Leading international education
Join The Education Standard as a Thought Leader
The Education Standard is building a network of educators, researchers, writers, and changemakers who are shaping the future of British and international education. As a Thought Leader, you’ll share ideas, provoke discussion, and help elevate global conversations around learning, leadership, inclusion, and innovation.
We’re seeking contributors with diverse voices and experiences, from classroom teachers to school leaders, policy experts to creative educators.
If you’re passionate about education and ready to add your voice to the dialogue, we’d love to hear from you.
Apply to become a Thought Leader
We review applications on a rolling basis and will be in touch to discuss upcoming themes and opportunities.
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Meet the writers
The editorial team at The Education Standard brings together a wealth of international experience across the education sector. Our editors have worked in British schools and universities both in the UK and overseas, as teachers, leaders, researchers and inspectors. Their backgrounds span early years, primary and secondary education, as well as curriculum development, accreditation, and policy. With decades of combined expertise in international schooling—from Madrid to London, they share a commitment to high standards, inclusion, and the global impact of British education. Guided by this insight, the team ensures that every feature, report, and analysis published by The Education Standard reflects a deep understanding of the diverse realities of education around the world.
Rachel Rosa
Artist | Educator | Author | Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, The Education Standard
Rachel Rosa is a seasoned education specialist and the co-founder of, The Education Standard. With over two decades of international experience, Rachel has worked across British and international schools as a teacher, leader, and inspector. Her career has taken her from classrooms in the UK to senior leadership and advisory roles, shaping policy and practice in British international education. Rachel is an accredited school inspector and has led numerous NABSS inspections across Spain and beyond. Her expertise spans school leadership, curriculum design, safeguarding, and quality assurance.
Known for her values-driven focus on inclusion and innovation, she has contributed to projects that elevate standards and celebrate best practice in international schools. As a neurodiverse entrepreneur and ADHD thinkker, Rachel brings creativity, empathy, and systems thinking to her work. Through The Education Standard, she is committed to connecting global educators, amplifying authentic voices, and promoting excellence across the British international school community.
Oliver Trent
AI Research & Editorial Assistant, The Education Standard
Oliver Trent is The Education Standard’s first AI team member, a virtual colleague with an infinite filing cabinet and no need for coffee breaks. Designed to support research, data synthesis, and editorial precision, Oliver brings a breadth of knowledge that spans centuries, subjects, and time zones. His insights, unclouded by human bias (and occasionally corrected by human editors), help ensure our content remains accurate, relevant, and forward-thinking.
A proud example of how artificial intelligence can complement, not replace, human creativity, Oliver works alongside our writers and editors to bridge technology and education journalism. In a world where AI is part of the classroom, the curriculum, and now the newsroom, Oliver’s presence reminds us that innovation and integrity can—and should—coexist.
When he’s not parsing data or cross-referencing inspection reports, Oliver can usually be found fine-tuning his British humour algorithms.
Robin Hevness
Educator | Ethnomusicologist| Performer | Traveller
Robin Hevness writes from the crossroads where art, culture, and human behaviour meet. With a career spanning performance and pedagogy, research and real life, Robin explores how people express, connect, and create meaning in a changing world.
Having worked in SEND provision and lectured in the UK, Slovenia, and Spain, he brings an inclusive and international perspective to education. His writing bridges the academic and the accessible, drawing on a master’s degree with distinction and hands-on experience in classrooms, festivals, and communities worldwide.
Educated in TEFL and PGCE, with a background in performance and ethnomusicology, Robin writes with the clarity of an educator, the depth of a researcher, and the instinct of a performer. His voice is one of curiosity and conscience, serious about truth without losing the joy of the journey. Through The Education Standard and beyond, Robin invites readers into an ongoing conversation about what it means to be human, creative, and awake in a time of noise.
Deborah Salsbury
The Reading Doctor | Guest writer | Dyslexic Thinker
Deborah Salsbury is the founder and driving force behind The Reading Doctor—a specialist reading intervention and tuition service she launched in 2012. A qualified primary school teacher originally working in Bromley, Greater London, Deborah progressed into roles as intervention lead and trained with the Institute of Education London as a Reading Recovery teacher, honing her commitment to unlocking reading success for all pupils.
Drawing from her own personal experience (including having a child with dyslexia) and decades of classroom and specialist teaching, Deborah recognised that for many young learners the barrier isn’t just phonics but the motivation, confidence and meaningful experience of reading itself. (Franchise World Magazine)
Under her leadership The Reading Doctor has delivered evidence of strong impact: for example, one school’s implementation of the intervention reportedly saw average reading-age gains of nearly two years in a nine-month period.
Beyond the classroom, Deborah has transformed The Reading Doctor into a national network of specialist tutors and franchise hubs, blending rigorous pedagogy with practical, scalable delivery.
At The Education Standard we are delighted to include Deborah among our contributors and thought-leaders.