I help leaders and educators look beneath presenting behaviour, make sense of complex human situations, strengthen the relationships that shape what happens next and identify practical ways forward.
I help leaders and educators look beneath presenting behaviour, make sense of complex human situations, strengthen the relationships that shape what happens next and identify practical ways forward.
A child begins struggling with behaviour, regulation or participation.
Educators try different strategies.
Confidence starts to drop.
Responses become inconsistent.
The team comes under pressure.
Conversations with families become harder.
And eventually, everyone can feel stuck.
What began as a concern about one child’s behaviour has become a challenge involving relationships, trust, communication and the wider environment around that child.
Sometimes we need to step back. To look beneath what we can see. To understand what is happening for the child. To consider what is happening between the adults around them.
“What’s happening here and what do we need to do next?”
That’s where my work begins.
Strong relationships don’t remove difficult moments.
They change what becomes possible within them.
That is the lens I bring to my work.
Education ConsultantI'm an educator, researcher, author, speaker and consultant with more than 30 years' experience working with over 25,000 children, parents and educators.
I've worked as an early childhood teacher, Guidance Officer, Head of Special Education Services, Senior Advisory Visiting Teacher, Principal Advisor Autism, Education Consultant - working alongside children, educators, families, leaders and multidisciplinary professionals.
Across those very different roles, one thing has remained constant:
I am fascinated by what helps people function, connect and move forward when situations become difficult.
My work brings together research and real-world experience to help people understand not only what is happening, but what they can do next.
When teams are under pressure
I help teams understand what's getting in the way of working well together and strengthen the conditions that support clarity, consistency and connection.
When families and professionals become stuck
Parents and educators can care deeply about the same child and still understand a situation very differently.
When trust deteriorates, conversations become harder - and supporting the child becomes harder too.
I help bring the focus back to understanding, partnership and what the child needs from the adults around them.
Early childhood services are deeply relational environments. Children, educators, leaders and families influence one another every day.
When those relationships are working well, they create the safety, trust and belonging children need to participate, learn and thrive.
A behaviour concern becomes an educator-confidence issue.
Different responses become a team-consistency issue.
A difficult conversation becomes a family-trust issue.
And before long, the Centre Director is carrying a situation that began with one child but now affects the whole service.
I help early childhood leaders and educators look beneath the presenting behaviour, make sense of the whole picture and identify practical, evidence-informed ways forward.
My approach brings together more than three decades of experience across early childhood education, behaviour, counselling, inclusion, complex needs, wellbeing, leadership and consulting.
I don't look only at the child. I look at the child within the relationships, environment and systems around them.
You don't necessarily need another list of strategies. Sometimes you need help making sense of the whole picture.
Behaviour. Belonging. Engagement. They are deeply connected.Students don't engage with learning in isolation from the relationships and environments around them.
When a student begins withdrawing, dysregulating or disengaging, behaviour may be the most visible part of the problem - but it is rarely the whole story.
For more than 30 years, I have worked in teaching roles, guidance and counselling, inclusion, student engagement and complex case support.
I help educators look beneath behaviour and disengagement, make sense of the factors shaping what is happening and strengthen the conditions in which students feel seen, supported, that they belong and are capable.
what people have to say about kari