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We talk with Neal Oates, Principal of Star International School in Mirdif, Dubai, about leading with kindness while still holding the line on standards.

We explore how resilient school teams are built long before a crisis, and why human connection matters more than any tool.

• Neal’s route into education from industry and why fulfilment matters
• Growing into leadership in the UAE through visibility, impact and persistence
• Kindness as a non-negotiable leadership value
• Trust as the foundation for high-performing teams
• Accountability with kindness and why clear expectations reduce conflict
• Staff resilience during uncertainty and what support actually helps
• Cohesion in leadership teams and aligning around shared direction
• Returning to school after disruption with wellbeing and emotional regulation
• Pushback on overhyped edtech and concerns about data and motives
• Protecting face-to-face learning and community as the core of schooling
Visit our website, teachmiddleeast.com, and follow us on social media. The links are in the show notes.

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Teach Middle East Magazine is the premier platform for educators and the entire education sector in the Middle East and beyond. Our vision is to equip educators with the materials and tools they need to function optimally in and out of the classroom. We provide a space for educators to connect and find inspiration, resources, and forums to enhance their teaching techniques, methodologies, and personal development. We connect education suppliers and service providers to the people who make the buying decisions in schools.

Visit our website https://linktr.ee/teachmiddleeast.

Tweet us: https://twitter.com/teachmiddleeast

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teachmiddleeast/.

Hosted by Leisa Grace Wilson

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/leisagrace

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

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We talk with Yasser Naveed about the growing AI divide between students and the adults meant to guide them, and why the real danger is not AI but ungoverned use. We share clear guardrails for home and school, so children gain the benefits of AI without losing trust, judgment, or independence.

• AI as a “Ferrari with no brakes” when there is no governance
• hallucinations, false confidence and the need to verify outputs
• data privacy risks, scams and deepfakes hitting families
• the new divide between teachers and students, plus parents and kids
• “control without controlling” through co-learning and daily check-ins
• classroom benefits like faster quizzes, differentiated materials and support with marking
• avoiding brain shortcut dependence by keeping routines and principles
• Why relationships matter when kids seek comfort from chatbots
• the age question after Covid and why exposure is unavoidable

Connect with Yasir Naveed Riaz on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasirnaveed/

Support the show

Teach Middle East Magazine is the premier platform for educators and the entire education sector in the Middle East and beyond. Our vision is to equip educators with the materials and tools they need to function optimally in and out of the classroom. We provide a space for educators to connect and find inspiration, resources, and forums to enhance their teaching techniques, methodologies, and personal development. We connect education suppliers and service providers to the people who make the buying decisions in schools.

Visit our website https://linktr.ee/teachmiddleeast.

Tweet us: https://twitter.com/teachmiddleeast

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teachmiddleeast/.

Hosted by Leisa Grace Wilson

Connect with Leisa Grace:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/leisagrace

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

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We trace Mike Gilmour’s journey from Cape Town to Dubai, unpack how apartheid shaped his lens on inclusion, and dig into the daily mechanics of building a healthy school culture. We also explore AI’s pressure on old models and the human work that must endure.

• early life in South Africa and university lessons on diversity
• path from nonprofit sport to teaching and leadership
• international moves, Singapore to Dubai, and why each mattered
• What makes Dubai American Academy distinctive
• leadership strengths: communication, organisation, presence
• practical culture builders and boundary setting
• autonomy, fewer meetings, no after-hours email norm
• wellbeing habits, family life, and modelling balance
• AI’s coming shock to education and the human edge that remains

Support the show

Teach Middle East Magazine is the premier platform for educators and the entire education sector in the Middle East and beyond. Our vision is to equip educators with the materials and tools they need to function optimally in and out of the classroom. We provide a space for educators to connect and find inspiration, resources, and forums to enhance their teaching techniques, methodologies, and personal development. We connect education suppliers and service providers to the people who make the buying decisions in schools.

Visit our website https://linktr.ee/teachmiddleeast.

Tweet us: https://twitter.com/teachmiddleeast

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teachmiddleeast/.

Hosted by Leisa Grace Wilson

Connect with Leisa Grace:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/leisagrace

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

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We explore what a 2040 job market means for schools, teachers, and teens, and why AI will force a reinvention of curriculum, space, and pedagogy. Practical steps help educators shift from content delivery to coaching human judgment, collaboration, and focus.

• Why 2040 serves as a clear planning horizon
• AI ubiquity across roles and daily life
• gaps between industry needs and school delivery
• makerspaces over classrooms for hands-on work
• teacher role shifting to mentor and orchestrator
• jobs likely to fade and new roles emerging
• four habits for teens: reading, tech literacy, events, soft skills
• attention, wellbeing, and milestone-based motivation
• role modelling and personalised interventions
• how Lab of Future partners with schools and students

If you want to get in touch with Lab of Future , click this link: https://www.laboffuture.com/

Support the show

Teach Middle East Magazine is the premier platform for educators and the entire education sector in the Middle East and beyond. Our vision is to equip educators with the materials and tools they need to function optimally in and out of the classroom. We provide a space for educators to connect and find inspiration, resources, and forums to enhance their teaching techniques, methodologies, and personal development. We connect education suppliers and service providers to the people who make the buying decisions in schools.

Visit our website https://linktr.ee/teachmiddleeast.

Tweet us: https://twitter.com/teachmiddleeast

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teachmiddleeast/.

Hosted by Leisa Grace Wilson

Connect with Leisa Grace:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/leisagrace

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

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We trace Alan’s path from rugby pitches and the Boys’ Brigade to classroom leadership and, later, stewarding one of the UAE’s fastest‑growing school groups. Along the way, we unpack Taaleem’s values, retention wins, Harrow’s authentic arrival in the UAE, and a balanced take on basics and AI.

• Sport as a gateway to confidence and academic lift
• relationships as the fourth R in teaching
• shift from military ambition to classroom service
• early career in languages and humanities
• move to the UAE and founding leadership at King’s
• Why multi‑curricula breadth led to Taaleem
• growth via PPPs, charter and Dubai Schools
• IPO with an education‑first mindset
• values of care, respect, and inspiration guiding strategy
• teacher retention, PD, and internal pathways
• Harrow partnership built on authentic DNA
• adapting heritage to UAE culture and policy
• balancing core literacy and numeracy with AI
• using technology to reduce teacher admin
• personal rituals that keep leadership grounded

Support the show

Teach Middle East Magazine is the premier platform for educators and the entire education sector in the Middle East and beyond. Our vision is to equip educators with the materials and tools they need to function optimally in and out of the classroom. We provide a space for educators to connect and find inspiration, resources, and forums to enhance their teaching techniques, methodologies, and personal development. We connect education suppliers and service providers to the people who make the buying decisions in schools.

Visit our website https://linktr.ee/teachmiddleeast.

Tweet us: https://twitter.com/teachmiddleeast

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teachmiddleeast/.

Hosted by Leisa Grace Wilson

Connect with Leisa Grace:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/leisagrace

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

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We unpack what actually drives learning, why engagement is a poor proxy for understanding, and how to align curriculum, instruction, and assessment for long-term memory. Carl Hendrick challenges fads, makes a case for explicit instruction and retrieval, and explores where AI can help without doubling the workload.

• Defining learning as change in long-term memory
• Why learning styles and similar fads fail
• Curriculum as the primary lever for improvement
• Explicit instruction before independent tasks
• retrieval practice that targets hinge knowledge
• Aligning curriculum, instruction, assessment
• Limits of lesson observations as evidence
• Instructional coaching over grading teachers
• Smart uses of AI for planning and feedback

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Carl will be in the UAE for our Middle East School Leadership Conference on January 29th in Dubai at Al Habtoor Grand Hotel and Resort. www.schoolleadersme.com.

Please do register at schoolleadersme.com

Support the show

Teach Middle East Magazine is the premier platform for educators and the entire education sector in the Middle East and beyond. Our vision is to equip educators with the materials and tools they need to function optimally in and out of the classroom. We provide a space for educators to connect and find inspiration, resources, and forums to enhance their teaching techniques, methodologies, and personal development. We connect education suppliers and service providers to the people who make the buying decisions in schools.

Visit our website https://linktr.ee/teachmiddleeast.

Tweet us: https://twitter.com/teachmiddleeast

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teachmiddleeast/.

Hosted by Leisa Grace Wilson

Connect with Leisa Grace:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/leisagrace

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

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What happens when school moves from vague ideas about “reimagining” to the nuts and bolts of design? We sit down with Russell John Cailey, founder of Elham Studio and former, to map a practical path from traditional classrooms to living, place-based learning that actually works. From 90s Manchester to Hiroshima, Boston, and Botswana, Russell shares the hard-won lessons that turned curiosity into a curriculum architecture schools can implement now.

We break down a simple but demanding blueprint: start with clear competences and learning objectives, run a transparent design cycle that students can follow, and capture growth through robust portfolios instead of one-shot tests. This triangle turns projects from theatre into craft and helps schools align inquiry to standards across IB, US credit systems, and even the rigid constraints of GCSE and A-level. We also get honest about “kayfabe” in education—when innovation is a performance—and highlight signals that a programme is the real deal, from authentic community partnerships to visible student work.

AI takes centre stage as a tool that should walk beside us and behind us, not in front. Rather than ban it, we explore how to teach the journey to the prompt: scoping problems, structuring prompts, iterating outputs, and deciding what remains human. Paired with portfolios, AI can amplify research, reflection, and agency without outsourcing thinking.

For listeners in the Middle East, we talk candidly about why the market keeps opening British schools and where micro schools, studio models, and mastery plus PBL could thrive next. Subscribe for more conversations that turn buzzwords into blueprints, and leave a review to tell us which part of the design triangle your school needs most.

Connect with Russell here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/russell-john-cailey/

Learn more about his work here: https://www.elham.world/

Support the show

Teach Middle East Magazine is the premier platform for educators and the entire education sector in the Middle East and beyond. Our vision is to equip educators with the materials and tools they need to function optimally in and out of the classroom. We provide a space for educators to connect and find inspiration, resources, and forums to enhance their teaching techniques, methodologies, and personal development. We connect education suppliers and service providers to the people who make the buying decisions in schools.

Visit our website https://linktr.ee/teachmiddleeast.

Tweet us: https://twitter.com/teachmiddleeast

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teachmiddleeast/.

Hosted by Leisa Grace Wilson

Connect with Leisa Grace:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/leisagrace

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

Send us Fan Mail

We talk with Jeremy Newton, director of schools at the British International School Riyadh, about leading seven campuses during Saudi Arabia’s rapid transformation and how a non-profit British model adapts to local needs and Vision 2030. We explore AI in the curriculum, enrichment that prepares students for an uncertain future, and the school’s unexpected cameo on the Riyadh Monopoly board.

• Jeremy’s path from East London to Riyadh
• Life and opportunity in Riyadh for families
• Vision 2030 as a practical guide for schools
• Non-profit identity and community service
• Balancing the British curriculum with Arabic and local history
• REACH 2030 strategic planning across campuses
• AI education, ethics and device use in schools
• Enrichment pillars, trips and real-world experiences
• Riyadh Monopoly board feature and school culture
• Advice to teachers considering roles in Saudi Arabia

Support the show

Teach Middle East Magazine is the premier platform for educators and the entire education sector in the Middle East and beyond. Our vision is to equip educators with the materials and tools they need to function optimally in and out of the classroom. We provide a space for educators to connect and find inspiration, resources, and forums to enhance their teaching techniques, methodologies, and personal development. We connect education suppliers and service providers to the people who make the buying decisions in schools.

Visit our website https://linktr.ee/teachmiddleeast.

Tweet us: https://twitter.com/teachmiddleeast

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teachmiddleeast/.

Hosted by Leisa Grace Wilson

Connect with Leisa Grace:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/leisagrace

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