CLADA Team

John Holland

John Holland is well known for his charismatic style. He brings his humour, experience and empathy into any learning or training event. He has worked in the field of education for over 35 years.

John trained as a teacher of Drama and French and remained at his first school for the duration of his full-time career. During this time he also taught English, PSE, Citizenship, Sexual Health and Careers. He became a Year Team leader and then progressed to the role of assistant head teacher with responsibility for behaviour management, community links and all pastoral issues.

John worked in the local Youth Service, alongside his teaching career, feeling it important to know and understand his clients in a variety of contexts.He became involved in co-operative learning after attending the annual co-operative conference in 1996. He discovered that the same values and principles that underpinned his work were alive and flourishing. He continued to develop and incorporate more co-operative techniques into both his teaching and management.

In 2002, John chose to become a full-time educational consultant, committed to sharing and encouraging co-operative techniques. He has been involved in a wide range of training that includes the successful development of a positive behaviour transition project in primary and secondary schools, several major enterprise projects and a popular management course for senior and middle managers. He assisted in the creation of co-operative training enterprises in Suffolk and Yorkshire. More recently he has developed a successful ‘express’ examination course for excluded students, a mentoring scheme for newly qualified teachers and an innovative programme for NEET students.

He is currently working in partnership with a large secondary school to develop co-operative approaches on a variety of fronts.

John continues occasionally to supply teach which informs and grounds his training. This permits him to experiment and share new ideas with teaching colleagues. He is passionate about co-operative values, which remain at the core of his ideas and delivery.

John is a founder member and a director of CLADA CIC.