My first degree is in Social Theory and Institutions (University of Bangor, North Wales), which allowed me to study a range of diverse subjects such as Sociology, Social Psychology, Criminology, Philosophy and Study of Religions. After spending a year in India and South-East Asia, my early professional career was in social work, mainly working with children and families in residential and community settings. I then moved on to teaching on a professional social work qualifying programme, during which time I gained a Masters degree in Race and Education at Birmingham University. In 1995 I established an independent centre for action research and education, which enabled me to be involved in a wide range of staff development and research projects in the public, private and not-for profit sectors. Initially these were mainly in education, social care and health settings, but over time I increasingly became involved in developing, delivering and assessing accredited programmes for leaders and managers in the corporate sector. Following completion of my PhD in 2008, I had a career change, and entered the academic world, initially at Liverpool Hope University, and now part-time at York St John University in the School of Education, Language and Psychology. My main research interest is investigating postmaterialst ideas about consciousness, and in exploring what relevance these ideas have for education. I have, with colleagues, developed an international network of academics and educators, interesting in evolving Consciousness Education across all age ranges, in diverse educational settings.