It is our absolute pleasure to welcome a special guest to the Morethanajob podcast in association with ResearchEd. We are joined by Amjad Ali, a teacher, trainer. TEDx speaker and senior leader. Amjad has spent his career working in challenging, diverse schools and Young Offender Prisons. Amjad is a leader in the sector for CPD training, has co-organised several large teachmeets and si the co-founder of the charity the BAMEed Network. Could you tell us about your journey through education as a student and what was life like growing up for you? What inspired you to come into teaching? What does effective CPD look like and what advice would you give to senior leaders in order to create a culture for effective CPD? What are the most common mistakes or common pitfalls that schools make when planning CPD? You have a book coming out soon. Can you share with our listeners what we can look forward to? You’re passionate about increased opportunity for the BAME community in education, how can we achieve this? What could and should schools be doing to create a more diverse, tolerant and respectful society? To go further what are your thoughts on football fans booing when players take the knee and sports people being suspended and investigated for social media posts over 10 years ago? You’re an advocate for the Chartered College of Teaching – why do you think it is so important that teaching is given this recognition and status as a profession and what can we do to enhance it further.