Education Leaders | Strategic School Leadership

Exploring the transformative role of social media in education, with a focus on X and LinkedIn. Discussing unique features, community dynamics, and meaningful interactions for educators. Highlighting the benefits of short interactions, hashtag conversations, and live audio spaces. Exploring the concept of an 'everything app' and the competition in the social media landscape.

(REPLAY OF EPISODE 1)In this episode, I spoke to Julian Fisher, the co-founder of Venture Education, a market intelligence consultancy focusing on education in China. If you're an international education leader, you won't want to miss this fascinating discussion on the Chinese education system including the challenges of maintaining a strong school culture in a diverse and constantly changing environment.Here are some of the key takeaways:The Chinese school system is not uniform and varies from school to school, with some using more open teaching styles and group work.The best schools in China are arguably government schools where Chinese families prioritize their children attending good schools and universities in China, rather than international ones.The traditional model of international schools is seen by some with a somewhat neo-colonialist nature, and the transactional nature of the engagements.A school with a strong culture that lasts beyond any one leader or any one member of staff is crucial.Bilingual or international schools offer an advantage in terms of individual support for students.Chinese families have historically been brave and willing to explore opportunities, such as studying overseas.To learn more about Julian’s work and Venture Education, visit their website at https://www.ventureeducation.org/.Thank you for tuning in, and as always, if you found this episode useful, please share your experience. You can find me online on X (@leaningshane), and LinkedIN. My website is shaneleaning.com.For international school leadership tips, subscribe to my newsletter here. About the hostShane Leaning is a passionate organisational development coach with over 14 years of international teaching and leadership experience. His approach to coaching and professional development is all about approachability and attentiveness to the unique strengths and contexts of schools and educators. Shane believes that empowerment fosters growth and success for both educators and students alike.Join Shane's Intensive Leadership Programme at educationleaders.co/intensiveShane Leaning, an organisational coach based in Shanghai, supports school leaders globally. Passionate about empowment, he is the author of the best-selling 'Change Starts Here.' Shane is a leading educational voice in the UK, Asia and around the world.You can find Shane on LinkedIn and Bluesky. or shaneleaning.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special bonus episode of Global Ed Leaders, streamed live on X Spaces, the conversation centers on AI in International Schools. My co-host was Paul Matthews from Tasmania and CEO of https://www.myteacheraide.com/.The episode features a diverse panel of educators from around the world.Join Shane's Intensive Leadership Programme at educationleaders.co/intensiveShane Leaning, an organisational coach based in Shanghai, supports school leaders globally. Passionate about empowment, he is the author of the best-selling 'Change Starts Here.' Shane is a leading educational voice in the UK, Asia and around the world.You can find Shane on LinkedIn and Bluesky. or shaneleaning.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The podcast discusses the importance of coaching, setting goals, and building global connections in the education world. Topics cover embracing bravery in education, reflections on growth in international schools, preparing for a basketball trip, the power of instructional coaching, and the comprehensive role of coaching in education.

In this episode I explore how to handle difficult as a school leader. This discussion is particularly pertinent for school leaders, teachers, and anyone in a managerial role who grapples with the challenge of providing feedback that is both impactful and compassionate. I start by sharing my experiences as a department lead, reflecting on the anxiety and uncertainty I faced when addressing a colleague's underperformance. This personal story leads into an in-depth look at the COIN framework, a structured approach developed by organsational consultant Anna Carroll, which is designed to help leaders deliver clear, effective, and non-confrontational feedback. The COIN model, which stands for Context, Observation, Impact, and Next Steps, is broken down with practical examples. I demonstrate its utility in various difficult situations, like discussing unmet responsibilities and dealing with sensitive issues such as sexist language in the workplace. Throughout the episode, I emphasise the significance of this framework in turning challenging conversations into chances for growth and mutual understanding, thus nurturing a more positive workplace atmosphere. Key Quotes:"Life is full of difficult conversations. We've all had them, we've all squirmed through them.""Using a framework or system makes these challenging conversations feel a bit more manageable.""The COIN model is an acronym for Context, Observation, Impact, and Next Step.""This framework... helps free up some of your cognitive space, which is crucial in these challenging situations." References:Anna Carroll, Organizational Consultant and Creator of the COIN Framework"The Feedback Imperative" by Anna Carroll Thank you for tuning in, and as always, if you found this episode useful, please share your experience. You can find me online on X (@leaningshane), and LinkedIN. My website is shaneleaning.com. For international school leadership tips, subscribe to my newsletter here. About the hostShane Leaning is a passionate organisational development coach with over 14 years of international teaching and leadership experience. His approach to coaching and professional development is all about approachability and attentiveness to the unique strengths and contexts of schools and educators. Shane believes that empowerment fosters growth and success for both educators and students alike.Join Shane's Intensive Leadership Programme at educationleaders.co/intensiveShane Leaning, an organisational coach based in Shanghai, supports school leaders globally. Passionate about empowment, he is the author of the best-selling 'Change Starts Here.' Shane is a leading educational voice in the UK, Asia and around the world.You can find Shane on LinkedIn and Bluesky. or shaneleaning.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rachel Lofthouse and I explore the challenges and nuances of coaching and mentoring in education, particularly in the context of international schools. We discuss the potential drawbacks of implementing coaching at scale without proper consideration and support, emphasising the need for a nuanced, teacher-centered approach. The discussion also touches upon the CollectivEd award, which provides a framework for schools to evaluate and enhance their professional learning and development practices. This is part two of our conversation so if you haven’t listened to part 1, go there first.Key Quotes:"coaching is really an inside out process. It starts from the inside.""If you can do something well, then really hone that talent, really make that work to the very best of your ability. Don't ignore it or deliberately sideline it because somebody's come along to say, well, this seems to be the thing that will get you a 0.5 additional score regardless of who you are.""And it's not just a gut feeling of what will bring benefit, but an informed sense of what will bring benefit in their setting. So it's not just about coaching, it's also about mentoring and putting both of those in the wider context of professional learning. And I do think it's important to remember professional learning is not the same as training."" I think that word sustainable is the word that we perhaps need to most grapple with in education. We think about innovation and we think about change and development, and we probably don't think about how we create a sustainable workforce, a sustainable system that doesn't constantly undermine itself and compromise the outcomes that we're looking for."Links:CollectivED: https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/research/collectived/New Guide to Teacher Coaching from CollectivED at Leeds Beckett University https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/research/collectived/guide-to-coaching/Here be dragons - myth busting Instructional Coaching for teachers | Leeds Beckett UniversityThank you for tuning in, and as always, if you found this episode useful, please share your experience. You can find me online on X and LinkedIN: @leaningshane. My website is shaneleaning.com.For international school leadership tips, subscribe to my newsletter here.About the hostShane Leaning is a passionate organisational development coach with over 11 years of international teaching and leadership experience. His approach to coaching and professional development is all about approachability and attentiveness to the unique strengths and contexts of schools and educators. Shane believes that empowerment fosters growth and success for both educators and students alike.Join Shane's Intensive Leadership Programme at educationleaders.co/intensiveShane Leaning, an organisational coach based in Shanghai, supports school leaders globally. Passionate about empowment, he is the author of the best-selling 'Change Starts Here.' Shane is a leading educational voice in the UK, Asia and around the world.You can find Shane on LinkedIn and Bluesky. or shaneleaning.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Global Ed Leaders, I engage in a dialogue with Rachel Lofthouse, Professor of Teacher Education at Leeds Beckett University and founder of CollectivEd. We delve into the nuances of coaching in educational settings, exploring its definition, application, and impact. Rachel's extensive experience offers a unique perspective on the evolving role of coaching in education, making this episode a must-listen for international schoo educators and leaders seeking to integrate coaching into their practice.Key Quotes:The Impact of Brief Coaching Sessions: "And it doesn't mean that if you just have one really thoughtful, focused coaching conversation that it will do no good. If in that moment the focus is sustained, the purpose is sustained, the attention that the people give each other is sustained, it can still have quite a considerable impact."The Cycle of Educational Trends: "This tends to happen to all sorts of phenomena in education, particularly nowadays, where social media helps things spread so quickly... And we're absolutely in a surge phase."The Rise of Executive Coaching: "If it looks like coaching for executives in business is a good idea, then we've got a huge growth in the role of executive and education. Well, they all want a coach as well."Interdisciplinary Approaches in Education: "Something up and running in a hurry doesn't really acknowledge that slow and emerging knowledge base. And of course, the other thing that we're not generally good at, is connecting the different knowledge bases."The Evolution of Professional Terms: "Nothing stays unified and uniform. Nobody's got a trademark on the word instructional coaching. It's not copyrighted to anybody. So, of course, over time and in different locations, people have legitimately chosen to use similar language to describe things that."Time and Resource Constraints in Coaching: "we haven't got an infinite amount of time and an infinite resource."Links:CollectivED: https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/research/collectived/New Guide to Teacher Coaching from CollectivED at Leeds Beckett University https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/research/collectived/guide-to-coaching/Here be dragons - myth busting Instructional Coaching for teachers | Leeds Beckett UniversityThank you for tuning in, and as always, if you found this episode useful, please share your experience. You can find me online on X and LinkedIN: @leaningshane. My website is shaneleaning.com.For international school leadership tips, subscribe to my newsletter here.About the hostShane Leaning is a passionate organisational development coach with over 11 years of international teaching and leadership experience. His approach to coaching and professional development is all about approachability and attentiveness to the unique strengths and contexts of schools and educators. Shane believes that empowerment fosters growth and success for both educators and students alike.Join Shane's Intensive Leadership Programme at educationleaders.co/intensiveShane Leaning, an organisational coach based in Shanghai, supports school leaders globally. Passionate about empowment, he is the author of the best-selling 'Change Starts Here.' Shane is a leading educational voice in the UK, Asia and around the world.You can find Shane on LinkedIn and Bluesky. or shaneleaning.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special bonus episode of Global Ed Leaders, streamed live on X Spaces, the conversation centers on international school trends. The episode features a diverse panel of educators and experts who share their insights into the growth of international school groups, the impact of these institutions on global education, and the evolving role of technology in learning environments. The panel also addresses significant challenges such as teacher recruitment and retention. This live discussion is not only informative but also interactive, engaging a truly global audience in real-time. Link to Full Recording:Watch the full X Spaces recording hereJoin Shane's Intensive Leadership Programme at educationleaders.co/intensiveShane Leaning, an organisational coach based in Shanghai, supports school leaders globally. Passionate about empowment, he is the author of the best-selling 'Change Starts Here.' Shane is a leading educational voice in the UK, Asia and around the world.You can find Shane on LinkedIn and Bluesky. or shaneleaning.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, host Shane Leaning explores the theme of New Year's resolutions with a unique twist, focusing on leadership and professional development in the education sector. Shane shares five innovative ideas for educators and school leaders to enhance their practices and better support their teams. From mental health initiatives to embracing cutting-edge technology like generative AI, this episode has insights for those looking to make impactful changes in their educational environments. Shane begins by emphasising the importance of mental health checks for staff, suggesting regular reflection sessions or online forums. He then moves on to discuss professional development, proposing a grant system to encourage staff autonomy in their learning journeys. The episode also delves into cognitive science, urging educators to integrate its principles into teaching strategies. Furthermore, Shane introduces the concept of 'deimplementation' – streamlining and reassessing current practices for more effective outcomes. Lastly, he highlights the necessity of engaging with generative AI, a rapidly evolving field with significant implications for education. Key Quotes:"Do you have a system of checking in on the mental health of the staff that you serve?""A professional development grant system... puts autonomy in staff and gets them really thinking about their professional development journey.""How are you using the latest research in cognitive science to enhance your practice?""Set 2024 to be your year of deimplementation not implementation.""Engaging with generative AI... plan it into your PD sessions or into your weekly staff newsletter." Links:"The Well-being Toolkit" by Andrew Coley"The ResearchEd Guide to Cognitive Science" edited by Kate Jones"Making Room for Impact: A Deimplementation Guide for Educators" by Dr. Aaron Hamilton, John Hattie, and Dylan WilliamEduaide episode from the archivesThank you for tuning in, and as always, if you found this episode useful, please share your experience. You can find me online on X (@leaningshane), and LinkedIN. My website is shaneleaning.com. For international school leadership tips, subscribe to my newsletter here.Join Shane's Intensive Leadership Programme at educationleaders.co/intensiveShane Leaning, an organisational coach based in Shanghai, supports school leaders globally. Passionate about empowment, he is the author of the best-selling 'Change Starts Here.' Shane is a leading educational voice in the UK, Asia and around the world.You can find Shane on LinkedIn and Bluesky. or shaneleaning.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cindy Adair, Assistant Principal at Bangkok Patana School, discusses innovative professional development strategies like instructional coaching and growth conversations. She emphasizes the importance of teacher ownership, evidence-based education, and continuous improvement. Cindy also talks about fostering a culture of professional development, leveraging partnerships with educational consultants, and creating a positive learning environment.