The Common Room - Where the World Teaches

A podcast for international educators exploring leadership across cultures, the realities of life and career abroad, and the conversations the sector needs to have. Hosted by Joshua Sussex, school leader and doctoral researcher, with a decade of experience across five countries on three continents.

Contributors

Host

Joshua Darryl Sussex

Joshua is Deputy Head of Secondary and an EdD candidate, where his doctoral research explores leadership practice in British-branded international schools in China and has led to the development of his own framework, Culturally Mediated Leadership (CML).

Joshua holds an NPQH, is a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, and holds an MA in International Education. He is an IB Diploma Programme examiner for Global Politics and has held educational leadership roles across the UK, Egypt, China, Vietnam, and Malaysia.

Through The Common Room, Joshua brings together conversations with international school leaders, teachers, administrators and all those living a life far away from home to explore what it really takes to lead, teach, and build a life across cultures.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuadarrylsussex/

Guests

Guest

Ian Hopkins

Ian Hopkins is a Head of Primary in an international school in Penang and has over 20 years in senior leadership, spanning the United Kingdom, Africa, the Middle East, China, and Malaysia. He has served as Headteacher, Principal, and Acting Principal in British and international schools, leading learning and school improvement from Early Years to Year 13 across British, Cambridge, and IB curricula. Currently Primary Principal in an International School in Penang, Ian is also completing an MBA at Heriot-Watt University.

Guest

Izyan Ronedin

Izyan is the Head of Human Resources at an international school in Singapore. With 13 years of Hr experience across multiple industries, including the past four years in international education. A strong advocate for keeping HR deeply human in an increasingly automated world, she believes technology should enhance - not replace - the human connection.