Episodes
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Education is one of the only sectors where a failed product doesn't cost money. It costs a child a year of learning they never get back.
In this episode of the EdVance Podcast, Hernan Carranza, Chief Innovation Officer at Intercorp, shares how he helped grow Innova Schools into the largest K–12 private school network in Spanish-speaking Latin America, and what it took to innovate inside a sector with almost no margin for error.
He built an AI tool in-house for teachers and tested a new personalised learning model in a smaller market before scaling it, choosing small experiments over big rollouts at every step. Hernan explains why strategy can never be handed off to outside consultants.
Download, subscribe, and share the EdVance Podcast for conversations with the world's most influential education leaders.
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China has over 13 million students sitting for the Gaokao every year - a university entrance exam so competitive that a single score can shape a student's future. Behind China's world-leading academic results is a system where parents, teachers, and school leaders work together to ensure every child succeeds. But that success often comes with immense pressure.
In this episode of the EdVance Podcast, Shiny Wang, Vice Principal of Beijing No. 4 High School, International Campus, shares how one of China's most prestigious schools is rethinking what success means. From future-focused learning and cross-disciplinary innovation to projects built around real-world challenges, he explains how schools can prepare students not only for exams, but for life.
Shiny reveals what the world often misunderstands about Chinese classrooms, how schools and families partner to support student achievement, and why helping young people overcome perfectionism may be one of the most important responsibilities teachers have today.
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Brazil has 1.7 million public school teachers. Most of them start their careers underprepared, walk into classrooms of students with multiple learning profiles, and are left to figure it out alone.
In this episode of the EdVance Podcast, Ana Ligia Scachetti, Executive Director of Nova Escola, makes the case for what it will take to change that. Under her leadership, Nova Escola has grown from a printed magazine into a digital platform reaching one million teachers every month across Brazil. Their AI assistant built on WhatsApp has now reached 200,000 educators, including teachers in the most remote corners of the Amazon.
Ana reveals why teacher support in Brazil has failed for decades, how one state produced 70% of the country's best schools, and why the most powerful thing a school leader can do is simply believe their students can run the world.
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Building a school culture that outlasts generations is a decision made every single day. Institut Le Rosey has been making it for 146 years, and the alumni it produces have taken that culture into some of the most consequential rooms in the world.
In this episode of the EdVance Podcast, Christophe Gudin, Director General of Institut Le Rosey, is clear about what is happening to education and who is letting it happen. What begins as a conversation about phones in schools quickly becomes a harder question about ownership: who decides what children learn, in what order, and through whose lens, and why that decision is drifting quietly toward EdTech companies that have never taught a child.
He leads a school where no single country ever accounts for more than 10% of the student body, teachers live on campus with their families, and the entire school relocates to the mountains every winter. Every one of those decisions keeps education in the hands of the people closest to children. Christophe knows what happens to schools that hand that responsibility to someone else.
Download, subscribe, and share the EdVance Podcast for conversations with the world's most influential education leaders.
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India has over 1.4 billion people, a quarter of a billion children in school, a record number of teachers, and a system that, by its own admission, has not cracked what actually happens inside the classroom once the children sit down. The people who understand that gap most clearly are the ones who have spent their careers building inside it.
Shreyasi Singh, Founding Managing Partner of Jetri, built one of India's most talked-about education companies, sold it in six years, and now advises the philanthropists deciding what Indian education should look like next. She believes the problems are fixable. But first, India has to stop looking away. In her own words, India should be far more unsettled by this than it currently is.
India has produced some of the world's greatest minds. It has also left hundreds of millions of children behind. Shreyasi Singh has spent her career trying to understand how both things are true at the same time.
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He was once told his entire class ranked in the bottom 10th percentile of their age group. He calls it one of the strangest things a school ever did to a child. He now runs 100+ schools. And that experience sits behind every decision he has made about what education should and should not do to a young person.
In this episode of the #EdVancePodcast, Ng Yi Xian, Group CEO of EtonHouse International Education Group, gets direct about what the sector consistently gets wrong on culture, AI and affordable education. The discussion unpacks why financial buyers keep failing in education when operators succeed, why most ed tech has spent years building solutions for problems schools do not actually have, and why the schools winning in Asia right now are the ones that chose curiosity over efficiency when it was still an unpopular position to take.
Download, subscribe and share the EdVance Podcast for conversations with the world's most influential education leaders.
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Efficiency is often the enemy of real education. In an age of instant answers and AI shortcuts, we are tempted to prioritise the "output" over the "process." But intellectual growth requires friction; if we let robots do the heavy lifting in our classrooms, we aren’t innovating - we are simply making our students, and our systems, weaker.
In this episode, Olli-Pekka Heinonen, Director General of the International Baccalaureate (IB), challenges the "top-down" approach to school reform. The discussion unpacks why classroom change cannot be imposed from above, why culture matters more than charisma, and why the most successful leaders in 2026 are those brave enough to "swim against the tide."
This is a sharp, blunt conversation on what AI can do, what it must never be allowed to do, and why the future of education depends on building systems that are actually worthy of the teachers within them.
Download, subscribe, and share the EdVance Podcast for conversations with the world's most influential education leaders.
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What if the design of your school is the very thing holding it back?
Most schools are not running a bad design. They are running an inherited one, built for factories and mass production, not for learners. And most leaders have never once stopped to question it.
In this episode of the EdVance Podcast, Jeff Wetzler, Co-founder of Transcend and Head of Transcend Labs, joins host Vikas Pota to challenge the model that has been quietly running classrooms around the world for over a century.
Jeff shares the six shifts every school must make to stay relevant in a rapidly changing world, explains what learner-centred leaders consistently do that others do not, and makes the case that until school design moves from the background to the foreground, performance will always have a ceiling.
He also shares the one question every principal should ask their staff this week, and why the honest answer will be uncomfortable for most leaders.
And somewhere in this conversation, a veteran educator makes an admission that is difficult to ignore. After decades in the field, they had never once truly sat down with a child and listened. What they finally heard changed how they lead.
What are your students telling you that you are not hearing?
Download and subscribe to the EdVance Podcast for conversations with education leaders from around the world.
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In Mexico, only one in ten children who start school will ever make it to university. At this school network, it is eight out of ten. So what are they doing differently?
In this episode of the EdVance Podcast, Yael Karakowsky, CEO of SER Network of Schools in Mexico, shares the thinking behind those results, the three principles her schools refuse to compromise on, and the one leadership lesson that took her completely by surprise.
She also tells a story from early in her career that stopped us in our tracks. One whispered sentence in a room full of men nearly ended everything before it began. What happened next changed the course of her leadership.
This is an honest, grounded conversation about what it takes to build schools that genuinely change lives. If you work in education or care about it, this one is for you.
Subscribe to the EdVance Podcast for conversations with education leaders from around the world.
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What does it really mean to build a high-performing school in a nation transforming at speed?
In this episode of the #EdVance Podcast, Dr Steffen Sommer, Director General of Misk Schools in Saudi Arabia, explores how leadership evolution, cultural alignment and strategic precision shape exceptional institutions.
Dr Steffen shares lessons from leading schools across Europe and the Middle East, explaining why modern leadership must move from control to inclusion, why schools cannot succeed without aligning to national vision, and why high performance begins with leaving nothing to chance.
He also challenges the global overemphasis on exam results, argues that happiness and wellbeing are performance strategies, and explains why opportunity and innovation must be deliberately designed if students are to thrive in a world shaped by AI and rapid change.
#EdVancePodcast #EdVance #T4Education #HighPerformance ›#EducationPodcast
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What does it take for schools to achieve elite outcomes while serving disadvantaged communities?
In this episode of the #EdVance Podcast, Alex Crossman, Executive Head Teacher, London Academy of Excellence, discusses how belief, culture and clarity shape high performance.
Alex shares lessons from leading one of England’s highest-performing schools, explaining why clarity of purpose matters, how leaders balance ambition with care, and what schools often misunderstand about pressure and excellence.
He also reflects on what enables young people to thrive at the highest levels, why belief and agency matter as much as attainment, and how schools balance rigour with wellbeing, character and fairness.
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What does it take to build high-performance schools in one of the world’s most competitive education systems, and why does culture matter so much?
In this episode of the EdVance Podcast, Simon O’Connor, Headmaster of Harrow International School Dubai, reflects on more than a decade of school leadership in the UAE and what sustains strong performance over time.
Simon explains why school culture, defined through shared values and daily behaviours, underpins consistency, quality and trust. He shares how high expectations, staff wellbeing and leadership responsibility shape schools that remain strong even in transient, international communities.
The conversation examines leadership in Dubai’s private school system, the role of inspection and accountability, and how schools can prepare students for an uncertain future without compromising their focus on fundamentals.
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What will it take to address Africa’s learning crisis, and why does progress depend on getting the basics right?
In this episode of the EdVance Podcast, Rapelang Rabana, Co-CEO of Imagine Worldwide, reflects on what teachers and systems across Africa are facing, and why foundational literacy and numeracy remain essential for sustained progress.
She explains the difference between schooling and learning, and why millions of children attend school without achieving basic mastery. Rapelang also shares how carefully designed technology can support personalised feedback at scale, even in settings without electricity, internet access or trained teachers.
The conversation reinforces a clear message. Strong learning foundations must come before advanced tools, including artificial intelligence and robotics.
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What does it take to design education reforms that actually work, especially at the scale of millions? And how do leaders stay focused when the system is crowded with competing priorities and complexity? In this episode of the EdVance podcast, Kruti Bharucha, Founder and CEO of Peepul, shares why every effective intervention begins with clarity.
She reflects on the simple discipline of knowing what you want to change, why it matters, and how to keep decisions anchored in the classroom. From improving student engagement to working closely with government, Kruti shares what she has learnt about strengthening public education systems, supporting teachers, and building trust at scale. She also speaks about the challenges, the lessons, and the mindset needed to move a system forward. This is an honest conversation for people who care about public education and understand that real change requires focus, patience, and clarity of purpose.
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What does it take to keep education going when a country faces conflict? How do school leaders stay steady, support their teams and protect learning when nothing feels certain?In this episode, Zoya Lytvyn, Founder of Osvitoria and a leading education voice in Ukraine, shares her journey and the work that has helped millions of children and teachers continue learning during the war.
Zoya speaks about leadership in crisis, the courage shown by teachers across Ukraine, and the focus that has kept schools operating. She reflects on the mindset needed to lead through fear and uncertainty, the value of community, and the need to protect your own energy so you can support others. This conversation also looks at the future of education in Ukraine, the reforms already underway, and the lessons school leaders around the world can draw from Ukraine’s resilience.
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What helps some education systems improve while others fall behind? In this new EdVance episode, Professor Fernando M. Reimers from the Harvard Graduate School of Education explains how high performing systems plan for the future through futures thinking, balance global citizenship with national identity, and use AI to support teachers and reduce workload. He shares how collaboration between governments, schools, and communities builds trust and drives steady improvement. From empowering teachers to creating flexible curricula, Prof. Fernando sets out what makes lasting progress possible.
Key takeaways from this episode:
Futures thinking for system leadershipBalancing national identity with global citizenshipAI that supports teachersCollaboration across education systemsIf you want to learn what strong systems do well, this episode is for you.
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How do schools close persistent learning gaps and raise student outcomes year after year?In this episode of the EdVance Podcast, Chancey Anderson Tauer, Co-Founder and CEO of Prodeo Academy in Minnesota.
She explains how her schools improve results for underserved students through data-driven decisions, consistent expectations and coaching that strengthens teaching practice. Chancey shows how evidence shapes every choice, from lesson planning to recruitment, and how clear routines and feedback sustain progress across classrooms. She also discusses the realities of leading charter schools with limited funding and how her team maintains performance under pressure.
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In this episode, Lil Bremermann Richard, Group CEO of Oxford International Education Group, shares about how universities can stay useful in a time shaped by technology and new expectations from students.
Lil shares her own journey in leadership, including the challenges of working in male-dominated spaces and what she has learnt about perseverance, equality, and the importance of building strong networks.
For Lil, institutions must be willing to embrace change, adopt new tools, and prepare learners for a world where strengths like creativity, teamwork, and emotional intelligence matter more than ever.
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When Leticia Lyle opened Camino School in São Paulo, she was not just starting a school. She was building a path - one where relationships, values and learning all held equal weight.
In this episode of the EdVance Podcast, Leticia reflects on what the world can learn from Brazil’s classrooms. Her story is as much about courage as it is about design. From opening Camino just days before the pandemic to shaping a curriculum where social-emotional learning sits alongside academic rigour, she shows that education can be both deeply human and highly practical.
She also speaks about the hard choices leaders must make. It looks at what it means to hold on to your principles when the model is tested, how to balance the demands of budgets and rules with the deeper work of care and connection, and how to ensure that everyone feels seen. This episode provides answers to some of the hardest questions school leaders face today.
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What does it take to build a movement that opens the school gates for millions of girls?
In this episode, we are joined by Lucy Lake, Director of Global Engagement, Yidan Prize Foundation. For more than 30 years, Lucy has worked to remove the barriers that keep girls out of school and to support young women to step into leadership.
She shares her journey from starting as a volunteer in Zimbabwe to leading an organisation that has helped over 7 million young people through education. Along the way, she speaks openly about the difficult choices she faced, the risks she took, and the lessons she learned about resilience and leadership. Lucy also talks about fundraising as something deeper than raising money.
For her, it is about fairness, sharing resources, and staying true to the girls whose futures depend on education. She shows how a culture of accountability and trust can make change possible even in the hardest of times.This is a conversation for leaders who want to understand what lasting impact really looks like.
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