A Career Shaped by Learning
experience
Education has been a significant thread throughout James Theard’s professional life. Across a varied career spanning more than 25 years, he has worked with learners of different ages, abilities and backgrounds, developing experience across teaching, tutoring, adult learning, skills development and technology-based training.
His educational work has included supporting students with a range of learning needs, including SEND learners, alongside teaching and tutoring in areas such as Functional Skills, GCSE and A-Level study. This experience has required an adaptable approach, recognising that people learn in different ways and that progress is rarely achieved through a single method.
James’s approach to education has been informed by an interest in the individual behind the learning process. Confidence, motivation, communication and personal circumstances can all influence how someone engages with education. His wider experience in psychology and counselling has therefore complemented his work as an educator, helping to shape an approach centred on patience, understanding and individual development.
James’s experience of education extends beyond schools and academic study. Earlier in his career, he worked within ICT, software and technical training, helping adults develop practical knowledge and confidence in areas that were becoming increasingly important within the workplace.
This work formed part of a broader involvement in adult education and professional learning. It required the ability to communicate technical or unfamiliar ideas clearly, adapt information for different levels of experience and create an environment in which learners felt able to ask questions and develop at their own pace.
His professional development in education has also included teacher training and assessor qualifications, providing a formal foundation for work that has taken place across different learning environments.
Adult Learning and Professional Development
experience
Understanding the Individual Learner
experience
One of the consistent themes running through James’s educational experience has been an appreciation that learning is both an academic and a human process. For some learners, the principal challenge may be understanding a particular subject. For others, barriers can include confidence, anxiety, previous educational experiences or difficulties engaging with conventional methods of teaching. Recognising these differences has informed James’s work across both mainstream and additional-needs education.
This perspective also connects his educational background with his experience in counselling and mental health support. Although these are distinct professional disciplines, both involve listening carefully, communicating effectively and understanding the circumstances of the individual.
James’s experience in education forms one part of a broader multidisciplinary career encompassing counselling, mental health support, charity work, adult learning and technology.
Rather than existing as separate areas of professional life, these experiences share a recurring interest in how people learn, communicate, adapt and develop. Education has provided James with one of the principal settings in which to explore those questions, while his wider career has continually added new perspectives to his understanding of learning and personal development.