The Growth in Educational Leadership Podcast

In episode 57 of the Growth and Educational Leadership podcast, I discuss handling multi-part interview questions that can throw school leaders off under pressure. I explain practical strategies such as asking permission to use a notepad, requesting clarification or repetition, and taking a brief pause to process before answering. 
I show how to decode questions by pulling out the key verbs (e.g., led, engaged, overcame, evaluated) and then chunking the response into clear sections, using sequential language and the rule of three to keep it structured without sounding scripted. I highlight common mistakes like overexplaining context, focusing too long on the first part, and rushing the rest, and I recommend keeping the impact short at the end. 
Learn more about 'Help! I’ve an Interview in a Week' here: https://www.orladempseycoaching.ie/page/247284
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Welcome and Recap
01:34 Why Multi-Part Questions Trip Us Up
02:25 Use Notes and Ask Clarification
07:45 Decode Questions With Verbs
09:07 Chunking and Rule of Three
10:21 Check Back and Keep Impact Brief
12:10 Stay Grounded and Avoid Common Mistakes
13:58 Structure Without Sounding Scripted
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In this episode of the Growth in Educational Leadership podcast, I speak with Anne Jan Van Den Dool, an educational leadership specialist and director at Poel Management, about his 20+ years across primary, secondary, and vocational education, including interim school leadership. He describes learning leadership “the hard way” after becoming a young middle leader, realising that leading teachers is a different profession requiring skills, knowledge, and an identity shift, including clearly “saying goodbye” to the teacher team. 
We discuss differences between Dutch and Irish middle leadership roles, leadership responsibility for teaching quality, aligning school values across all practices, and respecting the school as a system. Andjan explains interim leadership during high-stress periods, em
He explores trust, vulnerability, “limbo” as a growth phase, burnout as feedback, and urges leaders to be true rather than wise.
TIMESTAMPS
01:25 Early Leadership Lessons
05:43 Teacher or Leader Identity
11:19 Responsibility for Quality
14:32 Values and Vision Hiring
19:14 Interim Principal Work
22:40 First Weeks Under Pressure
25:33 Why Middle Leaders Matter
29:02 Repairing Trust and Culture
29:58 Trust and Insecurity
31:34 Leading with Vulnerability
33:51 Identity Stories in Leadership
36:41 First Days as Middle Leader
38:44 The Gift of Limbo
41:35 Rethinking Career Paths
46:09 Burnout and Balance
49:46 When Leaders Feel Stuck
54:10 Be True, Not Wise
56:25 Connect and Closing
CONTACT DETAILS
Contact Anne Jan here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annejanvandendool/
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In this week's episode, I welcome Shane Leaning to the Growth in Educational Leadership podcast, and we discuss his work in Shanghai, including leadership development through Education Leaders and his not-for-profit Work Collaborative, which grew out of his book Change Starts Here, on how schools build confidence to lead sustainable change amid external pressures. 
We explore “othering” as distancing people by treating them as different, including a self-protective form linked to imposter feelings and a more destructive form rooted in stereotypes, and how it shows up in schools as “us and them” divides between leaders and staff. 
Shane shares cross-country similarities in challenges like teacher retention and what systems might learn from each other, plus intercultural examples from UK-China meeting norms. 
We discuss identity in staffrooms, psychological safety, feeling heard, and gratitude as practical ways to build connection and reduce miscommunication.
CONTACT DETAILS
Learn more about Shane's work on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leaningshane/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leaningshane/
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Welcome and Introductions
00:45 Shane’s Leadership Work
02:11 How His Projects Evolved
06:02 Defining Othering
11:14 Shared Global Challenges
15:16 Messy Humans and Stereotypes
19:56 Us and Them in Schools
28:15 Culture Clash in Meetings
31:14 Empathy in Interviews
35:24 Awareness Over Assumptions
37:25 Shane’s Podcasts and Wrap-Up
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The podcast is back! This week I interview Katie Tuite, founder of Empower Dyslexia, a dyslexia specialist teacher and consultant in County Meath, about her business and dyslexia journey. After completing a DCU Master’s in Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia) in 2019, Katie found there is no dyslexia specialist role within Ireland’s education system, so she took a career break after her second child and began private practice in 2024. She discusses how understanding of dyslexia has evolved beyond phonological deficits to encompass broader processing, its prevalence (at least 10%, up to 20% in some areas), hereditary patterns, and higher incidence in some lower-socioeconomic-status or closely related rural communities. Katie provides Croke Park hours (in-person within an hour’s drive or online nationwide), describes building her reputation through Instagram and local parent talks, highlights business realities like taxes and insurance, and emphasises students’ strengths such as creativity, problem-solving, and empathy. Her key message to teachers is that every class likely includes a child with dyslexia and that even average-performing diagnosed students work far harder and need extra compassion; she also stresses the importance of supportive staff rooms and asking for help. 
Contact Katie at info@empowerdyslexia.ie and @empower_dyslexia.
TIMESTAMPS
00:36 From Masters to Private Practice
01:53 How Dyslexia Understanding Evolved
03:04 Who Dyslexia Affects Most
06:02 Training Teachers in Schools
08:05 Business Pivot to Teaching
09:19 Taking the Career Break Leap
10:28 Building a Reputation Online
15:01 Going Legit Self Employed
17:24 Online Payments Reality
17:54 Dyslexia Roots and Workshops
18:42 Finding the DCU Masters
20:25 Dyslexia Strengths and Empathy
22:26 Building Supportive Groups
25:51 Specialist Lens in Schools
27:21 Compassion for Dyslexic Students
28:54 Teacher Support and Staffroom Culture
31:23 Belonging and Staying Connected
31:55 Contact Details and Farewell

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Orla interviews Siobhan Fitzgerald, principal of Eglish National School, a small rural DEIS school in East Galway, where she says most pupils have experienced significant trauma and many are from the Traveller community. Siobhan describes developing the LET's Stand Public Speaking programme after noticing students could create strong PowerPoints but were unable to present, and she outlines teaching public speaking as incremental skills (e.g., structure with beginning–middle–end, eye contact, body language) using a model–share–guide–apply approach. 
The conversation links public speaking to student voice, listening, confidence, leadership, and teacher self-awareness, arguing that students need practice before being asked to share opinions and that teachers already use public-speaking skills daily. Siobhan discusses teamwork, coaching for school leaders, effective interview communication, and announces a forthcoming 10-book fiction box set for ages 7–13, published by Outside the Box, aimed at wellbeing and connecting children with nature.
TIMESTAMPS
02:13 School Context and Trauma
03:15 Public Speaking Spark
05:05 Building the Program
06:44 Kids Need a Voice
10:41 Listening and Student Voice
12:54 Teach One Skill
13:11 Speech Structure Hand Model
15:53 Eye Contact and Practice
17:25 Getting Staff Onboard
19:45 Teachers as Speakers
24:03 Skills and Reflection Time
26:37 Leadership Reflection Courage
29:04 Judgment and Visionary Style
31:07 Teamwork and Learning Leaders
31:25 Team Roles and Flexibility
34:17 Elastic Band Leadership Mindset
35:30 Leadership in Small Schools
39:01 Impact Over Comparison
41:46 Coaching for School Leaders
44:38 Public Speaking for Principals
48:41 Interview Answers and Authenticity
51:49 Jargon Versus Real Stories
57:18 New Children’s Book Series
01:01:17 Nature, Wellbeing and Farewell
USEFUL LINKS
Here are links to Siobhan's programmes for schools and children
LET's Stand
https://4schools.examcraftgroup.ie/display-product-page/lets-stand-primary
Listen, How Child and Student Voice can Change the World
https://www.routledge.com/Listen-How-Child-and-Student-Voice-Can-Change-the-World/KeenanFitzgerald/p/book/9781032750330
Adventures in Coill Calm series
https://www.otb.ie/shop/well-being-sel-sphe/adventures-in-coill-calm/
[Interview by Orla Dempsey]
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