James has been working with the school on the implementation of the Habits of Mind for over three years and has proved to be an invaluable resource.

During this time, he has assisted with leadership planning for the introduction of the Habits of Mind, led regular whole school workshops and helped mentor emerging leaders on staff.

Importantly for us, James' work is grounded in action research related to ongoing classroom practice and he has an excellent understanding of the everyday realities of working in schools. At Woodleigh, he has helped create a vibrant learning environment focused on the development of effective learning dispositions that has promoted improved professional practice and student learning.'

I was fortunate to have James Anderson facilitate a series of Habits of Mind workshops with staff. His knowledge and passion for the Habits of Mind inspired a desire to change our whole approach to the way we view learning.

His ability to articulate and simplify deep understandings of the theory behind Habits of Mind empowered teachers to be better at their craft. The feedback and sharing of resources typifies a burning desire that James has for all of us in the teaching profession to be connected. He has become an interested mentor and friend of our school.

At St Lawrence Primary school we found James to be a knowedgeable presenter who easily establishes a rapport with people by conducting engaging and interactive workshops. His presentations made great use of multimedia and different learning styles. 

His conferences and workshops are highly interactive and all involved are held accountable for their learning. James has exceptional questioning skills that he uses to great effect as he works to change and develop teachers pedagogy and understanding about the Habits of Mind, and to build learning teams within the group.

James is passionate about his subject and draws people along with him

There is nothing more satisfying than having staff return from having completed professional developing simply raving over it. Our staff have always come back from James' training very keen to implement his great ideas. They all comment on his excellent teaching/training approach and they have come back armed with some great resources. I have no doubt that the attendance at James's training has led to high quality understanding of Habits of Mind and has expedited its infusion into the pedagogy at San Sisto

St Joseph’s College, Geelong began the journey with Habits of Mind ny asking the question  how do we, as a school, make explicit the teaching and using of thinking skills. To this end it was decided to use Art Costa’s Habits of Mind as a platform for teachers to use in their everyday practice. Our knowledge and understanding of the Habits was simplistic and shallow, therefore there was a need to work with someone of expertise, that being James Anderson. James came on the recommendation of some staff who had previously attended some of his workshops.

James was engaged to work with Year 7 & 9 teachers at the beginning of the school year in 2009 for a full day. It was an interactive workshop that lead staff through their own understanding of the Habits. A smaller group was then invited to spend a further day with James honing and deepening their understanding of the Habits. This was invaluable, staff came away enthused and excited about the developing the HOM across the curriculum. The team feels confident to develop a program and support material as a result of the time they spent with James. This to be rolled out across all Year 7 students during Term 4 of 2009.