It is such a treat to reconnect with a former student and to discover where their life has led them. In this episode, we reconnected with Claire Gaul, a student from our Saudi days. Claire and her husband, Jamel, teach at their third international post, a school in China.  They shared so many great insights that you might have to listen to the episode twice to take them all in! Claire is originally from California, and Jamel was raised in Alsace in a Tunisian/Algerian family. They enjoy...

Can you feel the energy in the air? This was a zinger of an episode! Kam Chohan, the Executive Director of the Educational Collaborative for International Schools (ECIS), joined us for this episode.  With a background in education and leadership, Kam Chohan is a learning leader who brings insight, wisdom, and compassion to the role. She demonstrates the ability to build meaningful, lasting relationships that contribute to personal and organizational development and improvement. Kam is a...

Warning: Show contains critical amounts of meaty information!  Ken Shelton joined us to discuss how schools can effectively design and implement new programs. He used DEIJ as a case study for managing the change process.  Ken Shelton is an award-winning educator and international keynote speaker addressing critical issues from multimedia literacy to cultural intelligences to Artificial Intelligence. Ken has over two decades of experience and an MEd specializing in Ed Tech and New Media Design...

What keeps international school heads awake at night? What all-important areas of decision-making currently occupy their thoughts? What trends in international education are they focused on? To find out, we again reached out to the very well-connected Laura Light, Executive Director of the Association for the Advancement of International Education.  Laura joined AAIE in 2021, bringing in years of experience working alongside school heads and senior leadership, supporting the critical task of...

International teacher consultant Jacqueline Mallais joined us once again from Guadalajara, Mexico, for this episode.  Jacqueline is a former international teacher and school leader with over 20 years of experience in six countries on four continents. Since heading overseas in 1996, she has helped numerous teachers secure amazing opportunities abroad. Originally from Ottawa, Canada, and now living in beautiful Guadalajara, Mexico, Jacqueline offers her consulting services to teachers looking...

Who is the go-to resource for the lowdown on the current state of international school recruiting? Thanks to an introduction from super-connector Laura Light, we were fortunate enough to connect with one of the best-placed people for answers to our recruiting questions. Pauline O'Brien is the Global Recruitment Business Strategy Development Director at International School Services (ISS).  We peppered Pauline with questions to help our listeners deepen their understanding of where things...

Are you going recruiting? Is your résumé up to date? Are you prepared for your interviews? If not, maybe you’d better see V! Yes; that’s the tagline for Valeria Laitinen, an international school principal who moonlights as a consultant helping educators prepare for the international recruiting process. She can help with all aspects of the job-seeking endeavor, from A to Z.  We covered several topics in this episode, including:  Valeria’s experiences as part of a diplomatic family (we are...

Audrey and David dive into the blog post “Profiling Schools, Cities, and Countries” to bring listeners’ attention to the importance of planning for their next move. The post provides criteria for comparing and ranking schools, cities, and countries to help you be more objective when 1 - planning which schools to apply to and then 2 - comparing job offers when they come in.  These tools should prove to be super helpful as you go through the processes of setting your priorities, researching...

!Hola a todos! You are in for a real treat today. We were fortunate enough to speak with Michael Adams, Executive Director of the TRI Association. This is an association of schools in Mexico, Central America, Colombia, and the Caribbean. Michael embodies the spirit of community, connection, and sharing that supports the TRI mission. He also represents yet another current and ex-HOS that is genuine, dedicated, and wise in their leadership. Starting with his own Going Global Story and then...

What happens when you speak with two leaders in the field of educational technology? You learn a lot! We were fortunate to speak with Dan Taylor and John Mikton, who, in their spare time, host the big dog of international education podcasting, The International Schools Podcast. Dan has been involved in the Google for Education community since 2006 and is the founder and director of AppsEvents, a Google-based PD provider. He has trained educators across the globe from El Salvador to...

Imagine being a candidate to become a new Head of School! What would that be like?  If you are a veteran international educator, you have most likely either participated in or witnessed your school finding a new Head of School. If you are going global for the first time, you might wonder how international schools are structured administratively  — and if you make it through the first rounds of interviews, you will likely meet with the Head of School, sometimes called the Director or the...

Over a year and a half ago, Audrey envisioned a website and podcast to help educators “go global”. She asked David to join her, and the work began – to provide written and audio content for our followers. Our first podcast episode went live in December of 2022, which makes this our first anniversary. Let’s celebrate our podcast guests and the growth of our information hub! Have you visited the Educators Going Global Information Hub website? It is a big part of our outreach connecting to our...

Sometimes we happen to read articles and blog posts that ring true to us. Occasionally, we may even think, “Hey, this author could be talking about me and my experiences!” Well, guess what? I had this sensation when reading an article in TIEonline entitled “My Identity as an International Educator.” The article really nailed the character strengths, dispositions, and experiences of individuals who “go global” to teach.  I shared the article with Audrey and said, “Let’s get the author, Sandy...

You might have noticed that we like to ask big, juicy questions that our guests can sink their teeth into. We intend to provide you with as much information and rich detail as possible, which guides us in designing our questions. In this interview with Dr. Alan Knobloch, we went super big! We asked Alan for his insights on the future of education.  Alan was ready for this question because he participated with other school leaders through the Academy for International School Heads (AISH) to...

What is it like “going global” in an Africa-based international school and community? Educators are often intentional in choosing to live and work there. Could you be a good fit for an international school in Africa?  Thankfully, we have a veteran international educator who led a school in Africa and now consults with schools across the continent to answer these questions and more! We sat down with Dr. Tim Stuart to draw on his experiences.  Tim  is a Regional Education Officer with the US...

We continue to share with you what it means to be an international educator. We speak to the dispositions and character strengths many engage to be outstanding educators and remarkable human beings. Our guest for this episode exemplifies such character while demonstrating how flexibility and a growth mindset led her to various leadership roles in schools and communities.  Our guest is Mona Stuart, who speaks to the many roles she has filled over her career -- and beyond!     Mona has gladly...

Growing one’s network is a common theme in many of our interviews. We probably will not find a more connected person in the international schooling community than Laura Light! Laura is the current Executive Director of The Association for the Advancement of International Education (AAIE), which she joined in September 2021. She brings to AAIE many years of experience working alongside school heads and senior leadership, supporting the most critical task of recruiting teachers and...

An integral aspect of international education involves transitions. We not only move between schools and countries, but we also find ourselves making moves within our schools with our jobs and roles while also going through the normal life transitions of experiencing the stages of life, possibly raising children, taking care of aging parents, and so on but doing so while living overseas.  Transitions are so important that we made it one of the five categories in organizing information on our...

Are you looking to move into administration at some point? Do you know what it takes? Fortunately, we have lots of advice for you with our guest Dr. Gregory Moncada.  Dr. Moncada is the Head of School for the Harare International School (HIS) in Zimbabwe and was previously the founding director of the Qatar Academy for Science and Technology (QAST), the Qatar Foundations’ new Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) school. Prior to his leading role at HIS and QAST, Dr....

Support dogs positively influence our emotional state. So why not bring trained service dogs into schools? Meet 3 international educators who have begun support dogprograms:  Brenda Manfredi (International School of Prague) has worked in New York, Bangkok, Thailand, and Hanoi, Vietnam. She and her family now live in Prague, Czech Republic. Program Description: ISP’s support dog program began after the COVID shutdown.  It supports students and teachers and comprises two support dogs, Brodie...

What character strengths and dispositions help international educators start their going global journey to sustain them through the ups and downs of teaching and living internationally? We learned firsthand from our guest, Jessica Simmons, who shared a multi-part Going Global Story that models these traits.  Jessica Simmons is from Melbourne, Australia. She has over 19 years of experience as a qualified educator. Working as a drama and humanities teacher across schools in various states of...

David and Audrey recorded a brief episode to explain that we are pausing for the summer. Additionally, we made a request for suggested topics or guests. Finally, we also reminded our listeners that listening to the podcast on their phones is an option to explore. Here are some instructions on how to do so.  Have a relaxing summer, everyone! Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information or to subscribe to our newsletter! Email us with comments or suggestions...

We spoke with first-time international educator Tonya Busse, who shares her recent recruiting experience. We learn how a couple of big snowstorms opened the door for Tonya to learn about – and then act on her learning about – international education. We cover Tonya’s recruiting journey through onboarding and connecting to the teacher she will replace at her new school.  Tonya is a teacher, runner, adventurer, and soon-to-be international educator in Kingston, Jamaica. Originally from Prince...

If you are like most people , you probably think about what the applicant needs to do to shine for the recruiters . In this episode, we flip that perception on its head, giving applicants agency and putting them squarely in the driver’s seat as they actively engage with prospective schools to see how the schools measure up! Our guest, Lloyd French, works for Teach Away in the position of advising schools on how they can better present themselves to applicants in a very competitive landscape...