Speaking

As a speaker I work to make complicated research-based ideas actionable and easy to understand. I’ve delivered presentations to over 100,000 people across in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, England, Qatar, Finland, India, Hong Kong, Spain, the Czech Republic and Israel.

My clients have included the NSW and Victorian Departments of Education, the International Baccalaureate, Apple, Microsoft, The English Schools’ Foundation of Hong Kong, The Alberta Teachers’ Association, Ontario Principal Council, Corwin Press, Learning Forward, EduTech, Future Schools and many more.

I aim to provoke fresh thinking and be a catalyst for meaningful progress. I weave together research, story and experiences from the field to enable leaders to understand the why, what and how of realising positive change in their unique contexts. I’ve been doing this for over a decade, and understand how to craft the right message for an audience of thousands or a more intimate dialogue for a retreat. I’ve outlined some of my key areas of expertise below. See these as more of a starting point for a conversation about how we can tailor a message that is specific to your needs and the aims of your event.

The first step is to reach out to my team and explore what might be possible. Explore the topics below for keynote sessions, half day or full day workshops.

Agile Leadership

Changing times call for educators who can create progress despite the complexity, ambiguity and resistance that they face.

A better ‘how’ not another ‘what
Changing times call for effective leaders who can create progress despite the complexity, ambiguity and resistance that they face. Agile Leadership provides a dynamic approach to leading educational change that enables leaders at all levels to adapt quickly, learn rapidly and iterate towards their desired impact.

This compelling and practical presentation:

  • Embrace an agile mindset to thrive despite uncertainty
  • Focus on the work that matters most
  • Engage in iterative action to learn their way forward
  • Harness formative evidence to steer improvement efforts
  • Make a plan to take action to create meaningful progress in their context
Enhancing Teaching Expertise
Developing evidence-informed teaching strategies to support effective learning.

Effective teaching is complex, relational and contextual. Supporting diverse students to make progress across a broad range of valued outcomes requires high levels of adaptive expertise.

So how can educators continue to enhance their expertise? And what could this look like in busy schools when we feel overloaded?

During this session participants will have an opportunity to:

  • Identify the complexity of teaching and the need for adaptive expertise
  • Explore the 3 big ideas about getting better
  • Examine the practical challenge of shifting ingrained habits of practice
  • Explore the benefits of a ‘sprints’ approach and the power of incremental gains
  • Consider how to harness the Teaching Sprints process to develop evidence-informed teaching strategies
The Science of Learning

How the science of learning can shape how we teach. What should educators know about how learning takes place? How might this be informed by the best available research.

How the science of learning can shape how we teach.
What should educators know about how human learning takes place? How might our classroom practice be informed by the best available research evidence?

Learning is the process that underpins all aspects of education. Over the last decades, our scientific understanding of how learning takes place and the teaching strategies that can support it has greatly improved. In this evidence-based and engaging session, we will consider the practical implications of the science of learning for designing teaching and learning.

The key outcomes for this session include:

  • Debunk the common misconceptions about how humans learn
  • Understand why creating learning that ‘sticks’ and ‘transfers’ is so hard
  • Explore the 4 keys from cognitive psychology that every teacher should know
  • Examine the surprising truth about what motivates students to learn and persist
  • Build confidence in tweaking your classroom practice to align with what the research evidence is suggesting
Building Back Better

How school leaders can harness new ways of working to redesign a ‘new’ normal for learning.

Harness new ways of working
Dr Simon Breakspear has been partnering with schools and systems globally to help them navigate the challenges of COVID-19 and come out stronger on the other side. In this dynamic session Simon will provide practical guidance on how to lead your team and school through a simple 3-step process of organisational learning and renewal.

Together we will explore how to:

  • Avoid a snap-back to old habits and patterns of practice
  • Identify how the pressure of COVID-19 may have helped your staff to rethink old assumptions about learning, teaching and collaboration
  • Lead a clear process of learning from the new innovations that have emerged in your context and beyond
  • Find ways of sustaining new ways of working into a new and better normal
  • Develop organisational agility to thrive in response to uncertain future challenges