Making teaching a more family-friendly career for parents: Emma Sheppard of the MTPT Project

In the fourth series of the MSB podcast, now rebranded as 'Interbeing', the focus returns to coaching and its values in supporting both self-reflection and cultivating generative relationships within educational environments. The term 'inter being,' coined by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, frames this season’s exploration of interconnectedness. 

Hosts Matt and Naomi introduce guest Emma Sheppard, a passionate advocate for family-friendly schools, to discuss the impact of coaching on personal growth and professional development. Emma shares her experiences with coaching, her transition into motherhood, and founding the Maternity Teacher Paternity Teacher (MTPT) Project. The episode delves into the challenges and opportunities for educational institutions to support their staff as multifaceted human beings, emphasizing the importance of listening, presence, and personal fulfillment in fostering a positive and thriving school environment.

00:00 Welcome to Series Four: Exploring Interbeing

02:03 Introducing Emma Shepherd: Advocate for Family Friendly Schools

03:18 The Power of Coaching: Transforming Challenges into Opportunities

08:20 Emma's Journey: From Hopelessness to Empowerment

16:39 Balancing Motherhood and Career: The MTPT Project

26:01 The Role of Coaching in Supporting Parents

30:46 Creating Family Friendly Work Environments

40:59 Concluding Thoughts: The Human Experience in Education

Emma Sheppard founded The Maternity Teacher Paternity Teacher (MTPT) Project, the UK's charity for parent-teachers, whilst on maternity leave with her son in 2016. Having trained through Teach First as an English teacher in 2010, she continued to teach in the British International School, Ho Chi Minh, acting as Head of House, before returning to the UK as Lead Practitioner at an academy in South London. Here, she held responsibility for ITT provision, teaching and learning, and line managed the EAL department. In 2020, Emma began training as a coach with The Coaching Academy, and then relocated to the south of France with her family in 2021 to coach and run The MTPT Project full time.

The MTPT Project is the UK's charity for parent-teachers. From humble beginnings as a blog and a Twitter handle, inspiring, empowering and connecting teachers choosing to complete personal and professional development whilst on parental leave, The MTPT Project has grown into the voice of parent-teachers in the UK.

The charity runs training and networking events, provides 1:1 and group coaching to teachers on leave, and is the only organisation completing research into women aged 30-39 - the largest demographic to leave teaching every year. Since 2016, The MTPT Project has worked to tackle the motherhood penalty in education, to transform education into a sustainable and "life-friendly" career choice for all.

Find out more about MTPT at https://www.mtpt.org.uk/

You can find us on Linkedin at

Matt Hall: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-hall-msb/

Naomi Ward: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomi-ward-098a1535/

Interbeing is made by Making Stuff Better https://makingstuffbetter.com/ and produced by Emily Crosby Media https://emilycrosbymedia.com/