When I sat down to chat with industry legend, Dr Betty Leask, I wasn't expecting the first thing for her to say that she really shouldn't have ended up in international education at all.
Wait, sorry, what?
But as the conversation unfolded, it turned out to be quite true: Betty's really is a most unlikely international educator!
Which seems a strange thing to say about the editor of the Journal of Studies in International Education, chair of the Council on Australia-Latin America Relations (COALAR), and life member of the International Education Association of Australia, who also happens to be a prolific author on a wide range of topics relating to international education.
But that's life, isn't it? It leads us to interesting, unexpected places when we're open to exploring. And Betty is without doubt a curious, intrepid explorer!
Before we started recording, Betty and I were chatting about some of the many people who have shaped her journey - people like Hans de Wit, Jo Mestenhauser, Elspeth Jones and Fazal Rizvi. All giants in the field of international ed. And it seems fitting to me that Betty now stands firmly amongst them.
There are more good stories in this conversation than you can poke a stick at, and I'm sure there are more than a few revelations that will surprise even those who know Betty well.
