School headship ranks among the most consequential positions in international education. The role carries unusual demands: governance across cultural and legal boundaries, often at a distance from family and home country, scrutiny from boards whose composition changes substantially with shifts in the school community, and the solitude that accompanies final accountability. Why, then, do accomplished educators pursue it? This panel convenes heads who have chosen to examine the question directly rather than assume its answer. The conversation moves beyond recruitment language and the prospect of a higher salary to the actual calculus of the decision: what the role offers that no other position in education can, what it costs, and what sustains those who thrive in the seat. Aspiring heads, other administrators, governing board members, and current heads alike will hear a candid account of a choice that warrants more scrutiny than it ordinarily receives.

By the close of this session, participants will be able to:

• Articulate the reasons educators choose to pursue headship, including the chance to shape an entire school and to serve purposes that reach beyond the classroom and the host community.

• Identify the mentors, coaches, and critical friends who offer candid and caring counsel, and plan how to cultivate those relationships in advance of the role.

• Explain why relationship building, more than technical proficiency, determines a head's effectiveness, and why knowing one's team is central to the work.

• Describe the practices that sustain a head over time, including a sound balance between work and life, a reliable support system, and the willingness to lead openly and with one's full humanity.

Margaret is currently Vice President of International Accreditation, ACS WASC. She has over 25 years experience in international education, ranging from international school teacher, middle leader, principal, head of school and service within the field of accreditation. In addition, she is Director of an environmental educational charity, serves on several education related advisory bodies and served on the former IB Regional Council. She was awarded the title of Emeritus Head in recognition of her leadership and years of service to ISS International School, Singapore.

Chip served as an international school educator from 1973-2018 and has been a governance facilitator and trainer since 1985.  

He believes board members are usually well-intentioned and that governance is complex and thus iterative, not linear.  Individual board member governance skills matter and a learning mindset is critical to the practice of effective governance.  He also believes that International School Governance is a service profession with learnable practices and that a learning mindset is critical to the practice of effective governance.  He is dedicated to making these learnings accessible to board members, owners and heads.

Chip is the Director of the Governance Training Center (GTC), which offers virtual and in-person governance training.  The link is https://www.theptc.org/governance-training-center. 

He also currently serves on three boards. 

Richard Spradling served from 2018-2025 as International Liaison Officer for the Council of International Schools, a membership organization supporting over 1300 schools and universities in more than 120 countries. In this role, Dr. Spradling collaborated with CIS partners such as accreditation agencies in the US and abroad, the International Baccalaureate Organization, the United States Department of Overseas Schools, and the Association for the Advancement of International Education. He also served on the International Task Force for Child Protection. Dr. Spradling also served as a CIS School Support and Evaluation Officer, regularly visiting both non-profit and for-profit schools around the globe to provide support and evaluation. Since leaving CIS in 2025, Dr. Spradling has been a volunteer evaluator for CIS and for partner accreditation agencies such as Middle States Association of Schools and Colleagues (MSA) and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC).

Dr. Spradling was Director of American International schools in Libreville, Gabon (1983-1987); Tunis, Tunisia (1990-1997), and Vienna, Austria (1997-2005), and most recently as Head of the American School of The Hague from 2005 until June 2018. He also taught as a Visiting Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of South Carolina (1988-1990). In 1996, he was named a US National Distinguished Principal, and in 2012 Dr. Spradling was selected as Superintendent of the Year by the Association for the Advancement of International Schools (AAIE). In 2014, Dr. Spradling received a Klingenstein fellowship to study at Columbia University. He has served on numerous accreditation teams and advisory boards, contributed several articles to national and global publications, and given presentations at various regional and international conferences. During his career, he has served as president or chairperson of the Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA), the Mediterranean Association of International Schools (MAIS), the Central and Eastern European Schools Association (CEESA), and the Northern European Council of International Schools (NECIS).  He also served as Treasurer of the board of the European Council of International Schools (ECIS), and was Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Council of International Schools (CIS) until 2015. In 2018, Dr. Spradling was inducted into the AAIE Hall of Fame. He holds several graduate degrees in both English and Educational Leadership, including a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina.

Dr. Spradling now lives in the Los Angeles area, where he plays cello with a strings ensemble and works as a background actor in film and television.

Marc Frankel, Ph. D., is a Senior Consultant and partner in Triangle Associates, an international consultancy specializing in higher, independent, and international education. A psychologist by training, Dr. Frankel facilitates governance workshops, leadership development programs, and strategic planning for clients around the world, and coaches numerous senior leaders in universities and independent schools. His clients include schools in Europe, Asia, and North America, including large and small institutions and Tier 1 universities.

Dr. Frankel is a member of the governing board at the Wildwood School (Los Angeles), and he lives in St. Louis, MO, and Asheville, NC.  Dr. Frankel’s undergraduate degree is from the University of Utah, and he completed his master's and Ph.D. at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Frankel has been part of Triangle Associates for over 25 years.