The Art of Teaching

Today, I’m joined by Benjamin Potter, an educator, school leader and passionate advocate for developing the next generation of educational leaders. Based on the Gold Coast, Benjamin’s career spans Australia and the UK, with experience in pastoral and academic leadership. He holds a Master of Educational Leadership, serves on the ACEL Queensland Steering Committee and recently presented at the 2026 ACEL National Conference in Perth. Benjamin also hosts Becoming: Leadership Stories for the Middle, a podcast exploring the challenges and opportunities of middle leadership. Benjamin believes schools exist to develop people, strengthen relationships and shape character, beyond academic results. In today’s conversation, we explore leading with purpose, navigating middle leadership, staying true to your values and making a lasting difference in the lives of others. Benjamin Potter, welcome to The Art of Teaching.

Today I’m joined by Darius Samojlowicz, an educator, researcher and leadership coach who is passionate about helping middle leaders lead with clarity, confidence and purpose. With more than a decade of experience designing and leading professional learning across Australia and internationally, Darius has worked extensively with school leaders and mathematics teachers to strengthen teaching practice, build professional communities and support teacher wellbeing and retention. His research explores teacher identity, professional learning networks and the challenges facing mathematics teachers, particularly those teaching outside their area of expertise. In this conversation, we explore the important role middle leaders play in school improvement, the challenges of leading teams, and the practical strategies that help build trust, strengthen culture and create lasting change. It’s a thoughtful conversation about leadership, learning and the importance of supporting the people who support our teachers. Please enjoy this conversation with Darius Samojlowicz.

Today, I’m delighted to be joined by Alicia Cohen, founder of Amba Press, an independent Australian educational publishing company established in 2021. Alicia has spent her career in educational publishing, working across Australia and the UK. With postgraduate qualifications and extensive industry experience, she understands what it takes to bring important ideas and stories to life. Through Amba Press, Alicia is passionate about supporting Australian educators and giving them a platform to share their knowledge and experiences. She works closely with authors to publish books that challenge our thinking and make a meaningful difference in education. In today’s conversation, we explore Alicia’s journey into publishing, what makes a great education book and why teachers’ voices deserve to be heard. We also discuss what it takes to turn an idea into a published book and the important role of independent publishing in education. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation, and I hope you do too.

Tayla is an experienced secondary teacher with five years in education, passionate about supporting both student learning and teacher development. She has recently stepped into the role of Year Advisor, supporting students through their academic, personal and wellbeing journeys. Alongside her classroom role, Tayla works as an Instructional Coach, supporting teachers to reflect on and strengthen their practice. She also mentors pre-service teachers, helping them navigate the transition from teacher training to the realities of the classroom. With experience across teaching, coaching, mentoring and student wellbeing, Tayla is passionate about the practical side of teaching, what actually works in the classroom, how we continue to grow as educators, and how we create meaningful learning experiences for students.    

Hannah Hobbs is a songwriter whose music has reached people around the world. For me, though, this conversation is especially personal. Hannah and I have been friends for almost 30 years, and she is genuinely one of my favourite people. In this episode, we talk about creativity, leadership and the experiences that shape the work we make. We explore what Hannah has learnt about navigating change, holding plans loosely, recognising when a season is shifting and staying open to what comes next. Hannah also reflects on songwriting, purpose, relationships and the lessons she has picked up along the way. It is a warm and personal conversation with someone I have known for most of my life, about making meaningful work, leading people well and building a life around the things that matter most.

What does it mean to do the right work, in the right way? It’s a question that has stayed with me throughout my own leadership journey. In this episode of The Art of Teaching, I have the privilege of speaking with Professor Viviane Robinson about the ideas behind her book Virtuous Educational Leadership: Doing the Right Work the Right Way. This is the third time I’ve had the opportunity to speak with Viviane, and each conversation has challenged me to think more carefully about leadership, decision-making and the impact we have on the people around us. I always come away with something new to reflect on and apply to my own practice. Our conversation explores something that sits at the heart of leadership. Knowledge and skill matter, but so do our motives, our judgement and the kind of person we are becoming through the work. Viviane challenges us to think carefully about what the “right work” of educational leadership looks like, the virtues that help us do that work well, and how those virtues are developed through the decisions and conversations that make up everyday school life. We also talk about the difference between values and virtues, why good intentions are not always enough, and what it means to lead with courage, humility and care when the work becomes difficult. This conversation gave me plenty to think about. It made me reflect on the decisions I make, the way I work with people and whether I am giving enough attention to how I lead, as well as what I am trying to achieve. A thoughtful conversation for anyone trying to lead well, stay grounded and keep students at the centre of the work

Schools are full of worthwhile ideas. The hard part is deciding which ones deserve our time and attention, and what we need to let go of to do them well. My guest today is Michael Rosenbrock. Michael has spent more than 15 years working in and with schools as a teacher, leader and education consultant. His work focuses on helping schools put good ideas into practice. He’s also the author of The Pruning Principle, a book about strategic subtraction in education. In this conversation, we explore what it takes to make change stick, how leaders decide what to stop doing, and how schools make space for the work that matters most.

What helps students feel that their learning matters? And what happens when an educator steps away from work to ask the same question of her own life? In this episode, I speak with Loni Bergqvist, an educator and school development consultant who has supported more than 50 schools to rethink how young people experience learning. We explore what high-quality project-based learning looks like, how teachers build the conditions for student agency and belonging, and why lasting change depends on working together. Loni also shares the story behind The Sabbatical Diaries. We talk about stepping back, reconsidering the place of work in our lives and making room for the parts of ourselves we’ve put aside. It’s a conversation about meaningful learning, thoughtful change and finding your way back to yourself.    

What if one of the most important things we give young people at school is the opportunity to struggle? My guest today, Nicole Dyson, believes classrooms should help young people build the confidence and agility to navigate uncertainty, challenge and change. This is the second time Nicole and I have spoken on The Art of Teaching, and I’m thrilled to welcome her back. Nicole is a multi-award-winning educator, entrepreneur and founder of Future Anything. Across two decades in education, she has worked with more than 130,000 students and teachers, helping schools design learning that builds agency, adaptability and confidence. Her recent TEDx talk explores why the classroom might be one of the safest places for students to struggle, stretch and learn how to respond when the answer is not obvious.

Alan Rogers is Director of Education for a multi-academy trust serving nine schools across the West Midlands and the founder of Kilter Leadership. Having worked as a teacher, headteacher, executive headteacher and trust leader, Alan has extensive experience of leading school improvement, developing people and creating the conditions in which teams can perform successfully.   Through Kilter Leadership, Alan explores how leadership can be made teachable at every level. His work brings together people, performance and wellbeing, helping leaders balance high expectations with strong relationships, clear systems and a healthy organisational culture. Alan is particularly interested in responsibility, leadership behaviour and the daily deliberate actions that shape how people experience an organisation. His approach is grounded in a simple belief: high performance and positive culture are not competing priorities- effective leadership enables us to make them both sustainable.   You can follow Alan on Instagram at @kilterlead. Readers in the UK can find his book, Kilter Leadership: A Balanced and Skilled Approach to Make Leadership Teachable at Every Level, at kilterleadership.com. Readers elsewhere in the world can order it through Amazon.   You can also listen to his conversations about leadership on the Spotify podcast Creating Leadership Futures Together. His guests and conversations span a wide range of high-performance environments, from elite Olympic cycling to Michelin-starred kitchens.