(1996 - 2004) Following the completion of an Honours Degree in American Studies at Canterbury University I began my life as a working creative. In 1997, after starting a new band called Breaks Co-op and releasing New Zealand’s first credible downbeat electronic album, I left for life in London. I became a fixture on the local freestyle rapping scene, concentrating deeply on my craft: making beats, writing rhymes, designing graphics, touring, performing, and collecting and selling records to sample. During this period I featured on various projects as a writer and vocalist, signing to EMI Records worldwide. In 2001 I began a new album with Breaks Co-op and following its completion in 2003, went to New Zealand to start its promotional campaign in Australasia.
(2004 - 2007) Soon after my arrival in New Zealand I decided to pursue a dream I had never fulfilled, teaching. While at Unitec Auckland doing the Postgraduate Diploma in Primary Education, the recently released Breaks Co-op album became a smash hit. Finishing the diploma and juggling whirlwind promotion was one of the most formative experiences of my life. Within the space of 6 months the band was signed to Parlophone EMI and had relocated to London. 18 months of gruelling touring followed, with each show more important than the last. The ultimate failure of the band to break the charts taught me another valuable lesson. If you are doing what you want to do, failure is just a step along the way. I moved to Berlin just as the city was undergoing a great artistic renaissance. Learning German so I could experience it proved to be illuminating!
(2007 - 2013) At the end of 2007, I fulfilled my calling as a teacher and began teaching at Berlin International School. I immediately began bringing my creative skills to bear, experimenting with Project-Based Learning, cloud computing, BYOD, and peer learning. In 2009 I moved to Berlin Brandenburg International School and began to read voraciously around the subjects of teaching and learning. I began to realise that I had only been doing what I had been taught to do - knowledge transfer. I began to learn about the history of Education and determined to transform my practice. I applied all that I had learnt with the class I taught for the next two years. I allowed learners to choose their tools, introduced dance and music and stayed in the room during all breaks to facilitate student performances. I concentrated on self-awareness, pursuing passion, and creative mastery. We recorded everything we did and hosted it on a media-rich site to allow parents and faculty to be part of what we were doing. Each year culminated in a professional quality music video production: the first was to do with love, the second in support of a charity. Because of the integrated nature of these projects the academic achievements of the students improved markedly. Not because writing, reading & mathematics were our primary focus but because these fundamental skills had to be honed in order to succeed in the very real tasks, with very real deadlines, that the students were engaged in.
(2013 - 2015) I moved to Singapore in 2013 to become an Education Technology Coach at Chatsworth International School because I wanted to work with a school that advocated gaming in learning. There I had the opportunity to work closely with teachers on their professional development, and with students in the classroom. I have held over a hundred professional development sessions on topics including Google Apps for Education, Design Thinking, Minecraft, Apple OSX, Film Making, Electronic Music, Creativity, Using Film to Teach Writing, Animation Tools, Graphic Design and Website Design. I have spoken at conferences such as Vietnam Tech Conference, EARCOS Teacher's Conference, Google Apps For Education (Singapore) and 21st Century Learning (Hong Kong) on topics that all revolve around the issue of creative mastery in schools. I am intensely interested in developing vision for learning communities. I am still a working, professional musician, and released my latest album in 2014.
I have recently returned to the UK, hungry to get back into the classroom and once again apply all that I have learnt!
If you would like digital copies of any documents verifying the above, please feel free to contact me.
(2004 - 2007) Soon after my arrival in New Zealand I decided to pursue a dream I had never fulfilled, teaching. While at Unitec Auckland doing the Postgraduate Diploma in Primary Education, the recently released Breaks Co-op album became a smash hit. Finishing the diploma and juggling whirlwind promotion was one of the most formative experiences of my life. Within the space of 6 months the band was signed to Parlophone EMI and had relocated to London. 18 months of gruelling touring followed, with each show more important than the last. The ultimate failure of the band to break the charts taught me another valuable lesson. If you are doing what you want to do, failure is just a step along the way. I moved to Berlin just as the city was undergoing a great artistic renaissance. Learning German so I could experience it proved to be illuminating!
(2007 - 2013) At the end of 2007, I fulfilled my calling as a teacher and began teaching at Berlin International School. I immediately began bringing my creative skills to bear, experimenting with Project-Based Learning, cloud computing, BYOD, and peer learning. In 2009 I moved to Berlin Brandenburg International School and began to read voraciously around the subjects of teaching and learning. I began to realise that I had only been doing what I had been taught to do - knowledge transfer. I began to learn about the history of Education and determined to transform my practice. I applied all that I had learnt with the class I taught for the next two years. I allowed learners to choose their tools, introduced dance and music and stayed in the room during all breaks to facilitate student performances. I concentrated on self-awareness, pursuing passion, and creative mastery. We recorded everything we did and hosted it on a media-rich site to allow parents and faculty to be part of what we were doing. Each year culminated in a professional quality music video production: the first was to do with love, the second in support of a charity. Because of the integrated nature of these projects the academic achievements of the students improved markedly. Not because writing, reading & mathematics were our primary focus but because these fundamental skills had to be honed in order to succeed in the very real tasks, with very real deadlines, that the students were engaged in.
(2013 - 2015) I moved to Singapore in 2013 to become an Education Technology Coach at Chatsworth International School because I wanted to work with a school that advocated gaming in learning. There I had the opportunity to work closely with teachers on their professional development, and with students in the classroom. I have held over a hundred professional development sessions on topics including Google Apps for Education, Design Thinking, Minecraft, Apple OSX, Film Making, Electronic Music, Creativity, Using Film to Teach Writing, Animation Tools, Graphic Design and Website Design. I have spoken at conferences such as Vietnam Tech Conference, EARCOS Teacher's Conference, Google Apps For Education (Singapore) and 21st Century Learning (Hong Kong) on topics that all revolve around the issue of creative mastery in schools. I am intensely interested in developing vision for learning communities. I am still a working, professional musician, and released my latest album in 2014.
I have recently returned to the UK, hungry to get back into the classroom and once again apply all that I have learnt!
If you would like digital copies of any documents verifying the above, please feel free to contact me.