Author list

Steve Oakes has over 20 years' of experience as a teacher and leader, and has been a Head of Sixth Form at two successful schools in the UK and the UAE. As a current Head of Sixth Form, he works closely with students to maximise levels of engagement and commitment, designing high-impact interventions and practical tools for improving academic performance.

Jarlath O'Brien has been a teacher for nearly two decades, working in comprehensive, independent, selective and special education – including in schools for children with social, emotional and behavioural issues and severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties. For the last eight years Jarlath has been a head teacher and executive head teacher.

Jarlath is also a behaviour columnist for TES, has written for The Guardian and for several other education publications and trains teachers on behaviour, school leadership and special educational needs.

Click here to listen in on Jarlath's podcast with Pivotal Education - How to be a great leader in a special school'.

Click here to read Jarlath's article in the Guardian in which he discusses how children with special needs are grossly over-represented in exclusion figures.

Click here to listen to Jarlath on Surrey Hills Community Radio's The SEND Show'.

Bill O'Hanlon MS is a Licensed Mental Health Professional, Certified Professional Counsellor, and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. He has authored or co-authored 35 books. He is one of the developers of solution-oriented therapy, counselling people and organisations to help them determine what their goals are and to remove the barriers to their success. He has given over 3,500 seminars or workshops around the world.

Karen Olness MD is Professor of Pediatrics, Global Health and Infectious Diseases at Case Western Reserve University. She is past President of the International Society of Hypnosis, the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis and the Society for Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics.

Julie Silverthorn MS and John Overdurf CAC are highly respected international therapists and trainers of hypnotherapy and NLP, with over thirty years of combined experience. They are both certified Master Trainers of NLP and are the developers of Humanistic Neuro-Linguistic Psychology, which integrates hypnosis, neuro-linguistics, quantum theory and spirituality. Julie has a master's degree in clinical psychology, while John is a certified addictions counsellor and a former instructor of psychology.

What are we called to do in our lives and how can we discover and express our personal and professional genius and purpose? Not easy questions but Nick has been struggling with and exploring them for himself and with others through his writing, editing, and storytelling, as well as in workshops, seminars and coaching sessions with individuals, educational institutions, professional bodies, organisations, and the arts for the last several decades. These days his primary professional passions catalyse around two areas. Firstly, the development of shared narratives that explore how schools, NGOs, and large organisations would do well to be more fully human, more self-organising and self-managing and less stuck in the old paradigms of autocracy, hierarchy, ego, power and control. Secondly, how can people entering the Third Act of their lives see their future less as a surrender into retirement and more as an opportunity to transition into a generative and creative period of contribution and personal exploration of their life's true purpose? In a whole variety of exciting ways, these two areas are both evolutionary and deeply interconnected.

 

 

Roger P. Allen Dp Hyp PsyV is a practising hypnotherapist based in Portsmouth, UK. He constantly seeks to improve therapeutic practice by integrating into his sessions a wide range of established and experimental techniques and theories.

Natalie Packer is an education consultant specialising in SEND and school improvement. Having previously worked for the National Strategies SEN team and as a local authority adviser, Natalie has a significant amount of experience within this area of the education sector. She runs a range of professional development courses, carries out SEND reviews and supports a range of multi-academy trusts across the country with their strategic development of SEND provision.

As Executive Director at Restorative Thinking, Lesley Parkinson supports a restorative education for all (including pupils, children, parents and carers, workforce professionals, young and adult offenders), promoting key life skills in restorative practice via training programmes and consultation.

Torsten Payne is a full-time teacher with over twenty years' experience. He values practical strategies that work in the classroom and small changes that make a big difference. A regular contributor to teaching publications and national conferences, he delivers staff training across all key stages in schools across Europe.

Jo Payne is a Deputy Head Teacher. Although she specialised in primary languages during her teaching degree, she is particularly interested in how technology can enhance pupils' learning. She writes a blog, MrsPTeach, on which she shares ideas about many subjects within education, including: feedback and marking, whole-class reading and maintaining a healthy work'life balance as a teacher @MrsPTeach.

Click here to read Jo Payne’s blog.

Louise Pearce is an experienced teacher of French and has been a head of department. She has worked as a language teaching advisor with CILT Cymru, working with businesses and schools in business languages. She has had extensive experience as an examiner and as a CPD presenter.

Georges Philips is a Consultant Hypnoanalyst and Psychotherapist, Stress Management Counsellor, Trainer and creator of GOLD Counselling. He and his co-author and partner Lyn, have a successful private practice in Finchley, London, and also run personal development courses in the UK and Greece. Their International College of Eclectic Therapies offers training in Hypnotherapy, Psychotherapy, GOLD Counselling, Stress Management Counselling and NLP. Georges is the founder of the Association of Analytical Therapist and the Stress Management Counsellors Association.

Dr Jo Phillips has taught in four different sixth form colleges, then moved into higher education, and has been teaching in universities for the last 15 years. This puts her in a rare position - she’s taught not only A-level students but hundreds of undergraduates too. She currently teaches Landscape Architecture at the University of Sheffield. 

Professor Gervase Phinn taught in a range of schools for fourteen years before becoming an education adviser and school inspector. He is now a freelance lecturer, broadcaster, writer, and a consultant for the Open University. He is President of The School Library Association.

Kenny Pieper has been teaching English for fifteen years and still loves every minute of it. He stands shakily on the shoulders of giants in the shape of his amazingly inspiring colleagues. Deep down, he still can't believe his luck that he gets to do this.

Click here to listen in on Kenny's podcast with Pivotal Education on How to get children reading for pleasure'.

Claudette Portelli is a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, therapist, researcher and trainer at the Centro di Terapia Strategica in Arezzo, Italy.

Graham Powell has over forty years' experience working in education ' holding various posts including head teacher, Ofsted inspector, and local authority adviser ' and has throughout his career maintained a passionate concern for the ways in which young people learn. He has worked with numerous schools, both across the UK and overseas, that have chosen to place the LPA at the heart of their vision for 21^st century learning. Graham is also a distinctive and inspirational trainer and is the co-author of many books including The Learning Powered School and Pathways to Coaching.

Simon Pridham has successfully managed and implemented a mobile device learning programme as head teacher of Casllwchwr Primary, which is frequently named as one of the UK's leading schools in using technology. Simon has been Lifelong Intergenerational Furthering Education (LIFE) Programme Manager across Wales and has also worked closely with the country's Education Ministers as a member of the Welsh Government Practitioners Panel and the National Digital Learning Council.

He is co-founder and Director of Aspire 2Be (www.aspire2b.eu) who are a leading Ed Tech company working with schools, local authorities and governments in rolling out technology-led programmes.

Muriel P. Warren, DSW, ACSW, is a psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, author and educator engaged in private practice in Rockland County. She is the former Executive Director of the Psychoanalytic Center for Communicative Education and Past President of the International Society for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. She holds degrees from Fordham, Columbia, and Adelphi Universities in Psychology and Social Work, as well as a Certificate in Psychoanalysis from Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. She is a Diplomat at the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress and Executive Director and President of the Warren Trauma Center established in May 2004.

In his native Germany, Manfred Prior is a popular and well-known trainer in the use of precise language in hypnotherapy and counselling. In his capacity as a psychotherapist, counsellor and coach, he is always trying to find new possibilities, ways to improve and workable solutions. Fundamentally, Manfred Prior is interested in how people can achieve the greatest possible success from the least amount of effort. 

Oliver Quinlan is an educator with experience from Early Years and Primary to Higher Education. His background has involved developing the use of new technologies and pedagogical approaches based on authentic communication with children and new and existing teachers. Since being a school teacher, Oliver has been a Lecturer in Education at Plymouth University and Programme Manager for Digital Education at Nesta, working on innovation projects in Education. He is currently Research Manager at The Raspberry Pi Foundation.

Listen to Oliver's US interview with Mr Dad (the interview starts at around 12.27 mins in).

Click here to read Oliver Quinlan’s blog.

 

Cynthia R Kalodner PhD is director of the Counseling Psychology program at Towson University and a licensed psychologist. She has written extensively about eating disorders and disturbances and has made presentations across the USA.

Ian R McLaren is a registered INLPTA trainer of NLP with a background in financial and general management. As Investment Controller and Planner with the Canada Life Assurance Company, he has worked in London, New York and Toronto, gaining a wide range of senior management experience. During his varied and successful career, Ian has also worked as a finance director, consultant, author, business coach and trainer.