Resources

Claire Cassidy - I was fortunate enough to study with Claire during my PGDE(Masters) in 2010 when I qualified as a secondary school teacher at the age of 40! I was struck by her fearless questioning and courageous curiosity about learning and teaching but above all her fearless, creative, thinking and questioning!

I was so attracted to her ideas that I asked her to supervise my Masters degree in Philosophy with Children and Education Studies that I finally completed in 2018. Learning Circles Scotland is partly inspired by the Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CoPI) approach to community learning and individual development because it nurtures ideas in an inclusive, democratic, safe supportive learning environment.

Click on Claire's name to watch a video on CoPI and the benefits of learning to think creatively and for yourself. Click on the CoPI link to learn more about Practical Philosophy.

Steve Carr - Is my brother from another mother, a friend and colleague who shares my passion for learning. We also share the curiosity and courage required to ask the difficult questions that can lead to improvements in teachers and pupils individual and collective health and well being, emotional engagement and productivity.

Click on Steve's name to discover why I'm happy to teach his Confident Classrooms workshop based on his new approach, "a mind to teach".

Trevor Silvester - I met Trevor at a Seminar for Sergeants at the Scottish Police College in 2003 not long after I'd had a serious motorbike accident. What I learned from him was mind blowing. His ground breaking creative approach to re-thinking hypnotherapy through his individually designed Wordweaving technique is not only effective but fun!

Click on Trevor's name to discover why I'm happy to promote his Cognitive Hypnotherapy model of learning. I still make reference to some of the things I learned from Trevor all those years ago. He's a great teacher and supporter of heuristic learning although his jokes can be a bit dodgy at times!

The Mankind Project (MKP) - Is an international organisation that I have learned a lot from and been supported by since March 2010 when I experienced the New Warrior Training Adventure (NWTA). Since then I have been attending and helping to organise and run Men's groups in and around Edinburgh. We have weekly meetings and regular events that help to strengthen a supportive community of men in Edinburgh. I also support MKP by staffing NWTA weekends.

Learning Circles Scotland - where hearts and minds come together to make our world better...is based on my life experience and my own learning journey that I am honoured and blessed to have shared with these individuals and organisations above and too many more to mention.