Author List

Roland Roberts studied at the Royal Academy in London and later as a Fulbright Scholar in the USA where he gained a Masters Degree in Music. Roland has broadcast and performed worldwide as a solo violinist and has been leader of some of the finest British ensembles including the Thames Chamber Orchestra and the City of Oxford Orchestra with whom he has recently recorded Vivaldi's Four Seasons'. He has also played on many Hollywood movie soundtracks and CD recordings ranging from Pavarotti to Annie Lennox, and performed in venues from The Carnegie Hall to Wembley Stadium. As a conductor he was principal conductor of the Fulham Symphony Orchestra for five years and has worked with many professional and amateur orchestras. Other work includes composing and arranging music for BBC television and film, and a recent composition 'An English Elegy' was chosen as 'pick of the week' on BBC Radio Suffolk.

Juliet Robertson is a retired education consultant specialising in outdoor learning and play and the author of two popular books, Dirty Teaching and Messy Maths. In 2024 she was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Education from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh in recognition of her pioneering work and significant contribution to education. 

Juliet received an unexpected blood cancer diagnosis at the end of 2020 which altered her life trajectory. She began writing poetry in 2021 as a way of making sense of her illness, treatment and prognosis. She discovered that sharing her poetry was a gateway to necessary, but not easy, conversations with family and friends.

Juliet will be donating her royalties to UK cancer charities. You can read a full list of the charities in her blog post here.

She has written updates on her health journey which can be read here

She expands upon her poetry here

Click here to read Juliet's podcast with Earthly Chats.

Click here to listen to Juliet’s podcast with Wild Minds about outdoor learning and play.

Click here to read Juliet Robertson’s outdoor learning blog.

Martin Robinsonworked for 20 years in state schools in London as a teacher, a leader and an advanced skills teacher. Now an education consultant, he works with schools and other institutions on curriculum development and a wide range of other issues. He is a regular on the conference circuit both in the UK and internationally.

Click here to listen to the podcast Naylor's Natter where Phil Naylor talks to Martin about Curriculum-Athena versus the Machine.

Shelle Rose Charvet has been learning NLP since 1983 and became a Certified NLP Trainer in 1992. She has been exploring Rodger Bailey's Language and Behavior Profile (LAB Profile®) since she encountered it at Institut Repère in Paris in the mid-1980s.

Today she is known in the NLP community as the 'Queen of LAB Profile' because of her books Words That Change Minds (1997) and The Customer is Bothering Me (2010) - and the LAB Profile training she delivers to NLP institutes around the world. She also works with businesses and organisations to help them transform communication with customers and solve other influencing and persuasion challenges. Shelle speaks English, French and Spanish and is currently learning German.

Click here to read Shelle Rose Charvet’s blog.

Professor Rosenthal's research has centred for over 40 years on the role of the self-fulfilling prophecy in everyday life and in laboratory situations. Special interests include the effects of teacher's expectations on students' academic and physical performance, the effects of experimenters' expectations on the results of their research, and the effects of clinicians' expectations on their patients' mental and physical health. For some 40 years he has been studying the role of nonverbal communication in (a) the mediation of interpersonal expectancy effects and in (b) the relationship between members of small work groups and small social groups. He also has strong interests in sources of artifact in behavioral research and in various quantitative procedures. In the realm of data analysis, his special interests are in experimental design and analysis, contrast analysis, and meta-analysis. His most recent books and articles are about these areas of data analysis and about the nature of nonverbal communication in teacher-student, doctor-patient, manager-employee, judge-jury, and psychotherapist-client interaction. He is Co-Chair of the Task Force on Statistical Inference of the American Psychological Association.

Greg Ross is an Associate Professor (Teaching) at the UCL Centre for Educational Leadership, IOE. He specialises in the design and delivery of evidence-informed professional learning programmes for teachers and school leaders, in partnership with ministries of education, non-governmental organisations, and international school groups. Greg’s research focuses on the leadership of curriculum change. Before joining the IOE, Greg was a senior leader and English teacher in secondary schools.

Jackie Rossa has worked as a teacher, educator and manager within the learning and skills sector. She now works as an educational consultant and additional inspector. She has conducted research into transforming learning and has worked with many providers to successfully implement initiatives designed to advance excellence in teaching and learning.

Tim Rowan, MSW, maintained a clinical practice and held the position of Division Chair of Behavioural and Social Sciences and Professor of Human Services at Allegany College of Maryland. In addition to his therapeutic and academic work, Tim was a soccer coach and a softball coach and had been selected Soccer Coach of the Year seven times.

Chris Runeckles is an experienced history teacher at Durrington High School, where he currently leads on teaching and learning and is an assistant director of their Research School. A former journalist, Chris also regularly contributes to the popular blog Class Teaching and tweets @chris_runeckles.

Will Ryan has worked in schools in South Yorkshire for over forty years as a teacher, head teacher and local authority adviser. As a head teacher he led a school that prized itself on genuine pupil creativity and was described by Ofsted as outstanding'. He is a speaker and Associate of Independent Thinking Ltd.

Click here to read Will Ryan’s blog.

Mark S. Carich, PhD, is coordinator of the Sexually Dangerous Persons Program with Illinois Corrections at Big Muddy River Correctional Center. He is currently Adjunct Professor in the Counseling Department at Lindenwood University, and was affiliated with the Adler School of Professional Psychology. He has written extensively on issues relating to the management of sex offenders.

Ruchi Sabharwal is Director of Teaching and Learning at a community academy trust in Cambridgeshire. Driven by an insatiable passion for teaching and learning, Ruchi has a keen interest in new developments and research in pedagogy. She is also a regular speaker at #LearningFirst conferences, leading workshops on a range of approaches to assessment.

Dr Samantha Todd is a clinical psychologist who works with children and adolescents with learning disabilities. She also provides regular training for teachers and children's services, and has co-developed a programme for behavioural difficulties, Riding the Rapids: Living with Autism or Disability.

Julie Sargent has over 10 years’ experience of working across the whole of the primary sector as an English Consultant. This includes developing bespoke CPD for individual schools, multi-academy trusts and local authorities. She has a particular interest in Early Years/KS1 and using high-quality texts to promote and develop all aspects of English.

Tom Saunders MD merged his life's work as a physician with his life's pleasure, golf. He practiced as a Family Physician in Calgary until 1968 when he joined the new Faculty of Medicine as head of Family Practice. As a professor he taught medical students and trainees how to use self hypnosis techniques to help their patients manage medical problems. He set the principles of hypnosis on his own game, and with other golfers.

Mel Scott is an MFL and English specialist who currently leads a year six team at Vale School. Prior to entering the teaching profession, she worked in industry using her language skills in areas as diverse as buying and copywriting. She has a particular interest in raising the level of children's engagement in and enjoyment of writing. @melscott123

David Shephard BSc, DES is Chairman and Head of Research and Training for The Performance Partnership. David is a Master Trainer of NLP, Time Line Therapy, instructor of Hypnotherapy and teacher of Hawaiian Huna. He presents public seminars including Presenting Magically throughout the year. His companies include The Performance Partnership, the Coaching Partnership and The Profitability Partnership.

Julia Silver is the founder of Qualified Tutor, a professional development community that develops and certifies tutors. She lives in North London with her husband Simon, her five children and her Labrador puppy.