Evidence-informed pedagogy that leads to meaningful change in practice.
I support educators and education organisations who want to better understand how learning works. Applying research in ways that genuinely improve teaching, coaching, learning, and development. Below you’ll find the different ways we can work together, and who each option is designed for.
My approach focuses on teaching the theory behind effective practice. Rather than offering off-the-shelf strategies, I help professionals build the knowledge needed to adapt ideas to their own context, make confident evidence-informed decisions, and create change that is sustained over time.
Choose how you’d like to work together
Talks & Keynotes
Research-informed talks that challenge thinking and sharpen practice.
I deliver engaging talks and keynote sessions for conferences, training & INSET days, universities, and professional learning events. These sessions go beyond inspiration, helping audiences make sense of research and reflect on how it applies to their own teaching, leadership, or coaching contexts.
Talks are designed to:
- Strengthen developmentally appropriate learning environments.
- Deepen understanding of how children develop knowledge and skills.
- Strengthen how educators think about challenge, effort, and progress.
- Address common myths about learning, motivation, and ability.
- Support more confident, evidence-informed decision-making.
Suitable for: conferences, professional development, staff briefings, university teaching, and professional events.
Not sure which format is right? I’m happy to help you decide.
Workshops & Professional Development
Hands-on professional learning that translates theory into practice.
These workshops are designed for schools, colleges, universities, and sport or coaching organisations looking to deepen their understanding of how children learn and develop, and to strengthen practice in ways that are sustainable and meaningful.
Sessions are interactive, reflective, and grounded in research. Rather than offering off-the-shelf strategies, workshops focus on helping educators understand why certain approaches work, so they can make informed decisions in their learning environments.
Workshops are designed to help educators and coaches:
Understand how children learn, develop knowledge, retain and deepen understanding over time.
Design learning and training experiences that are developmentally appropriate and cognitively meaningful
Support the development of critical thinking and problem-solving across classroom and coaching contexts
Improve feedback, challenge, task design, and learning progression
Strengthen motivation, independence, and learner agency in students and athletes
Support motor development and skill acquisition, using learning science to inform practice design
Move beyond myths, trends, and oversimplified advice in education and sport
Apply theory confidently across different subjects, age groups, and coaching environments
Common challenges these workshops address:
- “We’ve tried lots of initiatives, but nothing seems to stick.”
- “Staff know what to teach, but want greater confidence in how children learn and develop knowledge and skills.”
- “We want to strengthen motivation, independence, and agency, but aren’t sure how to design learning for this.”
- “There’s uncertainty about how to support problem-solving, critical thinking, and skill development in practice.”
Available formats
- 1–2 hour workshops: Focused sessions introducing key ideas with time for reflection and application
- Learning series: A sequence of sessions for deeper exploration and sustained professional learning
- Half-day professional development: Extended time to connect theory, practice, and planning
- Full-day training: Available by discussion to shape content, structure, and outcomes to your context
All workshops are tailored to your context, learners, and goals.
Pre-Made Workshops & Learning Series
If you’d like a clear starting point, I offer a number of ready-to-run workshops and learning series. Each can be delivered as a talk, workshop, or series, and adapted to your learners, staff, or context.
These sessions focus on how learning happens helping educators and coaches deepen understanding, improve learning design, and make more confident, evidence-informed decisions.
Description
This session explores how children build knowledge, develop understanding, and learn over time. Drawing on evidence from neuroscience, educational psychology, and pedagogy, it helps educators and coaches make sense of how learning actually works.
Key outcomes
- Develop a clearer understanding of how children learn, retain, and apply knowledge.
- Improve decisions around challenge, feedback, and progression.
- Move beyond myths and surface strategies toward evidence-informed practice.
Available as a talk, interactive workshop, or learning series
Growth mindset is often reduced to quick phrases, nice posters, or generic praise. But the research tells a much deeper story. This session explores growth mindset as a psychological and neuroscientific framework, examining how beliefs, motivation, feedback, and learning environments interact to shape resilience, achievement, and learning-to-learn skills.
Key outcomes
- Develop a research-informed understanding of growth mindset and the brain.
- Recognise and avoid common myths and “false growth mindset” practices.
- Strengthen learning-to-learn skills through feedback, challenge, and reflection.
- Increase independence, resilience, and motivation.
Available as a talk, interactive workshop, or learning series
This session focuses on how learning is shaped by task design, feedback, and variation. Grounded in research from pedagogy, variation theory, and cognitive science, it supports educators and coaches to design learning experiences that promote understanding, critical thinking, problem-solving, transfer, and independent thinking.
Key outcomes
- Improve learning design to support depth, not just coverage
- Strengthen problem-solving,critical thinking, and transfer of learning
- Support independence, agency, and skill development across contexts
Available as a talk, interactive workshop, or learning series
Learning Series Options
For schools, organisations, or coaching environments seeking depth and continuity, these themes can be delivered as a structured learning series, typically across 3–6 sessions.
Learning series are designed to:
- Build shared understanding of learning theory grounded in research.
- Support critical reflection on current practice and decision-making
- Enable practical application and experimentation between sessions.
- Improve consistency and coherence across teams without enforcing uniformity.
- Support sustained change by developing knowledge, not just initiatives.
This format is particularly effective for organisations aiming to move beyond short-term professional development and embed meaningful, long-lasting improvement.
Tailoring by Phase
Learning series can be tailored specifically for:
Early Years
Primary
Secondary
Available formats
- Multi-session professional development series.
- Short series (e.g. 3–4 sessions) or extended programmes.
- Suitable for whole-school, department-level, or cross-phase groups.
Description
This learning series provides educators with a structured, research-informed understanding of how children learn and develop. Drawing on research from educational psychology, neuroscience, and pedagogy, it explores key aspects of child development that directly shape learning in educational settings, including brain development, cognitive development, and the social and psychological processes that influence motivation, engagement, and understanding.
The series supports teachers to move beyond strategies and initiatives and toward principled, developmentally appropriate practice that can be applied, adapted, and sustained over time. It is designed to encourage reflection, questioning, and professional dialogue, helping staff understand why particular approaches work and how learning develops across age phases.
Key outcomes
- Develop a deeper understanding of child development, including brain, cognitive, social, and psychological processes relevant to learning
- Strengthen decision-making around teaching, feedback, challenge, and curriculum design
- Improve learning-to-learn skills, motivation, and independence in students
- Reduce reliance on trends by grounding practice in research and theory
Description
This learning series focuses on the deeper psychological and pedagogical processes that support motivation, agency, and independent critical thought in children and young people. Drawing on research from educational psychology, learning sciences, and pedagogy, it examines how beliefs, learning environments, feedback, and task design interact to shape long-term learning and achievement.
The series supports educators and coaches to move beyond surface-level approaches and develop learning experiences that foster deep engagement, critical thinking, and learner independence. The emphasis is on transforming everyday practice so that learning promotes curiosity, resilience, and the capacity to think and learn independently over time.
Key outcomes
- Develop a deeper understanding of growth mindset as a psychological and pedagogical framework
- Strengthen learners’ agency, motivation, and capacity for independent critical thinking
- Design learning experiences that promote deep engagement and long-term learning
- Improve feedback, challenge, and learning environments to support resilience and autonomy
- Support learning that prepares children not just for school success, but for learning across life
How to Book
For all enquiries please get in touch via will@coffeeandtheory.com
Let me know:
- Your organisation
- The type of session you’re interested in
- Preferred dates (if known)
- Whether online or in-person
- Any specific goals, topics, or needs
Or you can book an informal call to find out more.