
Education Heroes
Spotlighting educators who make a difference to learners every day.
The Education Heroes Podcast shares the stories of heroic educators with a focus on their professional journey. Our guests share insights, ideas, opinions and stories that will resonate with our listeners and hopefully inspire some new ideas or make professional decisions easier. We invite education heroes from around the world and from many different roles including principals, head teachers, leaders, teachers and ed-tech leaders.
Hosted by Paul Sibson, Co-founder and CEO of Hero, a software solution for schools with a mission to foster student agency, communicate learning and encourage best practice pedagogy.
Episodes
19 episodes
Lessons in Leadership from 2023's Education Heroes
Welcome to the Education Heroes Podcast, spotlighting educators who make a difference to learn as every day. Hosted by Paul Sibson, Hero Co-founder and CEO, this special episode brings you the highlights from the 2023 heroes that have featured ...
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41:39

Joe Mitchell - The Power of Connection for Learning
In this episode of the Education Heroes Podcast, Paul is joined by Joe Mitchell. A seasoned educator in the UK, Joe has moved through the ranks as a Pupil Achievement Lead, Deputy Head, Head Teacher of three schools, and is now a School Improve...
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43:43

Kerry McConaghy and Jenny Washington - Two Sisters, Two Principals, Two Countries
In this episode of the Education Heroes Podcast, Paul Sibson welcomes not one, but two remarkable guests – sisters and primary principals, Kerry McConaghy and Jenny Washington.Follow Kerry and Jenny's fascinating journey as they share th...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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1:13:28

Dr Phil Cummins - Game Changing Leadership for Schools of Tomorrow
In this episode of the Education Heroes Podcast, Paul is joined by Dr Phil Cummins, Managing Partner at a School for Tomorrow, an Associate Professor of Education and Enterprise at Alfacrucis University College, and the Managing Director of CIR...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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42:50

Doug Bailey - Choose to be Kind
In this episode of the Education Heroes Podcast, Paul is joined by Doug Bailey. A student-centred educator, Doug's passion is in cultural change and championing kindness and restorative practices. Over his extensive career, he has held the posi...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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39:31

Paul Sibson - Student-centred Leadership
Get ready for a twist in the Education Heroes Podcast as our host, Paul Sibson, Co-founder and CEO of Hero, steps into the guest seat for a special episode. From a milk monitor with a childhood passion for writing, Paul's path led ...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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44:45

Shelley Parkes - Embracing Authenticity to Unlock Students' Potential
In this episode of the Education Heroes Podcast, Paul is joined by Shelley Parkes, Deputy Principal, Professional Culture and Junior School at Oakleigh Grammar in Melbourne. Shelley applies her unwavering belief in the power of authenti...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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40:29

Karla Hull - Leading a Beach School
Today’s guest is Karla Hull, Principal of Te Puru School. Karla has a strong connection with her community and this really shines through in her leadership and drive to make a difference for her learners. From paddle-boarding and fishing at lun...
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42:53

Ben Witheford - Values-aligned Leadership
Today’s guest on the Education Heroes Podcast is Ben Witheford, Principal of Shotover Primary School in Queenstown. With over 25 years in the education game and the last 16 as a Principal, he has a keen interest in creating environments that en...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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1:01:34

Nikki Bonus - Measuring Individual Wellbeing
Today’s guest on the Education Heroes Podcast is Nikki Bonus, the Founder and CEO of Life Skills Group. Nikki is a powerful storyteller with a message of leadership, compassion, hope, kindness and courage. Her humility is a strength that allows...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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42:37

Jase Williams - Neuroscience, Wellbeing and Community
We’re kicking off Season Two of the Education Heroes Podcast with guest Jase Williams. Paul chats with Jase, Principal of Henry Hill school in Napier, New Zealand, winner of the the 2021 Prime Minister's Education Excellence award in the ...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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50:19

Chris Panther - Leading change
Our guest today is Chris Panther.With 20 years of experience as a teacher and school leader, Chris is currently in his 8th year as a Deputy Principal of a contributing school in Canterbury. Chris’ focus is always on building strong teams...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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33:37

Jamin Lietze - In-class flipped learning
My guest today has over 20 years of experience as a teacher and school leader and will soon celebrate 7 years as the principal of Myross Bush School in the South of New Zealand. He recently enjoyed a sabbatical which he used as an opportunity t...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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30:57

Michael Dillon - Supporting the next generation of leaders
I have known Michael guest since the late 1990s when we first taught together in London and studied together for our Masters's degrees. We even spent a month working in Mozambique supporting secondary school English teachers with using computer...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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39:56

Jack Goodfellow - Quality Relationships for Learning
With 20 years of experience as a teacher and school leader our guest, today is currently in his 4th year as deputy principal of a New Zealand secondary school. Jack Goodfellow is a dedicated and thoughtful leader who understands the...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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46:58

Lisa Dillon-Roberts - Building great teams
Our guest today is Lisa Dillon-Roberts. Lisa has over 20 years of experience in schools in the UK and New Zealand including an impressive range of principal positions. As she approaches 11 years in her current role she will share with us her jo...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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32:38

Sean Bailey - New Beginnings
Our guest this week is Sean Bailey. Sean spent 25 years teaching and leading schools in New Zealand. In 2015, he was appointed Principal of a foundation school in Canterbury specialising in designing and implementing a collaborative...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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38:38

Luke Norman - Leading through the pandemic
This week Paul spoke with Luke Norman, the Principal of Oxley Vale Public School in NSW. They talked about how Luke developed from a nervous student who suffered disappointment along the way to becoming an experienced and successful ed...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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49:30

Paul Dolan - Life after Principalship
This week’s episode featured Paul Dolan an educator with over 30 years of experience as a teacher, leader and school principal most recently at Ilam School in Christchurch where he has just stepped down following 10 very successful years.
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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46:59
