The International Schools Podcast

Empowering women in education to lead with confidence, challenge barriers, and drive change.

Liz Free 
CEO International School Rheitnal
Co-Strategic Lead Europe WomenEd

Vivienne Porritt OBE
Co-founder Global Strategic Leader #WomenEd

Nancy Squicciarini
Head of the Middle Leader Certificate for ECIS 
Co-Strategic Lead Europe WomenEd

About Liz Free

Liz Free is a co-founder of #WomenEd Nederlands and Strategic Leader for #WomenEd Europe. Liz has been a teacher and head teacher in some of the world’s leading schools and is now a globally recognised leader of education talent, continuing professional development and learning. Liz was the founding Director of the International Leadership Academy, the British School in the Netherlands and is now CEO and Director of the International School Rheintal in Switzerland. 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-free/ 

About Vivienne Porritt 

Vivienne Porritt OBE is Co-founder, Trustee and Global Strategic Leader of #WomenEd, a global charity which empowers aspiring and existing women leaders in education.

Vivienne supports school and trust leaders with vision, strategy, professional learning and development, impact evaluation and DEIJ.  She is a former Vice President of the Chartered College of Teaching and holds several governance roles.

Vivienne is a former secondary headteacher and Director for School Partnerships at University College London Institute of Education. She is a coach and writes for practitioner and academic journals and is co-editor. 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivienne-porritt-obe-frsa-fcct/ 

About Nancy Squicciarini

Nancy is Head of the Middle Leader Certificate for the Educational Collaborative for International Schools (ECIS). With over 35 years of experience as an international school educator, she has held several leadership roles.

Nancy is a member of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF), which is a worldwide community promoting excellence in facilitation practices.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-lhoest-squicciarini-64563838/ 

Resources

• https://womened.com/
• https://www.isr.ch/
• 10%Braver: Inspiring Women to Lead Education (Sage, 2019) Being 10%Braver (Corwin, 2021) 
• Disruptive Women: A WomenEd Guide to Equitable Action in Education. (Corwin, 2024)/ 
• https://ecis.org/middle-leader/ 

John Mikton on Social Media
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmikton/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jmikton
Web: beyonddigital.org

Dan Taylor on social media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/appsevents 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/appdkt 
Web: www.appsevents.com

Listen on: iTunes / Podbean / Stitcher / Spotify / YouTube

Would you like to have a free 1 month trial of the new Google Workspace Plus (formerly G Suite Enterprise for Education)? Just fill out this form and we’ll get you set up bit.ly/GSEFE-Trial

Making the invisible visible.

About Ryan Tannenbaum

Ryan Tannenbaum is an educational consultant who specializes in data, data-driven culture, and pedagogically grounded technical implementations for schools. He began his career teaching in international schools throughout Asia. Over more than a decade working as a teacher, principal, and IT director, he founded For.Education—a company that provides schools with data and AI solutions.

Currently, Ryan is critically evaluating generative AI technology—exploring how it can safely enhance learning and pedagogical practices in schools while also interrogating the challenges it introduces. Driven by the core philosophy that we can either lead technology forward in our organizations or be led by it, he works to foster a deeper understanding of these technologies, how they work, and where they are most appropriately applied.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-tannenbaum-a64840207/ 

Resources
https://for.education/ 

John Mikton on Social Media
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmikton/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jmikton
Web: beyonddigital.org

Dan Taylor on social media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/appsevents 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/appdkt 
Web: www.appsevents.com

Listen on: iTunes / Podbean / Stitcher / Spotify / YouTube

Would you like to have a free 1 month trial of the new Google Workspace Plus (formerly G Suite Enterprise for Education)? Just fill out this form and we’ll get you set up bit.ly/GSEFE-Trial

About Leon Furze

Leon Furze is an international consultant, author, and speaker with over fifteen years of experience in secondary and tertiary education and leadership. Leon is studying his PhD in the implications of Generative Artificial Intelligence on writing instruction and education.

Leon has held roles at multiple levels of school and board leadership, including Director of Teaching and Learning, Head of English, and eLearning. Leon is a Non-Executive Director on the board of Young Change Agents and Reframing Autism, and a member of Council for the Victorian Association for the Teaching of English. 

Leon completed his Master of Education at the University of Melbourne in 2016 with a focus on student wellbeing, leading schools through change, and linking education systems and communities. He has published dozens of books, articles and courses, with his most recent publications, Practical Reading Strategies and Practical Writing Strategies reaching an international audience.

Leon presents at state and national conferences and runs online and face to face professional learning for schools, individuals and businesses. Through consultancy and advisory work, Leon helps educators from K-12 to tertiary to understand the implications of Generative Artificial Intelligence in education.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonfurze/

Resources
https://leonfurze.com/ 
https://aiassessmentscale.com
https://leonfurze.com/blog 
https://practicalaistrategies.com/

40% discount code to the main Practical AI Strategies course for your listeners: ISP2025 at checkout for this course: https://practicalaistrategies.com/p/practical-ai-strateg

John Mikton on Social Media
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmikton/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jmikton
Web: beyonddigital.org

Dan Taylor on social media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/appsevents 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/appdkt 
Web: www.appsevents.com

Listen on: iTunes / Podbean / Stitcher / Spotify / YouTube

Would you like to have a free 1 month trial of the new Google Workspace Plus (formerly G Suite Enterprise for Education)? Just fill out this form and we’ll get you set up bit.ly/GSEFE-Trial

A conversation with Patrycja Gryciuk on the challenges and opportunities of being an international school educator and romance novel author.

About Patrycja Gryciuk

Patrycja Gryciuk is an author and educator originally from Legnica, Poland. Since childhood, she has dreamed of becoming a writer. She currently resides in France and teaches French as a foreign language at Ecolint, an international school in Geneva. With a strong background in education and a deep passion for literature, she balances her professional career with her creative pursuits.

An advocate for sustainability and the slow-life philosophy, she integrates these values into her writing. She made her literary debut with Plan, a novel that combines elements of romance and suspense. Her second novel, 450 Pages, further showcases her storytelling craft. Her latest book is Three Hours of Silence, a book that not only gained recognition from literary critics, but also received awards in several literary competitions in Poland and Europe. 

In 2024 she published a new novel in two parts : Plan. Wybierz mnie and Plan. Zostań ze mną. The first part became a bestseller in one of the biggest audiobooks platforms in Poland. 

Patrycja Gryciuk on Social Media

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patrycjagryciuk/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patrycjagryciukautor 

John Mikton on Social Media
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmikton/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jmikton
Web: beyonddigital.org

Dan Taylor on social media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/appsevents 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/appdkt 
Web: www.appsevents.com

Listen on: iTunes / Podbean / Stitcher / Spotify / YouTube

Would you like to have a free 1 month trial of the new Google Workspace Plus (formerly G Suite Enterprise for Education)? Just fill out this form and we’ll get you set up bit.ly/GSEFE-Trial

Transforming Teams, Learning, and Leadership with Playful Principles.

About Liam Isaac

Liam Isaac
Director Of Learning And Innovation @ Seriouswork

Liam Isaac is a champion of purposeful play and its transformative power at every level. As the Director of Learning and Innovation at SERIOUSWORK, Liam designs meaningful, engaging, and joyful experiences using innovative tools like LEGO® Serious Play®. With expertise in learning experience design and systems thinking, he collaborates with clients to create bespoke workshops and training programs tailored to unique needs.

A professional facilitator with over 15 years of teaching experience at prestigious institutions, Liam helps teams gain clarity, spark creativity, and supercharge collaboration. Outside of work, he embraces the playful chaos of life with his two kids, crafting cardboard robots, flipping pancakes (badly), and living the role of pirate extraordinaire.

Liam Issac on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-isaac/

Resources
https://serious.global/ 

John Mikton on Social Media
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmikton/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jmikton
Web: beyonddigital.org 

Dan Taylor on social media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/appsevents 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/appdkt  
Web: www.appsevents.com 

Listen on: iTunes / Podbean / Stitcher / Spotify / YouTube 

Would you like to have a free 1 month trial of the new Google Workspace Plus (formerly G Suite Enterprise for Education)? Just fill out this form and we’ll get you set up bit.ly/GSEFE-Trial