Need an experienced education advisor?
DO YOUR CLASSROOMS NEED A BOOST OF ENERGY AND FRESH IDEAS?
HOW ABOUT AN INTERNATIONAL EDUCATOR WITH 30+ YEARS EXPERIENCE?
Need an experienced education advisor?
DO YOUR CLASSROOMS NEED A BOOST OF ENERGY AND FRESH IDEAS?
HOW ABOUT AN INTERNATIONAL EDUCATOR WITH 30+ YEARS EXPERIENCE?
Need an experienced education advisor?
DO YOUR CLASSROOMS NEED A BOOST OF ENERGY AND FRESH IDEAS?
HOW ABOUT AN INTERNATIONAL EDUCATOR WITH 30+ YEARS EXPERIENCE?
If you’re a school, college, university, or vocational and technical education provider, this page is for you.
Whether you’re the one organising professional development for your teaching staff, or you’re a teacher, trainer, facilitator, guide, mentor or lecturer standing in front of a classroom, lecture theatre, workshop or training room yourself, you’re both after the same thing: better teaching, happening more often, in your classrooms.
Not better teaching as in more tech, more curriculum documents, or another PowerPoint-heavy day. Better teaching as in getting back to basics: energy in the room, students actually thinking instead of just listening, and real collaboration, communication and problem-solving happening between learners, not just information flowing one way from the front.
Work with me if...
- Your teachers need a shot of energy and enthusiasm — a genuine spark, not another sit-and-listen PD session.
- You want new ideas and different ways of working with learners, not the same slides you've seen for years.
- You're ready to take the text off the page and into real life — practical activities your staff can use on Monday morning.
- Your team needs strategies for engagement, collaboration and problem-solving, not just content delivery.
- You know your staff are capable, but their current toolkit is starting to feel tired.
- You want evidence of engagement you can actually point to — not just hope it's happening in the room.
Don't work with me if...
- Your PD calendar is already full and there's genuinely no room for anything new.
- Your teachers are performing highly, and student retention and satisfaction ratings are already strong.
- Your staff are already highly skilled, trained and confident in engaging learners.
- You're looking for a one-off novelty session rather than strategies staff will actually keep using.
What makes Maria different?
Maria’s ability to ‘see’ what’s happening (and not happening) in a classroom, lecture theatre or training room is extraordinary.
She’s taught, trained teachers and developed curriculum across primary, secondary, vocational and tertiary settings, in classrooms from regional Western Australia to Indonesia, Japan, the UAE, the UK, the US, Canada, Fiji, Samoa, Tuvalu and Kiribati. She’s seen every version of the “quiet, compliant, disengaged” classroom there is — and knows exactly how to shift it.
Maria believes ‘Death by PowerPoint’ and ‘tick and flick’ style learning belong firmly in the past.
Her formal qualifications include a Master of International Relations (Norway), a Master of Education (Australia), Cert IV TAA, Cert IV TESOL, CELTA and a BA in Modern Languages — but where she really learnt what makes a good learning experience was across 18 overseas postings.
She weaves stories from those postings directly into her training, helping teaching staff create sessions that engage, inspire and motivate learners to apply what they’ve learned immediately. Her areas of expertise include instructional design, curriculum and learning resource development, teacher training, assessment and evaluation, and professional development — with more than 25 years of international experience across all of it.
If your staff are in the business of transferring knowledge, I'm in the business of making sure it actually lands.
Ready to get started?
Organisations I've worked with
Professional Memberships & Affiliations
Need some specific examples?
Where To From Here?
Ready to shake things up for your teaching staff?
If you want a workshop for your team:
Break the Lecture Habit is a practical, high-energy session (face-to-face, with an online version also available) built for teachers, trainers, lecturers, tutors and learning facilitators who want immediately usable strategies to boost participation and attention — without a full curriculum overhaul.
If you want something tailored — a conference keynote, a PD day, or a session built around your specific context, Maria is available as a keynote speaker and conference presenter, and can tailor a session to your school, college or university's exact needs.
In short, learning and education lights me up — and I'd love to help you create that for your teaching staff, and the learners in your organisation too.
In short, learning and education lights me up — and I'd love to help you create that for your teaching staff, and the learners in your organisation too.