoy this episode of The Staffroom and find Tom’s educational philosophy as inspirational as we did. You can grab a copy of The Learning Rainforest which is available on Amazon now. We highly recommend you introduce this book to your school leaders and plant the seeds for your own rainforest. Be sure to subscribe to Tom’s blog and follow him on Twitter @teacherhead.

We wish Tom all the best for 2018 and the growing success of his blog and consultancy business. 

Until next time!

Jamie, Michael and Tessa

This week on The Staffroom we were lucky to chat with educational expert, Dan Haesler from Sydney, Australia.

With over 16,000 followers on Twitter, Dan is well-known across Asia-Pacific for his dynamic, energetic and passionate Keynote speeches on authentic classroom engagement, growth mindset and well-being. Dan also speaks about his book #SchoolOfThought, a collection of blog-posts and essays which offer thought-provoking ideas and real-life insight into his experiences with students. 

We genuinely enjoyed chatting with Dan, finding his words open and honest and his ideas captivating.

Here’s a break-down of our chat complete with time-stamps:

We hope you enjoy this episode of The Staffroom and find Dan’s words as inspirational as we did. As always, we have a lot to take away from our chat – we discuss some top takeaways at the end of the episode. Like us, I know you will have a lot to think about.  

Go purchase a copy of Dan’s excellent book, #SchoolOfThought which is available internationally on Amazon and can be ordered from Dan’s website in Australia . All profits from the book go to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation who go to remote areas of Australia delivering books to hard-to-reach children. 

We wish Dan all the best for 2018 and the growing success of his business Cut Through Coaching and Consulting.

Until next time!

Jamie, Michael and Tessa

In Episode 3 of The Staffroom we were privileged to speak with Ross McGill, known online and world-wide as @TeacherToolkit.

We want to thank Ross McGill for being an excellent guest and sharing his expertise with us. We’re so excited to broadcast his ideas and perspectives to educators in Australia and worldwide. Being a new podcast, it’s a credit to him that he didn’t ask for listener figures or turn a blind-eye. He simply wanted to chat about education and his passion for having common sense approaches that reduce workload, save time and have a big impact on learning.

Ross’ new book, Mark. Plan. Teach is built on research and psychology and evolved through social media connections and ongoing discussions. The book has been a huge success in the UK and offers punchy practical advice for teachers who are looking to keep it simple! In the podcast, Ross speaks at length about why working smarter, not harder is important for teachers in the current climate of accountability and increasing workload.

In our 40-minute chat, we covered a lot of ground. Here’s a break-down complete with time-stamps:

 I hope you enjoy this episode of The Staffroom and find Ross’ words as inspirational as we did. At the end of the episode, we reflect on some takeaways which resonated with us from our conversation – like us, I’m sure you’ll have lots to ponder!

Please, pick up a copy of Ross’ book, Mark. Plan. Teach which is available now on Amazon. It’s a fabulous ‘hand-book’ to share with your department and is practical enough to be used for professional development sessions. We wish Ross all the best for 2018 and the growing success of teachertoolkit.co.uk.

Until next time!

Jamie, Michael and Tessa.

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In this episode, we explore learning technologies further. ICT guru, Craig Kemp joins us to speak about the futuristic ways technology is used at his school, Stamford American International School in Singapore. And we speak to experienced education consultant Lou Cimetta who chats about the way iPad has revolutionised learning.

If used effectively, technology has the power to enhance teaching and learning. In this episode, Apple Distinguished Educator and Director of Learning Technologies, Daniel Budd shares his experiences on the way iPad is used to redefine learning at Corpus Christi College in Western Australia. We also hear from Cathy Hunt, an Apple Distinguished Educator and global speaker from St Hilda's School on Australia's Gold Coast. She chats about the creative ways iPad has become part of her practice.