Podcast 391, Finbarr Hurley on European Schools and School Leadership (26-2-20)

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney.

On this week's podcast I interview Finbarr Hurley about his experience teaching in some European Schools and about his thoughts on leadership. He is currently working as a Coordinator with the Centre for School Leadership. Among the topics we discuss on the podcast are the following:

• Wanting to teach from a young age
• His experience in Mary Immaculate College
• Proving yourself as a teacher when you begin in a school
• The importance of changing career post every 5-6 years
• The importance of figuring out what makes children tick
• Teaching in Cork and Teaching in Brussels
• Designing a classroom of the future
• A synopsis of the European Schools system
• Learning from working alongside teachers from other countries
• Moving to an International School in Qatar
• Working with teaching coaches
• Involving children in parent-teacher meetings
• Teaching without textbooks
• Bringing members of a circus in to work with his students in Germany
• Identifying what is valued in a school, across the school community
• Challenges of being a principal in Ireland
• Providing continuous professional development (CPD) for principals and principals’ needs for CPD
• Why it’s okay for principals to fail (the first attempt at learning)
• One of his own principals
• Simon Senek (Be the last to speak)
• Andy Hargreaves
• Book: Wholesome Leadership
• Luke Jefferson Day, editor of GQ Magazine in London.
• Simone Marchetti – creativity outside of education
• The value of sofas in classsrooms