Mike’s work is hugely varied and is tailored to fit the needs of the individual school or teacher rather than one size fits all one-off events. The summary below gives an idea of the kind of work that he does although it would be safe to say that if it is to do with learning he quite probably does it! Anyone considering working with Mike is invited to contact him to discuss their requirements and explore possibilities.

Focus
He works predominately in three inter-related areas

• Improving learning in the classroom
• Leadership for learning
• Coaching

Group size
He works with groups ranging from 1 to 500. For example:

• Whole staff groups
• Clusters and networks
• Teaching and learning working groups
• Coaches
• Senior leadership groups
• Middle leadership groups
• Individual teachers
• NQTs
• Headteacher organisations

Organisation
The possibilities are endless and range from one-off inset days or a keynote address to on-going support and training over a longer period. Some schools invite Mike to run an inset day while others have worked with him for a number of years.

 

 

 
 

Of the many sessions that we have had on learning and teaching in the school this has had, by far, the biggest impact – the staff are still talking about it!

– Linda Kirkwood, Rector, Oban High School

 
   
     
  To Give You an Idea...  
     
 

Promoting Deep Learning
Although in everyday conversation we may use a single word – learning – to describe it, there is a massive difference between having a tentative, superficial grasp of something and a deep, genuine understanding. The extreme ends of this spectrum are often referred to as Surface and Deep Learning and all too often in the past classrooms have been characterised by the former – children receiving, retaining and regurgitating information, doing it neatly and underlining the title with a ruler. Many have rejected this concept of learning as limited and limiting and there is currently considerable interest in how we can move children beyond simply knowing things to an increasingly sophisticated and deeper understanding.

This project seeks to address two key questions:

1. What does Deep Learning look like?

2. How do we promote it in the classroom?
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  To Give You an Idea...  
     
 

Unpacking Learning
This hugely popular and successful workshop is based upon the premise that the more we know about and understand learning the better able we are to facilitate it in others. We all therefore have an individual and collective responsibility to talk about it, reflect upon it, analyse it, dissect it – unpack it – in order to deepen our personal understanding of it. For it is only when we truly get under the skin of it that we are able to help children learn and become better learners.
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Leadership for Learning
Mike runs a whole series of tailor-made workshops for Head teachers and senior school leaders that address the broad theme of how school leaders can enhance the quality of learning in other people’s classrooms.
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Coaching the Coaches
It is not coaching that will make a difference to teaching and ultimately learning, it is high quality coaching and there is the key question to consider of who coaches the coaches?
Mike offers and extensive range of coaching the coaches programmes – from introductory sessions to master classes.
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Other popular workshop titles include:

Beyond Good – improving the quality of teaching from an ever higher baseline

Creating the Climate – creating a learning culture so that teachers can become learners

From teaching to learning – putting learning centre-stage in the classroom

From compliance to commitment – practical strategies to motivate reluctant students

Overcoming the barriers – dealing with negative beliefs that limit learning