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.
Episodes
12 episodes
What the Hand Touches, the Brain Remembers — A Conversation with Gavin McCormack
In this episode of The Common Room, Joshua Sussex sits down with Gavin McCormack — Montessori Australia Ambassador, founder of nine schools and three teacher training centres in Nepal, and bestselling author of "The Potential in Every Child" — ...
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The Same Thing, Said Differently — A Solo Reflection
In this solo episode of The Common Room, host Joshua Sussex steps away from the interview format to reflect on the first nine conversations of the show — what he's learned, what's changed since launch, and what comes next.Joshua revisits...
Hard Truths of Authentic Leadership — A Conversation with Dr Howard Stribbell
In this episode of The Common Room, Joshua sits down with Dr. Howard Stribbell — a school leader with over 28 years in international education, from classroom teacher to head of school, to strategic advisor to the owners and boards who shape th...
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Bridging China—US Education — A Conversation with Matt Allio
In this episode of The Common Room, Joshua sits down with Matt Allio — an American educator who spent over two decades as a classroom teacher and head of school in California, before stepping into a very different role: senior advisor to school...
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Leading Across Cultures — A Conversation with Chris Hoare
In this episode of The Common Room, Joshua sits down with Chris Hoare — an international school leader with experience across the UK, the Middle East, and Latin America. Chris currently serves as Head of Upper School at Colegio Peruano Británic...
What Moving Countries Does To The Mind — A Conversation With Dean Wall
In this episode of The Common Room, Joshua sits down with Dean Wall — an international educator with over a decade of experience living and teaching across Egypt, Ireland, Alaska, and Vietnam. Dean has taught subjects including ESL, Global Pers...
Pastoral Care in the Middle East — A Conversation with Gavin Taylor
In this episode of The Common Room, Joshua sits down with Gavin Taylor — Assistant Head of High School Pastoral at Emirates International School Jumeirah in Dubai, where he leads student wellbeing, behaviour, student leadership and the broader ...
Why Great Educators Stall as Leaders — A Conversation with Greg Parry
In this episode of The Common Room, Joshua sits down with Greg Parry, founder and director of Global Services in Education — an international school development, management and advisory firm operating across more than 35 countries. Australian b...
Behind The Contract — A Conversation with Izyan Ronedin
In this episode of The Common Room, Joshua sits down with Izyan, Head of Human Resources at an international school in Singapore. With thirteen years of HR experience — the last four spent in international education — Izyan brings a rare, pract...
Leading Between Two Systems — A Solo Reflection
In this solo episode of The Common Room, host Joshua Sussex steps away from the interview format to unpack what leading within a British-branded school in China actually taught him about leadership — the mistakes, frustrations, and hard lessons...
Why International Education? — A Conversation with Ian Hopkins
In the very first episode of The Common Room, host Joshua Sussex sits down with Ian Hopkins — a school leader with almost 30 years in education and over 20 years in senior leadership across the UK, Africa, the Middle East, China, and Malaysia.&...
