Face to face professional development created and delivered by experts in the profession.
Higher Learning
Thanks for visiting Higher Learning and exploring our courses.
Higher Learning was founded and run by Lubna Haddad since 2009 and has been part of the Teacher Training Australia (TTA) presenters’ team.
Higher Learning proudly partnered with TTA and took over all the face to face courses.
We believe that face to face courses are the key to providing effective and lasting professional development, and we want school staff and teachers to continue to access high quality face to face courses.
We have a growing team of exceptional teachers and experts who are passionate about designing and delivering high quality face to face courses (many are NESA accredited) to maximise professional engagement, collaboration, learning and networking.
All our courses are designed to be implemented in the classroom the next day, because they came out of the classroom the day before, with a focus on explicit teaching.
If you would like to join the Higher Learning team and have a burning idea to create and offer a face to face course, get in touch.
Michael Griffin
Michael Griffin’s achievements and CV are phenomenal. He is an educator, keynote speaker, author, conductor, and pianist. As a teacher, Michael taught for 25 years in government, catholic and independent schools, as a music teacher and faculty leader up to Deputy Head level.
Michael’s work is published in international journals and covers his brilliance in music and expertise in teaching and learning. He is the author of eight books, including Metacognition – Teaching Children to Think and Learning Strategies for Musical Success.
Michael has been keynote and guest speaker at numerous Australian and international education conferences. Also, he has spoken to audiences of teachers, students, and parents in more than 600 schools in 30 countries.
As a musician Michael’s choral ensembles received more than 40 prizes and awards in Australian competitions. He has adjudicated at several national and international eisteddfods and has been a guest conductor for major events including the Pemulwuy National Male Voice Festival, and in Switzerland, Asia, Europe and New Zealand. As a pianist, he had numerous guest residencies include Dubai’s iconic 7-star Burj al Arab and Hayman Island Resort.
He is a winner of the South Australian Education and Arts Ministers’ Prize and listed in Who’s Who South Australia.
Lubna Haddad
Lubna is an accredited History and Legal Studies teacher. For ten years, she was Head of HSIE, marked the HSC and judged and marked the SC. She has been writing and presenting Modern History PL since 2009, helping and supporting hundreds of teachers to improve their pedagogy, confidence in the classroom and ultimately, their students’ results.
Her courses include Power and Authority, Civil Rights in the USA, Conflict in Indochina, Germany as the national study and Leni Riefenstahl. Most recently, Lubna wrote and ran the booked-out workshop “This is NOT Peel – Writing and Source Analysis in History”, and there are more courses to come.
Lubna also runs student HSC revision incursions and writing workshops in regional NSW, and has presented at the HTAA’s annual conference on Nazi propaganda through film and Leni Riefenstahl.
She has a BA Dip Ed, Post Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership, and Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment.
Lubna is a self-declared curriculum and history nerd. She is deeply committed to, and passionate about, mentoring early career teachers and sharing all things content and curriculum. Her goal is to help retain brilliant young teachers, and future proof the teaching profession.
Tamar Hoffman
Tamar is a dynamic teacher and mental health expert with a wealth of experience across a range of educational and therapeutic settings.
Tamar holds a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and Theatre and Performance Studies, a Bachelor of Secondary Education, and a Masters in Counselling and Psychotherapy, and she is uniquely equipped to address the holistic needs of both students and school staff. As a Secondary teacher, she taught English, Drama, and English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EALD).
Her diverse background spans Intensive English Centres, detention facilities, high schools, specialised hospital educational programs, support units, and individual counselling services. As the founder of Growth in Education, a consultancy focused on educational wellbeing, Tamar is deeply committed to enriching the lives of teachers, clerical and professional staff, and their students.
Tamar is a passionate advocate for fostering a culture of wellbeing across the education sector, and she specialises in empowering teachers, and clerical and professional staff, to lead mental health programs and initiatives within their classrooms. She provides them with essential tools and strategies to sustain their own mental health, and to better support the mental health of their students.
Phil McNulty
Phil started his Special Education journey in 1995, working casually within a range of Schools for Specific Purposes. He holds a Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) and a Bachelor of Special Education.
For 25 years, Phil has been working specifically within Autism Education, in both primary and secondary units. Having kept up to date on a range of classroom, behaviour management and visual support strategies, he brings practical experience as well as evidence informed research.
Phil is the Founder and Managing Director of KEADS (Key Engagement Areas Disability Services), an NDIS service for young people, specialising in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Through KEADS, and collaboration with schools, young people are engaged to gain skills and training for employment, including communication, social skills, personal goals and employability.
Donna Redman
As a highly experienced Speaker, Workplace Trainer, Teacher, and Student Wellbeing Coordinator, Donna, is deeply passionate about suicide prevention and the promotion of mental health and wellbeing. She has delivered hundreds of workshops to thousands of individuals in venues right across Australia and also in New Zealand. These workshops have been conducted in the corporate arena, community venues and in countless primary and secondary schools.
A highly accomplished speaker, Donna presented at several conferences including Suicide Prevention Australia, and delivered workshops at the Positive Schools Conference, which travelled to Brisbane, Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney. Most recently, Donna presented at the Propsych: Mental Health in Schools Conference in Sydney and Melbourne, was the keynote speaker and workshop facilitator at the PDHPETA (Personal Development Health and Physical Education Teachers Association) Conference in Wagga Wagga, and Human Connections: Accidental Counsellor Online Conference.
Donna has been featured on ABC radio, the Sydney Morning Herald and local Macarthur media. Donna has worked for Lifeline as a Crisis Supporter, assisting callers who ring to access this service. She is the author of the young adult fiction novel, Awakening Sebastian. As a secondary educator, Donna specialises in working with teachers, bringing her deep knowledge and experience of the school context into her training courses.
Danielle Simpson
Danielle is a passionate, experienced and accomplished PDHPE Teacher with 30 years of teaching. She is currently the Vice President of the PDHPE Teachers Association.
Her CV is extensive including being Head of Department, tertiary level tutoring of undergraduate teachers at Macquarie University, educational consultant and presenter of Stage 6 Teacher Professional Learning.
She is a Stage 6 PDHPE textbook author “PDHPE: Applications and Inquiry – HSC Course”, and has extensive Stage 6 examination experience.
Dr. Paul Teys
Dr Paul Teys began his teaching career at Fairholme College, Toowoomba, as a Mathematics and Physics teacher, and has been working in independent schools in QLD and NSW ever since. Highly regarded, Paul has more than 40 years’ experience, including 24 as Principal, having led Moreton Bay College in Brisbane, and Hunter Valley Grammar School in NSW.
Paul‘s profound impact stems from his deep commitment to excellence in leadership and his commitment to fostering the growth and success of schools, principals, and their teams.
He is a regular presenter at leadership conferences with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), LawSense, numerous secondary schools and private organisations.
Paul now works in his own consulting business, developing the next generation of leaders and principals. Paul’s Thesis for the award of a Doctor of Education was “Leading large, P-12, autonomous, independent schools: An Australian case study”.
His book, So you want to be a principal, is published by Amba Press, and he is writing the follow up “Now You Are A Principal: Navigating the Leadership Labyrinth”.
He has a regular blog and hundreds of school leaders who subscribe to his ‘5 am Club’ newsletter where he shares daily leadership gems and anecdotes.
Ron Thomas
Ron is a highly accomplished teacher, writer, producer and presenter, and his seminars are acclaimed all over Australia and Bangkok. Ron utilises a highly interactive methodology with many lively activities, so be prepared for something different.
He has 20 years experience in secondary schools teaching Drama year 7 – 12 and especially loves junior Drama. He also taught VCE Literature (The Play in Performance) and English. His text Engaging Students in Drama is available online. Ron studied the Graduate Diploma in Drama in Education at Melbourne University and is a graduate of The Art and Science of Adult Learning Course for professional facilitators.
Ron has directed or co-directed over 20 productions including cabaret, melodrama, clowning, Brecht, Musicals (The Boyfriend, Footloose, Back to the Eighties), social drama, as well as staff and student devised shows and radio plays. He has run and judged Theatre Sports Competitions and coached VCE Theatre Studies Monologues.
He is also a published poet and he performs his work regularly at Spoken Word at the 1812 Theatre. He is Gold Level of International Toastmasters and was Area Humorous Speaking Champion. He has twice coached debating teams to the Victorian Debating Association Grand Final.