Red Dragon Education

Helping teachers get qualified through the partner universities: IPGCE, IQTS, MA, QTS Assessment Only and IQTS. We've worked with over 1000 teachers to realise their dreams of finding a great job.

Co-Founder

Set up the company and worked with a range of local and international schools in providing education solutions including:

- Tutoring
- Academic support 
- Revision courses
- A-level lessons and examinations 
- Professional teacher placement 
- School tours
- Boarding school advice
- Entrance exam preparation

Founder

Tutors in China now Mentor

Director

The British International School Shanghai

My main focus was to help with the students' academic achievements across the secondary school. I was helping grow the school from 200 to 1200 students in 5 years of service. After joining the school I quickly assumed more responsibility and helped lead a tutor group team of 15 staff. 

Worked in both the secondary and primary section of the school in the following disciplines as a classroom teacher:
- Geography
- PE
- Science 
- Economics

Deputy Head of School

Evesham High School

Working across the high school in Geography and PE

Head of Geography

I help international schools fix teacher training, recruitment, and leadership.

With 25+ years in education across Asia, I know what schools, teachers, and unis really need. I connect the dots between policy, strategy, and people — and get things moving.

Let's talk if you want to grow your teacher pipeline, build smarter CPD, or expand in Asia
.
My passion is to drive educational innovation, harnessing technology to enhance online and offline learning experiences. I hold an NPQH, a PGCE, and an M.Ed in Educational Leadership and Administration.

We also provide academic support to students planning to attend boarding schools in the UK, US, and Australia and help UK schools enter and succeed in the Chinese market.

Everyone's in the cast.
Disney's creativity is unmatched.
And it has lessons for international schools.

Here are five ways Disney’s creative genius can inspire education:

1. Storytelling as a Superpower
✨ Disney doesn’t just tell stories—it moves people.
• Iconic characters like Mickey Mouse, Elsa, and Buzz Lightyear
• Timeless themes of love, courage, and friendship
• Emotional arcs that resonate with every generation

Lesson for schools: Build narratives that connect students to purpose, identity, and wonder.

2. Innovation at Every Turn
🚀 Disney is relentless in pushing boundaries.
• Animation pioneers in 2D and 3D
• Immersive rides like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
• Streaming powerhouses like Disney+

Lesson for schools: Embrace technology to elevate learning and engagement.

3. Designing Immersive Experiences
🌍 Disney knows that environment matters.
• Theme parks that spark awe
• Cruises that blend fun and education
• Products that extend the story into real life

Lesson for schools: Craft learning environments that feel magical—where curiosity thrives.

4. Global Presence, Local Relevance
🌐 Disney connects across cultures.
• Parks in Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai, and more
• Films translated and reimagined for global audiences
• Stories that cross linguistic and cultural borders

Lesson for schools: Think globally. Teach with local context. Prepare students for a connected world.

5. Brand Consistency That Builds Trust
🎯 Whether it’s a film, park, or toy—Disney stands for quality.
• High production standards
• Family-friendly content
• A legacy that spans generations

Lesson for schools: Your values are your brand. Make every touchpoint count.

Walt Disney once said:
“All our dreams can come true if we dare to pursue them.”

In a world that’s changing fast, schools have the chance to be the Imagineers of education.
✨ Let’s learn from the magic—and create spaces where every student feels like the hero of their own story.

John Woodberry

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Talks about #qts, #china, #ipgce, #teachertraining, and #internationalschools

Founder @ Red Dragon Education | International Teacher Training

Meetings often reward confidence.
But great decisions should reward clarity.

We’ve all been in that room—where the loudest voices steer the conversation, while the most thoughtful insights go unheard.

This dynamic is especially risky in international schools, where diverse perspectives are a strength—not a challenge.

Because what’s visible isn’t always what’s valuable.

🧭 As leaders, we must ask:
Are we building meeting cultures that listen deeply, not just loudly?

Are our decisions shaped by the clearest thinking, or simply the most assertive?

The quietest person in the room might hold the key insight—if we make space for it.

Let’s not mistake thoughtful silence for disengagement.
Let’s recognise it as a prompt to invite voices in.

👉 How do you ensure the quieter voices in your school community are truly heard?

#LeadershipInEducation #InternationalSchools #InclusiveLeadership #SchoolCulture #DecisionMaking #ListeningMatters #EducationalLeadership

Being liked is easy. Leading with purpose? That’s the hard part no one trains you for.

In international schools—where cultures mix, expectations soar, and change is constant—the temptation to be a liked manager is strong.
It’s easier to keep the peace, dodge conflict, and win short-term applause.

But long-term impact?
That comes from something deeper: respect.

🔹 The liked manager gathers a crowd.
🔹 The respected leader builds a team.
🔹 One seeks approval. The other earns trust.

In education, our duty isn’t to be popular—it’s to lead with clarity, consistency, and courage. That means:

✅ Making tough decisions with empathy
✅ Holding the line on shared values
✅ Prioritising student outcomes over personal comfort

Especially in international contexts—with their transient communities and cultural nuance—authentic leadership isn’t always loud.
But it is always felt.

🧭 Let’s not confuse visibility with influence.
👣 Let’s build cultures where leadership is chosen, not chased.

To my fellow school leaders:
What helped you shift from being liked to being respected?

#InternationalEducation #SchoolLeadership #AuthenticLeadership #EducationalLeadership #ValuesDrivenLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #LeadingWithPurpose

If you’re stuck on what to pursue, here’s a clue: pursue you. Uncommon advice for leaders:

If you’re unsure what direction to take—start with yourself.

Pursue being the healthiest version of yourself.

Pursue being the happiest version of yourself.

Pursue being the most present version of yourself.

Pursue being the most confident version of yourself.


When leaders invest in their own growth, clarity follows—and so does the right path.

👉 What practice helps you show up as your best self in leadership?

ChatGPT doesn’t replace thinking. It redefines the landscape of thinking. But it will always produce false information. 

💭 “ChatGPT will always give you BS answers — it’s built that way.”
I’ve seen this claim a lot lately. 

ChatGPT doesn’t understand the world; it predicts language patterns. That means it can sound right while being wrong — confidently. But calling that “by design” misses the point.

When calculators entered classrooms in the 1960s, teachers said they’d “kill real math.” When priests once mediated truth, people feared chaos if everyone read for themselves. In both cases, we didn’t abandon the tool — we learned to use it wisely.

ChatGPT is the same. It’s not an oracle of truth — it’s a language calculator. It handles words; we handle meaning.

The future of AI isn’t about replacing thinking — it’s about elevating it.

You’ve heard of reacting. You’ve mastered responding. But have you tried recognising?

This is the hidden power of the pause—and it changes everything.

Just like Steve Jobs used silence to deepen impact, we too can shift how we communicate and connect.

🔁 Reacting is fast, automatic, often driven by habit or emotion.
🔄 Responding is more thoughtful—measured, deliberate, mindful.
⏸️ But recognising goes deeper.

It’s the moment of stillness where we access embodied wisdom—heart, gut, intuition.
It’s the breath between stimulus and reply, where clarity lives.

Here’s what recognising offers:
🕰️ A pause that creates space for integration
🌿 A chance to align with your truest nature
💡 A deeper, more authentic answer
❤️🔥 A break from social conditioning to reconnect with essence

In leadership, in teaching, in learning—recognising shifts the quality of our interactions.

Because often, the most powerful insights arise not when we speak quickly, but when we sit quietly.

How might your school, your team—or your students—grow if we embraced this third way?

#LeadershipDevelopment #MindfulCommunication #EmotionalIntelligence #StudentAgency #EducationalLeadership #SelfAwareness #InternationalEducation #ThePause

I am always amused when people tell me somewhere is busy. I always tell them it's not China busy! Usually, with a look of bemusement, they go off complaining.

Leaders, managers and teachers, how many hours do you actually work—vs. Just trying to stay afloat? 

Between lesson planning, admin, emails, and meetings... your time is under siege.

💡 This simple matrix can help you win it back.

✅ Do it now – urgent + important
📅 Schedule it – important, but not urgent
🤝 Delegate it – urgent, but not important
🗑 Eliminate it – not urgent or important

International schools thrive on strategy and sanity. 

The best educators aren’t just busy—they’re focused.

📌 Save this, share it with your team, and start protecting your time like it matters. (Because it does.)

I arrived when China was driving German dreams.
Now, the world drives Chinese ones.

When I arrived in China in 2004, the Santana was the luxury car of choice. 

For the same price (purchasing party) today, you can buy a top-of-the-range BYD with a top speed of 338mph. 

Meanwhile, China is the #1 electric car exporter in the world, BYD.

The international job market has changed.
AI now decides who’s “good enough.”
Here’s how to make it past the machine.

Sending out applications and hearing nothing back?
It might not be your teaching experience.
It might not even be your CV.
It might be the algorithm.

If you’re female, over 40, from a minority background, or your application used the “wrong” phrasing, there’s a good chance your CV never even reached a human.
Welcome to the new reality of international hiring — where AI is the first recruiter you meet.

Most international schools and agencies now use AI-driven Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to scan, score and reject candidates before a person ever looks at your profile. These systems rely on pattern-matching, not professional judgment. They decide who gets shortlisted — and who disappears.

Worse still, they can unintentionally amplify bias rather than reduce it.

If you want that next post overseas, ATS optimisation isn’t optional. It’s survival.

When I coach international educators, I tell them this:
Your CV must pass two tests — the machine’s logic and the human’s attention.

That means writing for both:

Mirror the exact language of the job description.

Use simple, structured formatting that scans cleanly.

Show measurable impact (results, progress data, outcomes).

Keep language modern, inclusive and bias-aware.

A rejection within 24 hours rarely means you weren’t good enough.
It usually means the system filtered you out.

Until AI recruitment becomes fairer and more transparent, learning to work with the filters—not against them—is the only way to ensure a real person sees your application.

👉 See my latest carousel:
“Your Skills Aren't Being Rejected — It’s Your CV Being Filtered.”

Why am I getting rejected for interview?

Not surprising that teaching “tech-bro” kids can yield impressive results — they’re already operating with a considerable advantage. What’s more telling is the old habit of pushing out students who don’t fit the mould. 

Elite academic schools have been doing this for decades, but at least the best of them are upfront about it and own their selection bias.

Alpha schools seem all smoke and mirrors to me. What do you think?

Great international schools thrive because when your direction aligns with others:
We find a connection.
We find momentum.
We find support.

What's your take?

Looking forward to sharing my thoughts 🤔

View company: Leading Your International School

Teacher retention is one of the biggest challenges facing international schools today.

Could professional qualifications could be your solution?

Join John Woodberry on the 12th November as he examines how schools can strategically use PGCE, iPGCE, QTS, IQTS, and MA qualifications to attract exceptional educators, build loyalty, and create robust leadership pipelines.

You'll leave with practical strategies for making professional development central to your recruitment vision. 

#InternationalSchools #EducationLeadership #TeacherDevelopment #LYIS

Divya Shree Devaraj, Linh Nguyễn Việt and 12 other attendees

View event: Attracting and Retaining Great Teachers and Leaders

Attracting and Retaining Great Teachers and Leaders

Imagine international education that actually prepares you for life—not just exams. What if we shifted from surviving to thriving?

🔁 Teach from the inside out

🌍 Design learning for real-world impact

🤝 Foster collaboration over competition

💡 Empower self-directed, meaningful growth

🔍 Encourage purpose-driven academic choices

🌱 Redefine success beyond grades and income

🛠 Embrace challenges as learning opportunities

🧠 Celebrate diverse perspectives and student agency


It's time we rethink what education truly means.

Norway and the UK had the same oil money. One built a trillion-dollar future. The other blew it on tax cuts.

Whilst the UK once had greater oil and gas reserves than Norway, it failed to invest the profits wisely—choosing tax cuts and privatisation over long-term national benefit. 

Norway, by contrast, built a sovereign wealth fund so strong that its citizens can now study at university anywhere in the world for free.

Delighted to be attending the #BMCC meeting at KTJ. Stunning new facilities.

I am delighted to be sharing my insights tomorrow amongst education legends. Join us from 4 pm onwards.

Knowing my children don’t use a mobile phone at school gives me peace of mind. I am always keen to see what tech bros do with their kids. 

But in international schools—with their diverse communities and varying norms—it’s not always that simple.

As mobile use becomes more embedded in daily life, schools worldwide are grappling with how to manage it effectively:

📵 In France, a nationwide phone ban led to reduced online bullying and improved academic outcomes.
📚 UNESCO warns that excessive mobile use threatens young people’s mental health and learning potential.
📶 Some schools are implementing tight network controls, ensuring access is limited to educational content only.
⏳ China now enforces a rule that screen time should take up no more than 30% of class time, encouraging real-world engagement.

International schools face unique challenges: balancing cultural expectations, ensuring digital literacy, and supporting student wellbeing—all while navigating a fast-changing tech landscape.

Still, the benefits of reducing mobile use during the school day are clear:
🗣️ More face-to-face interaction
🛡️ Less exposure to cyberbullying
🎓 Better focus and academic performance

Is your international school rethinking its mobile policy?
What’s working—and what still needs to change?

It started as a year off. It became a life path.
My gap year led me to China in 2004.
The rest is history. 🇬🇧🌍

Here’s why I believe every student should take one:

💰 Work + save – reduce financial pressure later
😴 Recover from burnout – avoid heading to uni exhausted
🛠 Build fundamental skills – communication, resilience, adaptability
🌱 Grow personally – discover passions, learn new things
🧭 Gain independence – life skills you won’t learn at school
🔄 Reset and refocus – choose your path with clarity
💼 Test-drive careers – explore fields before you commit
🎓 Boost university applications – stand out with lived experience
🌍 Broaden horizons – real-world learning beats textbooks
🔓 Unlock your potential – this year could shape your future

A well-spent gap year is never time lost.
It’s preparation for life.

Ever feel the pressure to have all the answers? 

Here's an idea: admitting what you don’t know isn’t a weakness — it’s a superpower. Humility and a growth mindset open the door to real learning.

In a world obsessed with giving opinions, the real strength lies in listening, staying curious, and constantly evolving. 

So next time you're tempted to fake it, remember: authentic leadership is knowing when to ask questions. 

Are you embracing your curiosity today?

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