Leadership

by Shanna Parry Every school I know can prove that its curriculum is inclusive. We can count the women in a history unit, name the minority figures in a literature anthology, and point to the week when the host country takes over the calendar. Those counts are better than they were ten years ago, and […]

by Anthony Poullard 𝐀 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐜-𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐩 During this past school year, a colleague walked into my office with a morning mic-drop: “We need to learn how to de-implement things because there is a lot on our plates.” De-implement? I laughed first because it sounded like the kind of word schools invent when we are trying

by Leanne Grundy From working in system level roles in the Middle East and China I’ve often observed that schools set up in collaboration with established international brands tend to presuppose a “plug and play” model – assuming that what works in one context will transfer seamlessly to another, without proper regard for the host

by Joshua Darryl Sussex There is a moment that most international school leaders recognise. You arrive in a new context, a new country, a new school, a new community, carrying approaches that worked well elsewhere. You have led staff meetings with those approaches. You have resolved the conflict with them. You have built cultures with

by Donnah Ciempka There are moments in every international school when the rhythm shifts—when classrooms empty, farewells are spoken, contracts conclude, and families quietly begin packing their lives into boxes. Transition is not a single event marked on a calendar; it is something lived, felt, and carried by an entire community. As school leaders, we

by Dr. Howard Stribbell When I attended the #LYIS26, conference in Hanoi, I expected strong sessions, thoughtful dialogue, and practical takeaways. What I did not expect was how quickly I would notice something else. It showed up in the conversations between sessions, in the quieter moments over coffee, and in the way people spoke when

by Terri Pham A Bag, a Dream, and a One-Way Ticket Sixteen years ago, I boarded a plane with two duffel bags, a bachelor’s degree in education, a teaching credential, and a calling I did not yet fully understand. In those early years, I did not realize that the calling would demand more than talent.

by Jomar Conde The Quiet Engine of an Educational Community Trust is the quiet engine of any healthy school community. Looking back on my time leading and serving ten head teachers, over a hundred faculty members, and thousands of students, I have come to reflect that trust is something deeply human: it is the safety

by Lisa Thorpe With over 20 years in education, including a decade in senior leadership, I have cultivated a leadership style that is uniquely my own, rooted in heart, experience, and authenticity, rather than confined to a textbook definition. As an international school leader and facilitator in a global leadership program, I’ve had the privilege of

by Dr Dan Gilfillen Working in bilingual and international schools around the world for the last 16 years, one area of leadership has become apparent to me as a crucial element of leadership: sustainable change management. While readers of the LYIS Principal’s Blog may be well versed in sustainability (a big term to unpack) related to curriculum,