25 PD Speakers for Schools Sydney Leaders Actually Book

Professional development days land differently when the speaker understands what it feels like to stand in front of thirty tired staff members on a Friday afternoon in term three.

Generic keynotes produce polite applause and no behaviour change. The session feels inspiring in the moment, but two weeks later your leadership team cannot recall a single framework they can actually use. The evaluation forms come back positive, but the culture issues you hired the speaker to address are still sitting in your senior team meetings, unresolved and growing.

Sydney schools face a specific challenge when sourcing PD speakers. You need presenters who understand the Australian school context, who can work within your budget reality, and who deliver content practical enough that your staff walk out with something they can use in their next difficult conversation or their next team meeting. You need speakers your teachers will thank you for booking, not endure politely and forget by Monday.

I put together this directory to solve that problem.

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND SCHOOL CULTURE

This group of speakers works at the intersection of leadership development and school culture. They help principals, deputies, and senior leadership teams build the conditions in which staff retention improves, difficult conversations get easier, and strategic priorities actually translate into changed behaviour. If your school is dealing with underperforming staff you have inherited, a disconnect between stated values and actual culture, or a senior team that nods in meetings but does not follow through, these are the voices to bring in.

1. Jonno White

Jonno White works with school leadership teams who have the talent on paper but know the team is not functioning the way it should.

He is the author of Step Up or Step Out, with more than 10,000 copies sold, and a Certified Working Genius Facilitator. Schools bring Jonno in when the offsite did not stick, when two senior people are in unresolved tension, or when the deputy principal role has become a revolving door. His keynotes and workshops centre on practical frameworks leaders can use the following week in real leadership team meetings.

What makes his approach distinct: Jonno does not deliver theory. He names the patterns he has watched play out in leadership teams across dozens of schools. Staff leave his sessions with language they start using internally. Principals report that terms like "cascading problems at the top" and "the meeting after the meeting" become part of how their teams diagnose dysfunction.

Signature topics: Working Genius for school leadership teams, cascading leadership problems, building accountability without compliance culture, and helping senior staff step up or step out with dignity.

Sydney schools book Jonno when they need a facilitator who understands that the real work happens in the 90 days after the PD day, not during the session itself. His workshops include follow-through structures so the insights do not evaporate by the following term.

Reach out at jonno@consultclarity.org if your leadership team has tried the standard leadership development programmes and the core issues remain unresolved.

2. Jenny Donovan

Jenny Donovan specialises in building leadership capacity in middle leaders and aspiring principals.

Her background as a deputy principal in both independent and Catholic schools gives her credibility with staff who are one step away from the principalship but unsure whether they want it. She works with schools to design leadership pathways that do not burn out the people being developed.

Her focus areas include:

• Preparing middle leaders for senior roles without overloading them in the process

• Building deputy principal capability when the role has become a crisis-management position

• Designing succession structures that do not rely on a single star hire

• Helping women in educational leadership navigate the specific barriers they face in stepping up

Jenny delivers keynotes and half-day workshops. Schools bring her back because staff in middle leadership roles report feeling seen and supported rather than simply told to work harder.

Best fit for: Independent and Catholic schools building their leadership pipeline, particularly those struggling to retain talented deputies or seeing high turnover in heads of department.

3. Michael East

Michael East focuses on reducing teacher burnout and building sustainable workload practices in schools.

What sets his work apart: Michael does not blame teachers for poor time management. He helps leadership teams see how systemic expectations, meeting overload, and performative accountability measures create the conditions for burnout. His sessions give senior leaders permission to remove low-value tasks rather than add another wellbeing initiative on top of an already unmanageable workload.

Teachers leave his keynotes feeling validated. Leadership teams leave with a framework for auditing where staff time actually goes and which initiatives can be cut without compromising student outcomes.

Typical session outcomes:

• Leadership teams identify three to five low-impact tasks to stop doing immediately

• Staff gain a shared language for naming workload issues without sounding like they are complaining

• Principals build confidence to say no to board or parent requests that add teacher workload with minimal return

Sydney schools dealing with high staff turnover, increasing sick leave, or a growing sense that teachers are exhausted but nothing is changing bring Michael in to reset expectations at a systems level.

4. Rebecca Butterworth

Rebecca Butterworth works with school leadership teams on strategic clarity and execution.

Her background in organisational psychology and her years working inside schools mean she understands the gap between the strategic plan the board approved and the reality of what a burnt-out staff can actually deliver. She helps leadership teams close that gap without adding more initiatives.

Core offering: Rebecca runs strategy sessions that produce fewer priorities, not more. Schools hire her when the leadership team has twelve strategic priorities and none of them are being executed well. She facilitates the difficult conversations about what to stop, what to delay, and what the next 90 days should actually focus on.

Her sessions typically result in: A leadership team that leaves with three clear priorities, a shared understanding of who owns what, and a 90-day rhythm of accountability that does not require another offsite to maintain.

Sydney independent schools and large Catholic schools bring Rebecca in when the strategic planning process has produced a document nobody refers to after the first term.

WELLBEING, MENTAL HEALTH, AND STAFF RESILIENCE

This group focuses on the mental health and resilience challenges facing both students and staff. They work with schools navigating increased anxiety in students, staff reporting burnout, and leadership teams unsure how to support wellbeing without turning PD days into therapy sessions. If your school is seeing rising counsellor caseloads, teachers on stress leave, or a staffroom culture where people are too tired to care, these speakers bring practical tools and frameworks your staff can use immediately.

5. Dr. Jodi Richardson

Dr. Jodi Richardson specialises in adolescent mental health and helping schools respond to anxiety, depression, and self-harm in students.

She is a clinical psychologist with more than fifteen years of experience working with young people in schools. Teachers bring her into PD sessions because she does not pathologise normal adolescent behaviour, and she gives staff practical scripts for the conversations they are already having but feel underprepared to navigate.

What teachers gain from her sessions:

• Clear guidance on when to refer a student to a counsellor and when to manage the conversation themselves

• Language for talking to students about mental health without making it worse

• Frameworks for distinguishing between attention-seeking behaviour and genuine distress

• Strategies for protecting their own mental health while supporting struggling students

Her keynotes are particularly valuable for secondary schools where teachers report feeling overwhelmed by the volume of student mental health disclosures and unsure whether they are doing the right thing.

Sydney schools book Jodi when the wellbeing team is overloaded, classroom teachers are reluctant to have mental health conversations because they fear saying the wrong thing, and leadership needs staff to feel more confident managing the everyday mental health moments that do not require a specialist.

6. Nathan Wallis

Nathan Wallis is a neuroscience educator who translates brain development research into practical strategies teachers and parents can use.

He presents on adolescent brain development, trauma-informed teaching, and why certain classroom management strategies backfire with particular students. Teachers leave his sessions understanding why a student who seems defiant might actually be dysregulated, and what to do differently in the moment.

Session focus areas: The teenage brain under stress, attachment and behaviour, trauma responses in the classroom, and building relationships with students whose behaviour pushes teachers away.

Why schools bring him back: Nathan makes neuroscience accessible. He does not use jargon. He tells stories. Teachers walk away with explanations they can use in parent meetings and strategies they can apply in their next difficult classroom interaction.

Best suited for primary and secondary schools dealing with increasing behavioural complexity, staff frustrated that traditional behaviour management is not working, and leadership teams wanting to shift the school towards a trauma-informed approach without imposing another compliance framework.

7. Michelle Kambouris

Michelle Kambouris works on staff wellbeing, boundaries, and preventing compassion fatigue in teachers.

Her background as a teacher and school counsellor means she understands the specific pressures teachers face. She runs sessions on recognising the early signs of burnout, setting boundaries without guilt, and sustaining energy across a school year that feels relentless.

Teachers gain practical tools including:

• How to say no to after-hours emails and weekend work without feeling like a bad teacher

• Strategies for managing the emotional load of supporting students in crisis

• Recognising when helping has crossed into rescuing and why that pattern leads to burnout

• Building a personal sustainability plan that lasts longer than the first week of term

Sydney schools hire Michelle when staff morale is low, sick leave is climbing, and the standard "practice self-care" message is landing as tone-deaf. Her sessions give teachers permission to protect their own wellbeing and the language to do it without apologising.

8. Dr. Michael Carr-Gregg

Dr. Michael Carr-Gregg is one of Australia's leading adolescent psychologists and a frequent media commentator on parenting and teenage mental health.

He delivers keynotes on managing screen time, navigating social media pressures, supporting anxious students, and helping parents understand what their teenager is going through. His sessions are high-energy, research-informed, and filled with real-world examples parents and teachers recognise immediately.

Core value for schools: Michael is equally effective presenting to staff, students, and parent audiences. Schools bring him in for whole-school events where the parent evening complements the staff PD session, creating shared language across the school community.

Typical topics: Adolescent brain development, the impact of social media on mental health, helping anxious students build resilience, and what parents need to know about supporting teenagers through high school.

Sydney schools book Michael when they need a high-profile speaker for a parent engagement event or a whole-school focus on student mental health and wellbeing. His sessions generate strong attendance and positive word of mouth.

DIVERSITY, INCLUSION, AND CULTURAL COMPETENCE

These speakers help schools move beyond performative inclusion statements to genuine cultural competence. They work with staff on understanding First Nations perspectives, supporting LGBTQIA+ students, recognising unconscious bias, and creating environments where students from diverse backgrounds feel genuinely seen and valued. If your school has updated its policies but staff behaviour has not shifted, or if inclusion is named in your values but marginalised students do not feel it in the classroom, these are the voices to bring in.

9. Lydia Thangadurai

Lydia Thangadurai specialises in cultural competence and supporting schools to serve multicultural student populations effectively.

Her work focuses on helping predominantly Anglo teaching staff understand the cultural gaps they might be missing, recognising how their own cultural assumptions shape classroom expectations, and building genuine relationships with students and families from non-English-speaking backgrounds.

Teachers leave her sessions with:

• Practical strategies for engaging parents who do not respond to standard school communication

• Understanding of how cultural differences show up in classroom behaviour and parent expectations

• Language for navigating conversations about cultural difference without defaulting to stereotypes

• Confidence to adjust teaching practices to better serve students whose home culture differs significantly from school culture

Sydney schools with growing multicultural enrolments, particularly those in Western Sydney, bring Lydia in when staff report struggling to connect with families, when parent engagement is low despite multiple attempts, or when behaviour management strategies are not landing with students from particular cultural backgrounds.

10. Allan Bryce

Allan Bryce delivers First Nations cultural awareness training for schools.

He works with staff to understand the ongoing impact of colonisation, the importance of embedding Indigenous perspectives across the curriculum, and how to build relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and families grounded in respect rather than tokenism.

Session focus: Allan does not deliver a history lecture. He helps staff understand what genuine reconciliation looks like in a classroom, how to include First Nations perspectives in ways that do not feel forced or performative, and why the standard Acknowledgement of Country often misses the point.

Teachers walk away understanding the difference between inclusion and appropriation, how to respond when an Indigenous student shares something personal, and what it means to create a culturally safe classroom rather than just a culturally aware one.

Best fit for: Schools beginning their reconciliation journey, staff wanting to move beyond the annual NAIDOC Week assembly, and leadership teams committed to embedding Indigenous perspectives in a way that lasts beyond the PD day.

11. Liz Jones

Liz Jones focuses on LGBTQIA+ inclusion and supporting gender-diverse students in schools.

Her sessions help staff understand the difference between tolerance and genuine inclusion, what language to use when a student comes out or begins transitioning, and how to respond to parents who object to LGBTQIA+ inclusion in school policy or curriculum.

Teachers gain clarity on:

• How to use pronouns correctly and what to do when they make a mistake

• Supporting a student who is transitioning while managing the reactions of peers and parents

• Recognising when a student is struggling with their identity and how to offer support without forcing disclosure

• Building a classroom culture where all students feel safe to be themselves

Why schools bring her in: Liz addresses the fear many teachers carry that they will say the wrong thing and cause harm. She gives staff permission to learn, make mistakes, and keep showing up for LGBTQIA+ students even when the conversation feels uncomfortable.

Sydney schools hire Liz when they have updated their inclusion policies but staff still feel underprepared to navigate the real classroom moments, or when a student transition has exposed gaps in staff knowledge and confidence.

12. Dr. Tim Hawkes

Dr. Tim Hawkes is the former Headmaster of The King's School and a respected voice on boys' education and character development.

He speaks on raising boys in a culture that often misunderstands them, helping boys develop emotional literacy without pathologising masculinity, and creating school environments where boys can be both strong and vulnerable.

Core themes: The developmental needs of boys, why traditional masculinity models no longer serve young men, building character and resilience in boys, and helping schools shift from punitive discipline to relational approaches that work better for male students.

Session outcomes for staff: Teachers leave understanding why certain teaching and behaviour management strategies land differently with boys, how to build relationships with disengaged male students, and what it looks like to support boys in developing emotional intelligence without making them feel like their natural energy is a problem.

Sydney boys' schools and co-educational schools struggling with male student engagement, behaviour issues concentrated among boys, or a sense that boys are falling behind academically and socially bring Tim in for whole-staff PD and parent education sessions.

PEDAGOGY, CLASSROOM PRACTICE, AND TEACHING EXCELLENCE

This group delivers practical, evidence-informed strategies teachers can use in their classrooms immediately. They focus on instructional techniques, differentiation, formative assessment, and student engagement. If your staff are asking for PD that helps them teach better rather than manage behaviour or navigate policy, these speakers deliver actionable content that shifts classroom practice.

13. Lyn Sharratt

Lyn Sharratt is an international expert on literacy instruction and system-wide school improvement.

Her framework, the 14 Parameters, has been used by school systems around the world to lift literacy outcomes. She works with schools on data-informed instruction, collaborative inquiry, and building a culture of learning that focuses on what actually works rather than what feels comfortable.

Teachers gain strategies for:

• Using formative assessment data to adjust instruction in real time

• Building collaborative planning processes that improve teaching practice

• Differentiating instruction in ways that do not triple teacher workload

• Using student work samples to drive professional learning conversations

Sydney schools focused on improving literacy outcomes, particularly primary schools and junior secondary, bring Lyn in when generic PD on differentiation has not produced measurable improvement in student results. Her approach is practical, evidence-based, and designed for whole-school implementation rather than individual classroom experimentation.

14. Dylan Wiliam

Dylan Wiliam is one of the world's leading researchers on formative assessment and its impact on student learning.

His work on Assessment for Learning has shaped teaching practice globally. He delivers keynotes and workshops on how teachers can use formative assessment to give students feedback that actually improves learning, rather than feedback that arrives too late to be useful.

Core focus areas: The five key strategies of formative assessment, why most feedback does not work, how to engineer effective classroom discussions, and using peer and self-assessment to reduce teacher workload while improving student outcomes.

Why teachers value his sessions: Dylan does not deliver theory disconnected from practice. He shows exactly what effective formative assessment looks like in a real classroom, why it works, and how teachers can implement it without adding hours to their marking load.

Sydney secondary schools and senior primary schools bring Dylan in when they want staff to understand the research behind Assessment for Learning and translate it into everyday teaching practice. His sessions are particularly valuable for schools implementing new assessment policies and needing staff to understand why the change matters.

15. John Hattie

John Hattie is Emeritus Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne and the author of Visible Learning, a synthesis of more than 1,600 meta-analyses on what actually improves student achievement.

His keynotes focus on evidence-informed teaching, what the research says works and what does not, and how schools can focus their improvement efforts on the strategies with the biggest impact on learning.

Session content includes: The teaching strategies with the highest effect sizes, why some popular interventions produce minimal learning gains, how to evaluate new programmes before committing resources, and building a culture of evidence-informed practice in schools.

Teachers walk away with: A clear understanding of which instructional strategies produce the best results, confidence to stop using low-impact practices, and language to push back on initiatives that sound good but lack evidence.

Sydney schools bring John in when they want to shift staff towards evidence-informed practice, when the school is drowning in too many initiatives and needs to prioritise, or when leadership wants to build a culture where decisions are driven by research rather than trends.

16. Peps Mccrea

Peps Mccrea specialises in translating cognitive science research into practical teaching strategies.

His work focuses on how students learn, why certain teaching methods work better than others, and how teachers can design lessons that align with how the brain actually processes and retains information. He delivers sessions on memory, retrieval practice, spaced learning, and reducing cognitive load.

Teachers gain practical techniques including:

• How to use retrieval practice to improve long-term retention

• Designing lessons that do not overload working memory

• Using spaced learning to help students remember content beyond the next assessment

• Building knowledge schemas that make future learning easier

Why schools book him: Peps makes cognitive science accessible. He does not assume teachers have a psychology background. He explains the research clearly and then shows exactly how to apply it in a classroom on Monday morning.

Sydney secondary schools and senior primary schools focused on improving academic outcomes, particularly those looking to shift from activity-based lessons to instruction grounded in learning science, bring Peps in for whole-staff PD and departmental workshops.

17. Dr. Selena Fisk

Dr. Selena Fisk works on building thinking skills and intellectual character in students.

Her approach, Thinking Maps, gives students visual tools for organising their thinking across all subject areas. Teachers use the maps to help students analyse information, make connections, and develop deeper understanding rather than surface-level recall.

Teachers leave her sessions able to: Use eight different thinking maps to support student learning, scaffold complex thinking tasks without doing the thinking for students, differentiate instruction using visual tools, and assess student thinking rather than just final answers.

Core value for schools: Thinking Maps work across subjects and year levels. A student who learns the maps in Year 3 can use them in Year 10. Schools that embed the approach report improved student ability to organise and communicate their thinking independently.

Sydney primary and secondary schools looking for a whole-school approach to developing student thinking skills, particularly schools moving towards inquiry-based learning or concept-based curriculum, bring Selena in for whole-staff training and ongoing coaching.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT BEYOND SCHOOLS

This group includes leadership experts whose primary work is outside education but whose frameworks translate directly into school contexts. They bring fresh perspectives, challenge assumptions, and help school leaders see their problems through a different lens. If your leadership team has consumed every education leadership book and needs a perspective shift, these voices offer that.

18. Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek is the author of Start With Why and a global authority on leadership, purpose, and organisational culture.

His framework, the Golden Circle, helps leaders articulate why their organisation exists, not just what it does. Schools bring him in when they need to reconnect staff to the mission, when strategic planning feels disconnected from daily work, or when the leadership team struggles to inspire genuine commitment rather than compliance.

Session focus: Why purpose matters more than strategy, how to communicate vision in a way that inspires action, building a culture of trust, and leading through uncertainty without losing your team.

Why schools book Simon: His keynotes are inspiring without being generic. He uses real organisational examples and clear frameworks. School leaders leave with language to articulate why their school exists and how to build a culture where that why shapes every decision.

Sydney independent schools and large Catholic schools bring Simon in for whole-staff PD days, board and executive retreats, and parent community events where the goal is to reset shared purpose and commitment to the school's mission.

19. Brené Brown

Brené Brown is a research professor and the author of Dare to Lead, a book on courage, vulnerability, and leadership.

Her work focuses on building cultures where people feel safe to take risks, speak up, and bring their full selves to work. She helps leaders understand why psychological safety matters, how to have difficult conversations without damaging relationships, and what it looks like to lead with both high standards and deep empathy.

Teachers and leaders gain insights on:

• Why vulnerability is a leadership strength, not a weakness

• How to give feedback that challenges people without shaming them

• Building trust in teams where past conflict has created guardedness

• Leading through change without pretending you have all the answers

Best fit for: Schools navigating significant cultural challenges, leadership teams that have lost trust, or staff communities recovering from conflict or crisis. Her work is particularly valuable for schools where people are professionally polite but not genuinely connected.

Sydney schools bring Brené in when standard leadership development has not shifted the relational dynamics, when staff are disengaged despite good conditions, or when the leadership team knows the culture is broken but does not know how to repair it.

20. Patrick Lencioni

Patrick Lencioni is the author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and the creator of the Working Genius model.

His frameworks help leadership teams diagnose why they are stuck, why meetings produce no decisions, and why talented individuals do not function well together. Schools bring him in when the executive team has the right people but wrong dynamics, when conflict is either avoided or destructive, or when accountability has become a word nobody wants to hear.

Core frameworks schools use: The five dysfunctions of a team, the Working Genius model for understanding individual strengths, building trust in teams, and creating a culture of healthy conflict and accountability.

Session outcomes: Leadership teams leave with a shared diagnosis of what is not working, language to name the dysfunction without blaming individuals, and a clear next-step process for addressing the issues.

Sydney schools hire Patrick or Certified Working Genius Facilitators trained in his models when the leadership team has tried everything and the same relational patterns keep showing up. His work is particularly powerful for schools where unresolved conflict between two senior leaders is affecting the whole organisation.

21. Adam Grant

Adam Grant is an organisational psychologist, author of Think Again, and a leading voice on rethinking assumptions and building learning cultures.

His sessions focus on why people resist changing their minds even when the evidence is clear, how to build organisations that learn and adapt, and the difference between confidence and competence. He helps leaders understand why their teams get stuck defending old ways of working and what it takes to create genuine openness to new ideas.

Teachers and leaders walk away understanding:

• Why smart people often struggle to update their thinking

• How to create psychological safety for admitting mistakes and changing direction

• The importance of intellectual humility in leadership and teaching

• Building a culture where rethinking is valued, not seen as weakness

Sydney schools bring Adam in when they are implementing significant change and encountering resistance, when the leadership team needs to model adaptability, or when staff are clinging to outdated practices despite evidence that better approaches exist.

INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND FUTURE-FOCUSED LEARNING

These speakers help schools prepare students for a rapidly changing world. They focus on future skills, integrating technology meaningfully, fostering innovation and creativity, and building learning environments that develop adaptability rather than just content knowledge. If your school is navigating digital transformation, questioning traditional models, or trying to articulate what future-ready actually means, these voices offer direction.

22. Geoff McDonald

Geoff McDonald works on innovation in education and helping schools design learning experiences that prepare students for a future that looks nothing like the past.

His background in design thinking and educational innovation means he helps schools move beyond incremental improvement to genuine reimagining of what school could be. He runs sessions on fostering student agency, building innovation cultures in schools, and designing curriculum that develops skills traditional schooling often overlooks.

Staff gain practical approaches to:

• Using design thinking to solve real problems in the classroom and across the school

• Building student agency without losing structure or rigour

• Creating learning experiences that develop creativity, critical thinking, and adaptability

• Moving from teacher-centred instruction to student-driven inquiry

Sydney schools experimenting with project-based learning, innovation programmes, or future-focused curriculum redesign bring Geoff in when they need someone who has done the work in real schools and can show what innovation looks like in practice, not just theory.

23. Dr. Kristy Goodwin

Dr. Kristy Goodwin is a digital wellness researcher who helps schools navigate screen time, technology use, and the impact of digital devices on student learning and wellbeing.

She delivers sessions on how much screen time is too much, when technology enhances learning and when it distracts, managing phone use in schools, and helping parents understand the research on kids and screens.

Teachers and parents leave with clarity on:

• The research on screen time and child development, translated into practical guidelines

• How to use technology in ways that support learning rather than replace thinking

• Managing phone policies in schools without constant conflict

• Supporting parents to set boundaries at home around device use

Why schools book her: Kristy does not demonise technology, and she does not pretend it is risk-free. She presents the evidence clearly and helps schools and families make informed decisions grounded in research rather than fear or hype.

Sydney schools struggling with phone policy enforcement, staff concerned about rising screen time, or parent communities divided on technology use bring Kristy in for staff PD and parent education evenings.

24. Michael McQueen

Michael McQueen is a trends forecaster and generational researcher who helps organisations understand cultural shifts and prepare for change.

His sessions focus on understanding Generation Z and Generation Alpha, what motivates young people today, how schools need to adapt to meet the expectations of digital-native students and parents, and what the future of work means for how schools should prepare students.

School leaders gain insights on: How generational differences show up in student behaviour and parent expectations, why traditional motivators no longer work with today's students, what students need to thrive in a rapidly changing workforce, and how schools can stay relevant without abandoning their core mission.

Best fit for: Schools navigating declining enrolments, leadership teams feeling out of touch with student and parent expectations, or organisations wanting to future-proof their strategy without chasing every trend.

Sydney independent schools and forward-thinking Catholic schools bring Michael in for strategic planning sessions, board workshops, and whole-staff PD days focused on the future of education.

25. Sugata Mitra

Sugata Mitra is an education researcher known for the Hole in the Wall experiments and his work on self-organised learning environments.

His research challenges traditional assumptions about how children learn and what role teachers should play. He presents on building learning environments where students drive their own learning, the power of curiosity and self-directed inquiry, and what happens when children are given access to information and trusted to learn without constant adult intervention.

Teachers walk away questioning: Whether direct instruction is always necessary, how much students can learn when given the right conditions and minimal guidance, what role the teacher plays in a self-organised learning environment, and how to design spaces and experiences that foster genuine curiosity.

Why schools bring him in: Sugata disrupts comfortable assumptions. His work is provocative, research-backed, and grounded in real experiments with real children. Schools considering inquiry-based learning, reimagining classroom design, or questioning the teacher-as-expert model bring him in to challenge their thinking and open new possibilities.

Sydney schools exploring progressive pedagogies, innovation in learning design, or whole-school cultural shifts towards student agency bring Sugata in when they are ready to question the fundamentals, not just tweak the edges.

Your next step is simple. Identify the two or three speakers whose focus areas match the challenges your school is facing right now. Reach out to them directly or contact their speaking agencies. Ask for examples of past schools they have worked with, what the session structure looks like, and what follow-through support they provide beyond the PD day itself.

The best professional development does not end when the speaker leaves. It shows up in how your staff talk about their work, the frameworks they use in difficult moments, and the behaviour changes that last beyond the first term. Choose speakers who deliver that kind of lasting impact, not just an inspiring morning session your staff will forget by lunchtime.