Author List

Terence Watts is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, and the only psychology related therapist to have been awarded the MCGI (Member of the City & Guilds Institute). Founder of the Essex Institute of Clinical Hypnosis, The Terence Watts BWRT Institute and The British BrainWorking Research Society, he is an international lecturer and trainer and runs popular online training seminars.

Grandmaster Peter Wells has over 30 years’ professional experience in the chess world and has authored or co-authored nine well-received chess books. He has extensive coaching experience, having worked with the England Open and women’s teams at a total of 16 major events, and now works with the leading English juniors through the Chess Trust’s Accelerator Programme. As a player Peter has won three British Rapidplay titles and is part of a small group of English players to have progressed beyond the zonal stage of the World Championship cycle.

Jakob Werdelin is a Danish teacher trainer and consultant specialising in cooperative learning, an approach which structures learning environments to improve academic outcomes and inculcate readiness for work and life in the 21st century. He designs tailored interventions and training programmes for schools, colleges and universities, charitable bodies, teaching schools, multi-academy trusts and international training providers. Jakob is the founder and director of UK-based Werdelin Education.

John West-Burnham was an independent writer, teacher and consultant in education leadership. He is the author, co-author and editor of many books including Rethinking Educational Leadership and Understanding Leadership. He was a director of three academy trusts and a trustee of two educational charities, as well as an Honorary Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Worcester.

Steve Wheeler is a Learning Innovations Consultant and former Associate Professor of Learning Technologies at the Plymouth Institute of Education where he chaired the Learning Futures group and led the Computing and science education teams. He continues to research into technology supported learning and distance education, with particular emphasis on the pedagogy underlying the use of social media and Web 2.0 technologies, and also has research interests in mobile learning and cybercultures. He has given keynotes to audiences in more than 35 countries and is author of more than 150 scholarly articles, with over 6000 academic citations. An active and prolific edublogger, his blog Learning with e's is a regular online commentary on the social and cultural impact of disruptive technologies, and the application of digital media in education, learning and development. In the last few years it has attracted in excess of seven million unique visitors.

Click here to read Steve Wheeler’s blog.

Dave Whitaker is an Independent Thinking Associate and the Director of Learning for the Wellspring Academy Trust. As a former executive principal of social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs special schools and alternative provision academies, he now has responsibility for several such academies across Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. He is also a founding member of the Headteachers' Roundtable think tank and is a regular speaker at conferences, as well as being an active campaigner for educational change.

Dr Ann Williamson has been a General Practitioner for thirty two years and has used hypnosis for more than fifteen years to help her patients deal with stress and anxiety and to help them facilitate change in how they live their lives. 

She is an accredited member of the British Society of Clinical & Academic Hypnosis, a certified NLP Master Practitioner and has had training in brief solution oriented therapy and other approaches.

She has been involved for many years with teaching Health Professionals how to use hypnotic techniques both for themselves and within their own field of clinical expertise.

She runs stress management, personal development and brief psychological interventions workshops on request, as well as seeing private clients for therapy. 

She has also lectured at Manchester, Chester and Salford Universities.

She has written three books: on stress management, smoking cessation and on brief psychological interventions in clinical practice. She is also co-editor of A Handbook of Contemporary Hypnosis.

She is also a Reiki Master Trainer and has an interest in creativity and exploring one's emotions through the arts.

After spending 10 years teaching in secondary schools in Lincolnshire, Phil Wood moved into higher education, first at the University of Leicester, and now as a Reader in Education at Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln. He is an active researcher focusing on educational change, currently exploring complexity informed approaches to education, and the nature of teacher workload.

Click here to listen in on Phil's podcast with Pivotal Education on How to Train, Retain and Research'.

Click here to read Phil Wood's blog.