Author list

Andrew `Bernie` Bernard is an entrepreneur, a TEDx Speaker, a director of both Innovative Enterprise and National Careers Week, and a Fellow of the Professional Speaking Association. Bernie – as he prefers to be known – has, since 2006, worked with schools, businesses, charities, universities and colleges to help over 150,000 young people bring their future to life through enterprise and careers workshops.

Brin has been working in and around schools for 15 years and has taught at every age range from primary school right up to university masters level.

He began his career as a secondary school teacher, and soon found himself as head of geography at Settle High School & Community College, situated in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales. Following lots of hard work, his department and students received a number of prestigious awards. He also had a role as a development officer at this school, leading fundraising and marketing activities.

His next move was into advisory work in another part of Yorkshire, Barnsley, a town that has suffered from considerable social disadvantage. Here he was a gifted and talented coordinator for a local education authority, arranging high quality teaching, learning and enrichment for young people and overseeing a £1.5 million budget. This was similar to being an advisory teacher for schools, but also involved project management and advocacy work on behalf of gifted and talented pupils.

Brin then became independent when he set up my company Innovation for Education Ltd, of which he is still the director. He now works with hundreds of schools every year in a support capacity as well as leading training courses and writing books and articles for teachers and school leaders. He has chaired several national conferences on education themes and is a regular speaker at high profile events across the country. He recently featured in a series of professional development films for Teachers' TV. He has also been the editor of various professional periodicals, including School Financial Management, which he edited for seven years.

Brin is really proud to be one of the few education consultants whose work has been shortlisted three times in the National Educational Resources Awards. The Teachers' Pocketbooks series, for which he was the co-originator as well as having written six titles in the series, won this prestigious award in 2005.

His twenty-fifth book, on Cost-effective Fundraising in Schools, was published in 2011. His books are widely sold across Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia and his Accelerated Learning Pocketbook has recently been published in the Slovak language.



Creativity and the exciting possibilities of change permeate all of Brin's work. He believes that children and young people are capable of amazing things if we give them the tools and the emotional support they need to reach their potential.

Emmie Bidston is an Associate Fellow of the Oxford Character Project and a Senior Fellow of the Community of Practice of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University. Emmie studied economics at the University of Cambridge before working for the UK civil service in a range of areas from education to contingency planning. She is the director of the Wellington Leadership and Coaching Institute. She has also co-founded a charity to help develop young leaders in Africa and runs conferences and coaching and leadership training for adults and young people.

Stephen Bigger PhD began his career as a secondary teacher and from 1981 was a lecturer in education in teacher training institutes, in Scarborough, Oxford and Worcester, ending as head of department and head of research in education.

Over that period he produced three books in collaboration with colleagues, made chapter contributions to others and wrote many articles and book reviews.

Click here to read Stephen Bigger’s blog.

Kristina is both a creative and an intellectual. Her prime motivator is to understand how we as humans manage our existence and express ourselves as a way of making sense of our experience. This deep drive has led her to turn every side of her into a vocational platform.

Kristina has authored critically acclaimed personal development book 101 Days to Make a Change and was nominated in two categories (Non-Fiction and Best Debut Writer) at the 2012 People's Book Prize. She has developed and run training for adults for over 20 years across Europe and the US. She holds a Bachelor of Business Studies, is a certified Life Coach and has numerous other professional qualifications such as Fitness Instructor, Meisner Actor, Music Producer and Film Maker. She divides her time between creative pursuits and learning notably for large organisations such as Deloitte University EMEA. She specialises in leadership development, communication and personal effectiveness and is passionate about human transformation and adult learning. She practices holistic wellness and advocates exercise, healthy living and mindfulness meditation in her courses.

Early in her career, Kristina worked as an actor and has continued as a filmmaker to produce communications and product launch pieces. She has released three albums of original music and created several music videos to support her work. She is a prolific voice over artist working across television, film and corporate media. Kristina is Swedish born and a resident of London, UK since 1998. Her childhood included stints in India and Canada, providing her with an international perspective early on.

With many different roles and abilities Kristina is uniquely positioned to advocate and guide the reader's path away from fragmentation and towards cohesion. She believes that by striving to be your authentic self there is no need to change hats' depending on which circumstance you are in. She believes that with the right support this mindset can be developed and maintained with balance and harmony.

David Birch works for The Philosophy Foundation, an award-winning charity that brings philosophy to schools and the wider community. He is also a teacher of philosophy and religious studies at both Newham Sixth Form College and Kensington Park School.

He has also been featured in Philosophy Now.

Read David's article featured in The Guardian, September 2014.

Gabrielle Blackman-Sheppard worked as a consultant, executive coach and life coach with particular expertise in intercultural communication, and organisational as well as personal effectiveness.

Click here to read Gabrielle Blackman-Sheppard’s blog.

Dr Erik Blair is Senior Lecturer in Higher Education Research and Practice at the University of West London. He has been an educator for over 20 years and has taught in universities in the UK and overseas, and is passionate about enhancing engagement and interaction within the teaching and learning environment.

Richard Bolstad PhD is a certified trainer with the International NLP Association. He has a doctorate in clinical hypnotherapy and is a member of the New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists. He has taught the RESOLVE model to psychotherapists and counsellors around the world. He is a co-author of the acclaimed book, The Structure of Personality.

The NLP Internationally Award was presented to Richard Bolstad at the NLP awards ceremony 2017.

Toria Bono is a classroom teacher who has worked in a variety of educational roles over the past 20 years. Toria is passionate about helping those involved in education to find their voice. She believes that when educators listen to and learn from one another, the young people in our nurseries, schools and colleges benefit from the collective knowledge and wisdom shared.

 

Ginny Bootman is an experienced teacher and SENDCO with responsibility for four primary schools, as well as a regular speaker at national SEND conferences. She is passionate about the impact of relationships within education, particularly for those working with children with additional needs, and is determined to improve understanding of the pivotal role that these relationships play within the school environment.

After working in computers, David Botsford trained in hypnotherapy. In 2000 he trained in stage hypnosis, and performed on television, stage and for private events. In 2003 he produced a series of seven self-hypnosis CD sets and from 2005 trained hypnotherapists in smoking cessation and marketing.

Danièle Bourdais is a French bilingual writer, editor and consultant. She has been working in the UK with educational publishers for nearly 30 years and in this time has co-authored a variety of print and online resources. Danièle has created high profile, award-winning courses for the teaching of French from KS2 to A level.

Steve's background is in education. He taught English for 18 years in Leicestershire High Schools, though is now a full-time writer, storyteller, educational consultant and also a qualified hypnotherapist.

He has also published over twenty educational books, principally in the fields of literacy, creativity, thinking skills and emotional resourcefulness. He has also written fantasy and SF for teenagers, adult and teen horror, romance, mainstream fiction for pre-teens, fiction and non-fiction for younger readers and poetry for all ages. 

Currently Steve is writing articles for Teach Primary magazine on topics related to literacy, creativity and life coaching skills for children.

Helen Boyle has spent the last ten years working in education, leading and implementing innovative teaching and learning initiatives and since 2004 has been the lead teacher at Campion School developing the RSA Opening Minds programme at key stage three.

Martha Boyne is a secondary school science teacher who has recently completed her MA in education. Martha has published research and also writes for the successful Thrive in Teaching blog. She has presented at numerous education events on the subject of how teachers can be supported to incorporate evidence-based practice into their teaching.

Former headmaster Michael Brearley was widely experienced in secondary education, and had a long-standing interest in engaging students more fully in their learning. His applied research at the University of East Anglia focused on teacher behaviour and how it impacted on students' learning; he also examined the role of mediation and the work of Carl Rogers. Michael's later research into emotional intelligence explored its practical application in the education and business sectors, particularly its effect upon performance as a teacher and leader.

Marie-Claire Bretherton trained as a teacher before becoming a head teacher in Lincolnshire, where she led three very different schools to secure improved outcomes for pupils, including in the most challenging of circumstances. She is now Deputy CEO of Waterton Academy Trust.

Denis Bridoux runs NLP and Neuro-semantics courses with applications to coaching and mentoring in France and the UK. He practices life and executive coaching.

Leonie Briggs is a science teacher, STEAM lead, STEM Ambassador, CREST Assessor and Director of Amazelab. With a varied background in STEM – ranging from veterinary and general practice to orthopaedics – she eventually discovered her passion for education and has held various roles as a primary, secondary, post 16 and alternative provision teacher specialising in science and chemistry.

Leonie’s dedication has won her multiple accolades, including ‘Outstanding New STEM Ambassador’ (STEM Inspiration Awards 2022), nominations for the Global Teacher Prize (2021) and the National Teaching Awards (2022), recognition as one of the UK’s Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs (2025) and a Green Growth Awards finalist (2025).

Under her leadership, Amazelab has won UK Enterprise Awards for STEAM Education (2023 & 2024), Start-Up Business of the Year (2022) and STEAM Education Platform of the Year (2025).

Twice a chief education officer – once in Oxfordshire and once in Birmingham, each time for 10 years – and he lead the London Challenge, which Tim Brighouse said he had learned from most of his many mistakes as a teacher, teacher educator and administrator. He believed in the power of teachers and schools to change the world for the better.

As founder of Innate Leaders – and as a psychological coach, management consultant, and writer – Joe Britto has worked with a wide range of entrepreneurs and leadership teams across the non-profit, public, and private sectors. His grounding in experiential learning, along with his studies in literary theory and psychological coaching, has allowed him to create a unique methodology that has successfully facilitated sustainable results.

Click here to read Joe Britto’s blog.

Matt Bromley is an education writer and advisor with over twenty years’ experience in teaching and leadership including as a secondary school headteacher, FE college vice principal, and multi-academy trust director. Matt is a journalist, public speaker, ITT lecturer, and school improvement advisor. He also remains a practising teacher, working in secondary, FE and HE settings. Matt writes for various magazines, is the author of numerous best-selling books on education, and co-hosts the award-winning SecEd podcast.