ITP - 39: Behind the Scenes of Educators Going Global

Kent: Welcome back to the International Teacher Podcast. I’m Kent, the cat guy, and with me here is Greg, the single guy.

Greg: It’s good to be back. Kent, I know we just got done interviewing somebody a couple of days ago, but I always enjoy being back online with you. Matt needs to join us again, but he’s busy with family and traveling with school this weekend. That’s one of those perks.

Greg: We’ve got two excellent guests on our show today. The most exciting thing about these guests is that in December, we’re going to have another podcast joining the podcast world. It’s going to be about international teaching, just like what we’re doing.

These guys reached out to us, and we wanted to talk with them to find out more about what’s coming up because it’s not out yet—it’s still being planned.

So I want to introduce David, who is coming to us from Boise, Idaho, and Audrey, who is coming to us from Kingston, Jamaica. Welcome to the show.

Audrey: Thank you. I’m Audrey Forgeron. I’ve been teaching overseas for over 30 years. You guys have talked about recruiting fairs, so I’ll mention that I started at the Queen’s Fair in 1989 and went first to Ethiopia, where I stayed for two years.

I met my husband there, and later, when we were recruiting again, our head of school asked us where we wanted to go. He offered to write us letters of recommendation, which was amazing.

At the time, there was no internet, so we opened our ISS book—International School Services—and started looking through benefit packages and school descriptions to get an idea of where to go.

We randomly picked some schools, and then the director suggested Saudi Arabia. We were hesitant at first, but he told us it was a great school in Riyadh with excellent benefits, including daycare right at the school. That sold us.

We ended up going there, and that’s where both our kids were born. We stayed for 10 years instead of the original two or three because it was such a great place to raise children.

After that, we moved to Singapore and stayed for nine years. Our kids went through most of their schooling there.

Then we moved to Chile. We asked our daughter if she wanted to stay in Singapore for her final years or try something new. She chose South America, so we went to Santiago, where she graduated.

After three years there, we moved to Dakar, Senegal. I stayed for three years, then took a year off to travel with my kids, which was an incredible experience.

After that, we moved to Rome for a couple of years, but Europe was expensive, so we eventually moved to Jamaica, where I am now.

It’s been an amazing journey—experiencing different cultures, traveling, and raising kids around the world. I love this lifestyle and want to share that joy.

That’s where my co-host David comes in. I wanted to start a podcast and thought he would be perfect because he has podcasting experience and we had worked together before.

David: Thanks, Audrey. Yes, we met in Saudi Arabia. It was an incredible school. Looking back to the early 1990s, we were doing project-based learning and inquiry before those terms were widely used.

It was a fantastic place for professional development and a strong community. That really shapes why you choose certain schools at different stages of your career.

Like Audrey said, it was also a great place to raise children. One of my sons was born there, and another was born later when we moved to Panama.

I’ve taught in 10 international schools, so I won’t go through all of them, but I started at an ISS fair in Boston in 1990 and ended up in Israel during the Gulf War, which was quite an experience.

My career has included roles as a social studies teacher, instructional technologist, curriculum developer, and counselor or wellness coach.

Right now, my main focus is wellness. It became especially important during the pandemic, but it’s something I’ve believed in from the beginning—supporting the whole child.

I’ve also been involved in podcasting for a long time. I started a podcast back in 2007 called “Shifting Our Schools,” and later worked on the EdTech Co-op podcast.

Now I’m excited to be working with Audrey on this new podcast, Educators Going Global. The goal is to support international educators across the full spectrum—from newcomers to veterans, and even those thinking about transitioning out of international teaching.

Greg: I mean, 10 different schools—that’s incredible. And you’ve both been doing this since the 1990s. I have to say, I really respect the experience you bring, especially from a time before the internet when you were flipping through ISS books and printed directories.

It’s amazing to think about how different that process was compared to now.

Greg: I mean, I have to give you a little bit of a hard time because you’re talking about the 90s and flipping through books. I’m 53 right now—I know I look 25—but I really respect what you both did back then when there was no internet.

I remember things like The International Educator newspaper. It wasn’t online—you had to subscribe, and it would show up in the superintendent’s office. You’d read about director moves and school changes from a printed paper.

It’s just amazing to think about how much things have changed.

Kent: David, I’ve got a question for you. A lot of people think virtual teaching started in 2019 with COVID, but you were doing this back in 2003 during the first SARS outbreak. What gave you the confidence to think you could educate students online?

David: I was in Hong Kong at Hong Kong International School, working as an instructional technologist for the upper school. We had a strong tech foundation already—teachers had web pages, and we were ahead of the curve in that sense.

When SARS hit, it spread quickly, and there was a lot of fear. The school had to decide what to do, and people were preparing to shut everything down.

I walked into the principal’s office and said, “We don’t have to shut down. Our students and families are going to need us. They’re going to be isolated, and we can still connect with them and continue learning.”

The principal agreed, and we divided up the work and made it happen. We used the tools we had—web pages, early platforms—and kept teaching going.

I later wrote an article about it, but looking back, we may have been one of the first brick-and-mortar schools to go fully virtual, especially at the elementary level.

Greg: That’s incredible. I mean, most people think this all started recently, but you were doing it almost 20 years earlier.

Kent: Yeah, I was in Seattle at that time, just starting out. It’s wild to think about how far ahead that was.

Greg: And David, you’ve been podcasting since 2007. We’ve only been doing this for about a year, and we’re still figuring things out.

We’re always asking ourselves how to make it better, how to make it more interesting for listeners. Having guests like you and Audrey really helps with that.

Greg: Audrey, I want to go back to you for a second. What kind of teaching have you done over the years?

Audrey: I didn’t go into detail earlier because I felt like I was already talking a lot, but I started in French immersion in Canada, teaching social studies in French at a high school in Ottawa.

Then in Ethiopia, I taught French as a second language. In Saudi Arabia, I switched to physical education, teaching from grade 3 up to grade 12 as the school expanded.

In Singapore, I taught middle school health and PE, and I also started teaching some technology classes after completing my master’s in technology.

In Chile, I went back to health and PE, but in my final year, I became the technology integrator—the person supporting teachers with computers and tech. I loved that role.

In Senegal, I taught IB film, which was a huge challenge because I didn’t have a background in it. I had to work incredibly hard, but it was also one of the most enjoyable subjects I’ve ever taught.

After that, I semi-retired and have been doing some substitute teaching while also exploring life coaching and working on this podcast with David.

Greg: That’s an incredible range. You’ve basically done everything.

Greg: I’m curious—how did the idea for Educators Going Global actually start?

Audrey: I had been thinking about doing a podcast for a while. When you step away from full-time teaching, you start asking yourself what you want to do next.

International education has been such a big part of my life, and I wanted to share that with others and help people get into it.

But I was nervous about starting a podcast on my own. So I thought about who I could work with, and David immediately came to mind because of his experience and because we had worked well together in the past.

So I reached out to him, explained the idea, and thankfully he said yes.

Audrey: One thing that’s really important to me is that this isn’t about competition. It’s about collaboration. We want to lift each other up, share audiences, and connect more people in this space.

Our tagline is “travel, teach, connect,” and that really captures what international teaching is all about.

Greg: One of the things I love about what you’re doing is that sense of community. International teaching is such a small world, and once you’re in it, you realize how connected everyone is.

Audrey: Exactly. You can go almost anywhere in the world and know someone or know someone who knows someone. That’s one of the best parts of this lifestyle.

David: And that’s something we really want to build into the podcast—community and connection. We want people to feel like they can reach out, share ideas, and learn from each other.

Greg: Let’s talk about what your podcast is actually going to look like. What can listeners expect?

David: We’re going to be very web-centered. You can listen to the podcast on your usual app, but we want people to come to the website as well.

We’re building a platform with different categories—finance, recruiting, travel, curriculum—so people can explore topics based on where they are in their journey.

Someone might come in and listen to an episode about recruiting, then read a blog post about finances, or share their own story.

Audrey: We also want to include storytelling. That’s such a big part of international teaching. Everyone has these incredible experiences—travel stories, cultural moments, funny situations.

So we’re going to have a YouTube channel where people can share those stories.

Greg: I’ve already contributed a couple of stories, and let me tell you—remember to look at the camera when you’re recording. I completely forgot and had to redo it.

Kent: That’s good advice.

Greg: It’s very different from podcasting. On a podcast, you can be looking anywhere, eating something, doing whatever—but video is a different game.

Kent: David, you’ve been podcasting for a long time. How has the podcasting world changed?

David: On the technical side, it’s completely different. Back when we started, we used tools like Audacity and Skype, and recording was much more manual.

We didn’t have analytics or tracking. Now you can see where your listeners are, how long they’re listening, and all kinds of data.

But what hasn’t changed is storytelling. That’s still the core of podcasting. It’s about sharing experiences and connecting with people.

Greg: That’s what makes it work.

David: Exactly. And that’s why we’re excited about this project. We want to combine storytelling with practical information.

Greg: Let’s shift gears a bit. We always like to talk about how schools change over time. One thing I’ve learned is that leadership makes a huge difference.

David: Absolutely. Leadership is the number one factor. If leadership isn’t aligned with the mission and working with teachers, it’s very hard to create meaningful change.

Audrey: And schools go through cycles. Leadership changes, programs change, and sometimes things that were built disappear when people leave.

Greg: That’s something people don’t always realize when they’re applying for jobs. A school can look one way on paper but feel very different depending on who’s leading it.

David: That’s why it’s so important to ask good questions during interviews.

Greg: Like what?

David: One of my main questions is, “How do you live your mission?” It’s easy to read a mission statement, but I want to know what it looks like in practice.

I’ll ask for examples—what does it look like in a classroom, in the community, in interactions with parents?

Greg: That’s a great question.

David: I also ask principals what their day looks like—how they spend their time. That tells you a lot about their priorities.

Greg: Audrey, what about you?

Audrey: I’d want to know about the culture of the school—what the community is like, how people interact, and what the turnover is like.

High turnover, especially in leadership, can be a sign that something isn’t stable.

Greg: That’s a really important point.

Greg: For me, I also want to know a little bit about the personality of the leadership. I’ll joke around a bit in the interview. If they can joke back, I feel a lot better about the environment I’m walking into.

Kent: That’s a good test.

Greg: All right, let’s shift gears because we always like to hear stories on this podcast. Audrey, I think you mentioned you had a police story.

Audrey: I’ve got a few. I’ll start with Ethiopia. The police there were on foot, and we were told that if they waved us over while we were driving a school vehicle, we should just keep going because they had no way to catch us.

We also had this understanding that if we ever did get stopped, we would give the name of the school instead of our own names, and no one would admit to being the driver.

Greg: That’s incredible.

Audrey: It was just part of how things worked there at the time.

My other story is from Saudi Arabia. We were driving to school, and my husband was turning into the parking area when another driver tried to pass us on the left and ended up hitting us.

I jumped out of the car and started yelling at him because our son was in the back seat, and I was worried about his safety.

Then I realized the driver was a police officer—and I was a woman in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, yelling at a police officer.

Greg: That’s a moment where you probably think, “What have I done?”

Audrey: Exactly. At first, he looked genuinely concerned about our son, but then you could see the shift—like, “Wait a minute.” He never admitted fault, of course.

Greg: That’s a great story.

David: I’ll share something a little different. One of the things that stands out to me is driving in different countries.

In many places, there’s no dedicated left-turn lane. So what happens is cars just bunch up in the middle of the road waiting to turn, and eventually someone makes a move, and then everyone follows.

If you’re not used to it, it looks chaotic, but somehow it works.

Greg: It’s amazing how systems develop.

David: Another thing I’ve always loved is how sports bring people together. Wherever I’ve been, I’ve played volleyball, and it’s always been a way to build community.

In Israel, I brought my own volleyball net and started playing on the beach. Eventually, local players joined, and it became a regular thing.

I carried that with me to other schools—playing indoors in Scotland, on the beach in Hong Kong, and in many other places.

Greg: That’s a great way to connect.

Kent: What would you say are the major global sports?

David: Soccer is definitely number one.

Audrey: Yes, soccer for sure.

Kent: I’d say cricket is up there as well.

Greg: Sports really do bring people together, no matter where you are.

Greg: As we start to wrap up, I want to ask—when is your project launching, and where can people find you?

Audrey: We’re planning to launch in early December. Our website will be educatorsgoingglobal.com.

We’ll also have a Facebook page, a YouTube channel, and an email address where people can reach out.

David: We’d love to hear from people—ideas for guests, topics, or just feedback on the show.

Greg: That’s great. And I’ll just say, for our listeners, we do read emails, and they really motivate us to keep going.

Greg: Audrey, David, thank you so much for coming on the show.

Audrey: Thank you for having us.

David: It’s been a pleasure.

Kent: And for everyone listening, we’ll see you next time on the International Teacher Podcast.