Consultancy to Strengthen Learning

James has been consulting with schools around the world for more than 20 years.  He knows and understands the various contexts and is committed to providing support that is aligned to your specific needs and structures.  James stays current with educational research and is able to consistently make connections between the strategies he suggests and the research to support them.  Throughout his 20+ years in consultancy, he has developed his message to fit the current times, but has stayed true to his core foundations, including the Learning Pit as a framework for learning, encouraging challenge, and focussing learning and the learner.

James offers keynotes for conferences and seminars.  He also does a lot of in-school consultancy; puts on conferences and institutes; and creates customised videos and webinars .

His main themes are learning, mastery, and engagement. He works with all staff connected to the education of students aged 3-19, including teachers, leaders, support staff, coaches, consultants, directors and superintendents.

In addition to his consultancy services, he also has a range of books, lesson resources, videos, and Learning Pit downloads.

James wants to help make learning more challenging; and he wants educators to think about how to build a culture where all learners are supported.

He knows that more learning happens when people step outside their comfort zone; that more reflection and strategy comes from mistakes than from easy success.

And yet, all too often educators try to make things easier for their students; partly because they don’t want lessons to descend into chaos when everyone is confused, but mainly because there simply isn’t time for confusion – there’s too much information to get through and the exams are just around the corner! Parents are also susceptible: witness the increasing number of terms used to describe those who would design struggle out of their children’s lives: ‘helicopter parents’; ‘curling parents’; ‘snowplough parents’; ‘bonsai parents’ and so on.

James’s proposition is to go contrary to these latest trends by introducing more challenge, not less. Encourage everyone to step out of their comfort zone; to investigate; to seek alternatives; to reject easy answers; to engage in more thoughtful questioning; to seek reasons and counter-arguments. In other words: to seek out challenge rather than to avoid it; to go into the Learning Pit rather than play it safe and stick to what you know.

He shows educators how this can be done, even with a crowded curriculum, hesitant students and helicopter parents. He shares research that confirms people have to struggle if they are to remember lessons long into the future; that more learning comes from examining mistakes than from verifying answers.

He makes learning more challenging because the evidence is clear: we all grow when we step out of our comfort zone. And he challenges the way learning takes place because there’s always a better way – be it more effective, more efficient, more ethical or more collaborative.

Most of James’s work is with teachers, leaders and support staff working with 3-19-year-olds. However, when he does long-term work with schools, pre-schools or colleges, he often runs parent workshops in which he shares the latest research and best ideas for supporting children’s learning. This includes how (and how not) to praise; how to help children get into a growth mindset, develop self-esteem and build self-efficacy; giving advice about grading and labelling; looking at the best ways to approach mistakes and failure; practising questioning that engages curiosity and conversation; and developing a range of strategies for reasoning and reasonable behaviour.

As well as these workshops, he recommends his book  Encouraging Learning (2013). This inspiring, humorous, and practical book will show you what to do to help children of all ages develop into confident, thoughtful and independent learners.

He hosts conferences, workshops and roadshows – all of which are available to individuals as well as groups and teams. There are also all nine of his books, plus the lesson ideas, downloadable resources and videos available on this site.

Get in touch and James can help you decide! He will ask about your context and your aims, then offer some suggestions for your next steps. He won’t push and He won’t offer you a pre-formulated package. Instead, he will listen carefully to your thoughts and then help you design the best blend of resources, support and consultancy that builds capacity and leads to significant and sustainable improvements in teaching, learning and leadership.