Join us for our second anniversary show as we review and celebrate all the incredible guests from this past year. Our review provides some insights for each interview that might lead you to return to shows you previously enjoyed – and to seek out those you missed – to take a listen!

We organized the episodes into the themes of:

• Recruiting and Transitioning
• International Teacher Experiences with Lessons Learned
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Belonging
• Technology/ Online Learning
• Leadership
• Future of Education
• International Families
• Standalone Topics - Professional Development & Reviewing Our Resource Library

The show was recorded on December 14, 2024.

Categories: Transitions | School Life | Travel | Recruiting

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Music: YouTube. (2022). Acoustic Guitar | Folk | No copyright | 2022❤️. YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEmg_6i7jA.

We found Maxwell Carpenter globe-trotting into his first gig as an international teacher. We spoke to him about his experiences along the way.

Maxwell Carpenter is an IB Physics teacher at St George's British International School of Rome. He began teaching in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington DC after studying Physics, Math, and Education at Virginia Tech. He is interested in exploring interdisciplinary approaches to education, drawing from his interests in philosophy, mythology, history, and comparative religion. In his free time, he enjoys reading and collecting, drinking and sharing tea.

The Guiding Questions were, “What has your move to being an international educator looked like — from recruiting to onboarding to transitioning to orientation? Now, with a couple of months of international teaching experience under your belt, how goes it?”

Here are a few topics covered in the interview:

• Why go global?
• Recruiting using a variety of pathways
• Lessons from interviewing
• Emotional ups and downs
• Onboarding
• Orientation - school and personal efforts
• US versus International teaching comparison
• Life outside of school
• The reveal of Max’s new home and school

The show was recorded on October 19, 2024.

Categories: PD | School Life | Travel | Recruiting

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Email us with comments or suggestions at educatorsgoingglobal@gmail.com

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Listen on your favorite podcast app: connect from our share page.

Music: YouTube. (2022). Acoustic Guitar | Folk | No copyright | 2022❤️. YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEmg_6i7jA.

Get ready to learn a lot about international education as we interview three long-term veterans while sharing a few insights ourselves.

David Ross is a retired 58-year-old international educator. He began teaching elementary school in Los Angeles, then moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with his family to teach at ISKL for six years. He then took a one-year sabbatical with his family to bike across Europe and ended up in Saigon, Vietnam. He taught grade four for nine years at SSIS and coached middle and high school men’s volleyball. He enjoys SCUBA diving, free diving, playing in a band, pickleball, staying fit, and cooking. He has also been a proactive investor and proponent of financial literacy.

Rob Howe is a 56-year-old business professional and international educator. He began his career in the technology industry. After a 1.5-year sabbatical from work, he met his wife, an international teacher, and decided to become one. His first opportunity was in Jakarta, Indonesia, for two years at NJIS. He then returned to the USA, started a new career in sustainability consulting, and adopted two children from India. In 2014, he returned to overseas teaching. Posts included Beirut, Lebanon, Harare, Zimbabwe, and Saigon, Vietnam at SSIS. He participated in the Sustainability Council at each school and is an avid hiker, biker, gardener, and explorer.

Amy Hunt is currently teaching Psychology and Science of Mind at Nueva School in the San Francisco Bay Area. After earning an MAT and spending a year in outdoor education in 1987, Amy left the US at age 25 to teach IB English in Addis Ababa, where she met her husband, Lee Fertig. They moved together to Rio, where Amy also began teaching IB Theory of Knowledge. They moved to the U.S. for awhile and then went back overseas, for more beautiful experiences in Barcelona, São Paulo, and Brussels before returning to the US in 2020. A curious risk-taker and boundary-stretcher, Amy has taught many subjects and recently became a certified yoga therapist. She reads a lot, loves murder shows and pickleball, takes hikes and cold plunges, and tries to coax her three 20-something children to fly the nest.

Our Guiding Question was, “What are some lessons learned from your careers as international educators?”

Here are a few topics covered in this episode:

• Personal and Professional: Big picture highlights and lowlights
• Strategies to make the most of one’s time overseas both personally and professionally
• Raising Children Overseas: Tips to support them in and outside of school
• Living in and outside the school bubble
• Different life and career pathways

The show was recorded on October 16, 2024.

Categories: Parenting | School Life | Transitions | Travel | Finances

Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information or to subscribe to our newsletter!

Email us with comments or suggestions at educatorsgoingglobal@gmail.com

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Listen on your favorite podcast app: connect from our share page.

Music: YouTube. (2022). Acoustic Guitar | Folk | No copyright | 2022❤️. YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEmg_6i7jA.

What makes great professional development? We spoke with Justin Hardman, the founder and Director of 21st Century Learning, about professional development for international educators.

Since 2012, 21st Century Learning has connected more than 20,000 K-12 educators with a wide variety of face-to-face and online professional learning opportunities. Beyond professional learning, Justin has a passion for supporting schools in better-integrating technology into school programs with a focus on strategy, leadership, and planning for systemic change. He was Director of Technology at Hong Kong International School and has led EdTech consultancy projects with many of the leading international schools in the Asia Pacific region.

Our Guiding Questions were, “What does the landscape of professional learning opportunities look like? What is the menu of offerings for educators to design personalized learning plans?”

Here are some of the topics covered:

• The mission of the 21st Century Learning company
• The learning pathways it provides for international educators
• Ways that educators can become PD providers
• A menu of professional learning offerings
• The role of Generative AI in professional development
• Some thoughts on how school leaders can design and implement professional learning opportunities for their communities
• Ways that schools can design PD programs that connect to student learning while working to gather data on their implementation, thus building in feedback loops for PD.

Justin’s Contact Information: 21st Century Contact Page | X: jahardman

Resources Mentioned in the Episode:Breathing Fire Into Web 2.0

The show was recorded on September 3, 2024.

Categories: PD | School Life | Wellness

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Music: YouTube. (2022). Acoustic Guitar | Folk | No copyright | 2022❤️. YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEmg_6i7jA.

Transitions are a given when you are an international educator.

We did a different style show here with David asking all the questions as he interviewed Audrey and Mark Forgeron about their recent return and transition to international teaching.

Audrey Forgeron is a 30-year, nine-country international teaching veteran. She has taught Health and PE, French, Information Technology, and Film. She has recently transitioned from teaching to life coaching.

Mark Forgeron has spent 40 years as a teacher, with 38 years teaching internationally. Nepal is now his 10th country, and he has always been a middle-level math teacher. Mark has enjoyed teaching in all regions of the world, always looking for a new and non-lateral location. He has served as a math teacher and math coordinator, a middle school coordinator, and a coach of middle school, high school, and community sports, including soccer, volleyball, basketball, baseball, and track & field.

Our Guiding Question was, “What are some tried-and-true ways to prepare to transition to a new school and country?”

Here are some of the topics covered:

• Finances both in one’s home country and new country
• Documentation to do’s
• Packing - what goes and what stays
• Social Factors
• Emotional Experiences
• Orientation - School provided and doing one’s own

Audrey’s Contact Information: educatorsgoingglobal@gmail.com, LinkedIn.com/in/aforgeron


The show was recorded on October 18, 2024.

Categories: Transitions | School Life | Wellness

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Listen on your favorite podcast app: connect from our share page.

Music: YouTube. (2022). Acoustic Guitar | Folk | No copyright | 2022❤️. YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEmg_6i7jA.

We so enjoyed our first chat with Michael Nachbar, Executive Director of the Global Online Academy (GOA) that we asked him to come back for a second interview! Just as before, Michael tackled our questions with vigor and showed an incredible depth of knowledge.

We are curious about the concept of “future-proofing” education, so it made sense to consider Michael’s take as a future-focused thinker. With that in mind, our guiding question was: “What does online learning look like going forward, especially given the rapid growth of AI?”

Here are some of the topics covered:

• How GOA has adapted to recent changes in the education sector.
• Preparing for the possibility of school closure.
• Getting buy-in from stakeholders for virtual learning.
• The efforts of the GOA community to harness AI for education.
• Advice from author Daniel Pink on innovation in schools and his daughter Sophia’s version of hybrid learning at HKIS.
• Strategies to support teachers and students in learning to use AI for education.
• Michael reflected on his GOA Insights Blog post, “Seven Predictions for Education in 2024.”
• A few future-proofing strategies and guiding principles for schools.

Michael spearheads a global network of schools and educators dedicated to transforming education. His expertise lies in integrating foundational teaching principles with cutting-edge technologies and innovative pedagogies.

Michael regularly presents at conferences on topics including leadership and innovation trends. His thought leadership is widely recognized and respected across the educational community. He is also a Lakeside School trustee and has served on the boards of the NAIS, the Mastery Transcript Consortium, Summer Search, the ISAnet, and JUMP! Foundation.

Michael holds an M.A. in Education Leadership from Columbia. He began with Teach For America, laying a strong foundation for his ongoing commitment to educational excellence, innovation, and equity.

Resources Mentioned:

Michael’s Blog Post “Seven Predictions for Education in 2024.”
Sophia Pink interviews on the Ed Tech Co-Op Podcast: Interviews 1 and 2

Michael’s Contact Information: LinkedIn | Global Online Academy (scroll down for contact info)

The show was recorded on July 10th, 2024.

Categories: Online Learning | Pedagogy | School Life

Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information or to subscribe to our newsletter!

Email us with comments or suggestions at educatorsgoingglobal@gmail.com

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Listen on your favorite podcast app: connect from our share page.

Music: YouTube. (2022). Acoustic Guitar | Folk | No copyright | 2022❤️. YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEmg_6i7jA.

Who is growing a media empire based on international teaching? Who loves going to recruiting conferences? And who writes entire books in a weekend? The answer, of course, is our fellow podcasting buddy Greg Lemoine.

Greg wrote a follow-up to his award-winning (we awarded it a gold star) first book, “Finding the Right Fit: Your Professional Guide for International Educator Recruiting Fairs and Amazing Stories of a Teacher Living Overseas.” His second book is “International Teaching: The Best-kept Secret in Education”. In this episode, we took a peek at some of those secrets. Greg also publishes the International Teacher Podcast with his partners, rounding out the offerings of his content creation empire.

The Guiding Question for this episode was: What tips, strategies, and takeaways can you share from your new book, International Teaching: The Best-kept Secret in Education?

Here are a few of the topics Greg addressed in this episode:

• Choosing the title of the book
• What going digital means for international educators
• Partnering with recruiting agencies and attending their fairs
• Making connections
• Dodging pitfalls and dragon fire in international classrooms with grace and good humor

Greg’s Contact Information: The International Teacher podcast is available on all podcasting platforms. Contact Greg and his podcasting partners at internationalteacherpodcast@gmail.com.

Resources Mentioned in the Episode:

• Greg's Personal-Professional Website
• International Teacher Podcast
• Finding the Right Fit: Your Professional Guide for International Educator Recruiting Fairs and Amazing Stories of a Teacher Living Overseas
• International Teaching: The Best-kept Secret in Education

The show was recorded on August 15, 2024.

Category: Recruiting

Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information or to subscribe to our newsletter!

Email us with comments or suggestions at educatorsgoingglobal@gmail.com

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Listen on your favorite podcast app: connect from our share page.

Music: YouTube. (2022). Acoustic Guitar | Folk | No copyright | 2022❤️. YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEmg_6i7jA.

We always say, "Do your research!"

In this show, David and Audrey share some fabulous resources from our Library, adding their own insights.

Here are links to the resources:

International School Community Blog - New Teacher Orientation Is Now Underway: 14 Must Haves

AIELOC Resource page

Wall Street Journal - Teachers Are Burning Out on the Job: Student Behavior and Mediocre Pay Are Taking Their Toll

GOA summer playlist 2024 and insights blog

The Economist - The Rich World’s Teachers Are Increasingly Morose (Pay Walled)

Safe Passages - Doug Ota’s work (counseling and consulting) and book

We would love to hear from you about an interesting blog post, article, podcast episode, or other resource that expanded your thinking about international education. Please email us at educatorsgoingglobal@gmail.com with your suggested resource or if you are a member of our Facebook group, please add your resource there.

Remember to access our Educators Going Global website for more information or to subscribe to our newsletter!

Email us with comments or suggestions at educatorsgoingglobal@gmail.com

Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube.

Listen on your favorite podcast app: connect from our share page.

Music: YouTube. (2022). Acoustic Guitar | Folk | No copyright | 2022❤️. YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEmg_6i7jA.