Testimonials

From School Leadership

“I have had the privilege and pleasure to have worked with Anne van Dam for ten years in two different schools. As an early childhood specialist, Anne has elevated teachers' understanding of early childhood pedagogy. Anne takes the time to seek to understand the faculty's current understandings, thus identifying her entry point on how to build off of teachers' prior knowledge. She is reflective, thoughtful, knowledgeable and a great listener. Each time she has worked with my faculty, we come away richer with knowledge and better in our pedagogical practices. Much of Anne's work revolves around building student agency, and the way she delivers her professional development sessions, she also builds teacher agency. I can highly recommend Anne to lead any form of professional development regarding the early years or primary school setting.” 

-George Dolesch, Junior School Principal, International School of Basel

“Honest, pragmatic and always bringing the conversations back to the needs of the learner.”

— Scott Jackson, Principal, IS Berne

“Anne van Dam has supported me in three different educational settings over the last 15 years. She is simply the best workshop leader I have worked with in the last 15 years. She is an engaging and supportive educational leader who connects with her audience and builds relationships that last. Anne combines her extensive experience and research to create engaging inquiries that inspire critical thinking and growth. Her unwavering support for the rights of learners helped us transform our fundamental approaches to learning. Most significantly, Anne invested the time to learn about our specific context and tailored the learning to support our reality. Her expertise and professionalism was an inspiration to our entire community and left everyone asking for her to come back!”

- Wayne Quenneville, Incoming Primary Principal, Antwerpen International School

Since 2016, I have had the pleasure of working with Anne in her role as an educational consultant in two different schools. In both contexts, Anne's work was focused on building teacher capacity and understanding of play and inquiry when teaching young children. I have observed her working alongside teachers to coach, support, and extend their pedagogy. Anne's approach is warm, supportive, kind and she always shows a high degree of empathy. A teacher herself, Anne brings a unique perspective to her consultancy role: current, practical, classroom-based examples and experience. I recommend her highly and can assure you that your community will benefit greatly from time spent with Anne.

-Beth A. Dressler, Primary Principal and Deputy Director, Dresden International School

“When we engaged with Anne to support our faculty’s understanding around student agency, she really grasped that we needed both expertise and sensitivity to our context. She was excellent at asking the right questions to help us clarify our needs. The workshop that Anne ran included many options for teacher voice, choice and ownership. She went to great lengths to connect us with educators beyond our school which we had not expected and which enhanced the experience even more. It was so impressive that Anne was able to create the same environment in a time-constrained workshops experience as we aspire to for our students. Anne's knowledge is second to none but her manner is always a careful balance of inquiry and advocacy. In addition to guiding our faculty, she also supported the leadership team with our thinking around change management. I would not hesitate to ask for Anne's support and guidance in the future.”

-Julian Edwards, Director of Learning and Innovation, The KAUST School, Jeddah.

From Teachers

“Anne is a motivational and inspirational workshop leader! Anne offered us scaffolding learning experiences to help us deeply understand the importance of uninterrupted time for play… Her gentle pace, her genuine passion and her deep insight into critical issues in the early years, like the power of play, learner agency and inquiry make Anne a unique facilitator on your learning journey!” 

- Klairi Tzoufla, IB PYP Teacher, ''J.M. Carras'' Kindergarten, Athens, Greece

“I find myself going back to what I explored in Anne’s workshops in my daily teaching and when sharing thoughts with my team. The methods stay relevant and can be implemented into one’s own professional development even after the workshop has long ended.”

-Kirsty Frost, Early Years Teacher, International School Ruhr

“I’ve recently engaged in Anne’s workshop on student agency in the early years classroom. It was a wonderful experience, one in which I could really think critically about student agency, what it means for students to be agents of their own learning and examine real classroom examples of what agency looks like. Anne asked questions that helped me think more deeply about my own practice and how I can further support student agency on a daily basis. I particularly found it helpful to look at examples from Anne’s own classroom practice and consider how she and her colleagues follow the students’ interests and use these to further promote agency. This inside look was both insightful and inspiring.”

-Dawn Mellen, Teacher, International School of Zug and Luzern

From Coordinators

“Anne conducted an in-house workshop for us. She was calm, warm, knowledgeable and approachable. At the end of the workshop, everyone wanted to be more like Anne!”

- Idah Khan, Research Coordinator, International School of Billund

“Anne has a way of meeting learners, both adult and children alike, where they need to be met to nurture their growth and deepen thinking. She worked with my team in such a way that motivated them towards a deeper purpose. She is both professional and personal. At the heart of what she does and who she is lives a belief in relationships and connection. She is truly an inspiration.”

- Laura Jo Evans, Early Childhood Coordinator, Inter-Community School Addis Ababa

“Anne's knowledge is grounded in personal experience and a thorough understanding of current pedagogical research and innovation in early years educational practices. She consults and facilitates in response to the context with genuine poise and grace. She is an incredible educator, mentor and provocateur, challenging all those she works with to grow their craftsmanship of listening, noticing and honouring learning in childhood.”

- Miranda Rose, PYP Coordinator, American School of Warsaw

“I have had the immense pleasure of working with Anne over the last several years in two different international school contexts. As a consultant and workshop leader, she consistently demonstrated such a responsive approach to the needs of our staff. Not only was it clear from the start that she was an incredibly knowledgeable early years practitioner, but the way in which she engaged our teachers and provoked our thinking around inquiry, play and developing our clear image of young children was inspiring and long-lasting. She crafted bespoke workshop sessions in such a way that allowed us to confidently challenge our misconceptions, build our understanding and find ways to transfer those new ideas to practical strategies and approaches for teaching and learning. Her support in both schools was transformative.”

-Anya Dalais, PYP Coordinator, ACS International School, Egham Surrey

From Colleagues

“Anne is very professional, flexible and a great workshop leader. She is knowledgeable and knows how to introduce change in any organisation, making sure to empower the teachers so this change is sustainable.” 

- Ali Ezzeddine, international trainer and consultant

“I have had the pleasure of collaborating with Anne van Dam on many occasions. Anne has been invited to present and facilitate on behalf of Innovative Global Education for many years. Anne’s knowledge of early childhood education, theory, philosophy and practice is outstanding. She has many examples from her own practice to share with others and is able to assist others in understanding they why and how of pedagogical shifts. An advocate for children I have no hesitation in recommending Anne as an Early Years consultant. I know myself, I have and will continue to learn from her.” 

- Tania Lattanzio, Director, Innovative Global Education

From Directors

“Anne is an exceptional facilitator who listens to the questions of her participants to personalise the professional learning experience. Participant evaluations from Anne's workshop are universally positive and I look forward to bringing her back to work with our teachers.”

- Graham Watts, Deputy Executive Director, AISA