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Be More Toddler: A leadership education from our little learners

The narrative around leadership needs to change. After reading scores of leadership books in an attempt to find a voice which resonated, Emma Turner realised that the bulk of leadership advice out there did not take into account balancing parenting with working in a leadership post. Inspired by the smallest of research subjects, Emma shares a practical, humorous and unique perspective on leadership by looking at it through the eyes of toddlers, illustrating real examples of what works, as well as reassurance that leadership is extremely do-able for many of us. This refreshing insight into leadership thinking and strategies aims to demystify leadership behaviour, encouraging us all to take the leap and ‘Be More Toddler’.

About the author

Emma grew up in Leicestershire and attended Liverpool John Moores University where she studied Science Education. She has taught in schools across the county and has been a Local Authority Lead teacher. In 2002, she became a consultant for the National Numeracy Strategy, supporting numerous schools. In 2004 she joined The Latimer Primary school where she spent the next 13 years, initially as a classroom teacher, moving on to become assistant head, then deputy head and finally forming one of the UK’s first all-female co-headships which ran for eight years, and where Emma wrote and delivered training for staff at all levels across the county, as well as complete induction programmes for NQTs through her work with Affinity Teaching School Alliance. After 20 years in primary teaching, Emma left to join Discovery Schools Academy Trust where she is currently their Research and CPD lead, devising and writing training for staff at all career stages, but specialising in CPD for early career teachers. She is the founder of ‘NewEd – Joyful CPD for early career teachers’, a not-for-profit approach to CPD to encourage positivity amongst the profession and help to retain teachers in post. 

 She is a columnist at the TES, an ambassador for the The Gender Equality Collective, and a member of the WomenEd community, regularly presenting at events and writing contributions. Emma is an advocate of balance in leadership and family life and she regularly speaks at events across the country on how part-time leadership and flexible working can be a hugely successful model in organisations. She is also the self titled ‘Chaos Coordinator’ of her home in Leicestershire where she lives with her infinitely patient husband Tom and their three young children.