John sits down with Caroline Derbyshire, one of the most respected figures in UK education, for a conversation that explores her thirty-six years in teaching and leadership.Caroline offers open and deeply thoughtful reflections on what it means to lead, teach and care in a profession that’s often stretched to its limits.Caroline’s insights draw on a lifetime of experience in classrooms and staffrooms, shaped by moments of change, challenge and connection. She reflects on the evolving culture of schools, the role of leadership in shaping values and the quiet but powerful impact of everyday relationships. The conversation moves through themes of trust, integrity and presence, asking what it means to stay grounded and hopeful while guiding others through uncertainty.Caroline’s reflections made with clarity, warmth and humour speak of leadership, not as a position of control, but as an act of service, one rooted in empathy and authenticity. Her perspective is informed by decades of listening to colleagues, students and communities, and by a commitment to keeping education humane in a system that can easily lose sight of the people within it.Drawing on her early years in teaching, she recalls how the profession has changed, how expectations have expanded and how resilience has often been misunderstood as endurance. She offers insight into how genuine resilience grows from connection, care and the permission to rest and reflect. She shares stories of inspiration - teachers who shaped her thinking, mentors who showed what ethical leadership could look like and the students whose questions reminded her why education matters.Caroline considers how leaders can nurture environments where people feel safe to speak, experiment and grow. She explores the subtle art of building trust and how honesty, consistency and kindness can create cultures that allow both staff and students to thrive. Her reflections touch on courage, not as bravado, but as the quiet strength to do the right thing even when it’s not easy to do so.Throughout the conversation there is an underlying sense of balance, the recognition that education is as much about relationships as results. Caroline speaks about wellbeing, purpose and sustainability in leadership, highlighting the importance of self-awareness and compassion in preventing burnout. She reminds us that the most effective leaders are those who model calm, have humility and perspective, even when under pressure.The conversation also acknowledges the broader landscape of education today, with shifting policies, growing pressures and the tensions between vision and practicality. Caroline’s experience offers perspective on how schools can navigate these demands without losing sight of their core mission which, she says, is to serve young people with honesty, dignity and care.As the conversation unfolds, Caroline reflects on legacy and continuity, on what it means to look back on a career with gratitude and to look forward with optimism. There is little sentimentality but thoughtful realism and the belief that every act of leadership, however small, can shape a more humane and hopeful profession.Through empathic, insightful questions, and the telling of his own experience, John invites listeners to pause and, through comparison, to consider their own journeys. What first drew them into education, what sustains them and how they can lead with intellect and heart. Caroline’s reflections remind us that leadership is relational, teaching is moral and care is the quiet constant that holds everything together.For teachers, lecturers, school leaders and anyone interested in the inner life of education, In Good Company with John Gibbs offers space to think differently about values, vocation and the on-going work of shaping communities that are both excellent and kind.Follow us, we're worth it:🔗 Website🔗 Spotify🔗 Instagram🔗 Bluesky🔗 X (Twitter)

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