Qualifications
Helen holds a strong academic foundation that underpins her extensive professional experience. Her formal qualifications include:
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Diploma of Teaching (Dip Tchg)
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Diploma in Education (Dip Ed)
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New Zealand Certificate in Speech-Language Therapy (NZSLT)
These credentials reflect her deep expertise in both education and speech-language therapy, and her commitment to lifelong learning and professional excellence.
Her Experience
With over 30 years of experience in education and speech-language therapy, Helen White is a specialist in developing students' cognitive and communication skills. She spent two decades as Manager of a Speech and Language Centre in London, supporting secondary students with auditory processing disorders, and seven years as a Speech and Language Therapist for the Ministry of Education in Wellington.
As the author of Learning to Listen to Learn (2005), she pioneered one of the first Active Listening Skills programmes for learners of all ages. Her work extends into secondary education, where she has taught Thinking Skills, Active Listening, and the IB Theory of Knowledge, and served as Director of Advanced Learning and Head of Thinking Skills at St Cuthbert’s College.
A certified Trainer of Trainers in Hyerle Thinking Maps, she has delivered professional development across the UK and New Zealand. Her training areas include Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Psycholinguistics, and a wide range of cognitive development tools such as Costa’s Habits of Mind, de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats, SOLO and Bloom’s Taxonomies, and more.
She has presented at international forums including the Specialist Schools Trust (London, 2006), and continues to empower educators, professionals, and students through innovative thinking and learning frameworks.