Professional learning with a difference.

Image of Dr Janelle Wills

Evidence based high-impact strategies —

Partner with Dr Janelle Wills to design professional learning tailored to your school’s needs.

  • Full day workshops

  • On-line sessions

  • Instructional coaching

  • Keynotes

Book titled 'Thinking Protocols for Learning' by Janelle Wills with geometric shapes on the cover.

Areas of Expertise

  • High-impact Teaching Strategies

  • Critical and Creative Thinking

  • Formative Assessment

  • Student Engagement and Motivation

  • Collaborative Teams

  • Gifted Education

Conference room filled with attendees watching a presentation on system level changes, projected on two screens, with a speaker on stage.
Speaker on stage at National FutureSchools Expo, presenting on metacognition. Screen displays talk title "Learning & Leading: The Importance of Metacognition" by Dr. Janelle Willis on March 24, 2017. Large hashtag "#FutureSchools" on stage.

BOOKS

Book cover titled 'Thinking Protocols for Learning' by Janelle Wills, with geometric designs and colorful shapes.

Thinking Protocols for Learning

3D rendering of a book titled 'Transformative Collaboration: 5 Commitments for Leading a Professional Learning Community' with silhouettes of people against a sunset on the cover.

Grow students into creative, ethical, and critical thinkers who confidently navigate our changing world. In this comprehensive guide, the author brings together strategies for teaching thinking skills, designing group activities, and promoting a collaborative classroom environment. Begin using these ideas in your own classroom, and watch your students flourish as they learn to question, explore multiple answers, and consider multiple perspectives.

Transformative Collaboration

There is consensus among the world’s leading educational researchers that a collaborative approach to practice is the best way for schools to achieve results and improve learning. Gain a deep understanding of what collaborative schools are, what’s required to lead transformational change, how to grow relational trust and what structures and protocols are required to support high performance collaboration.

Book cover of 'Ready, Set, Teach: Crafting a Learning-Ready Curriculum for Every Classroom' by Dr. Janelle Wills with colorful abstract design.

Ready, Set, Teach: Crafting a learning-ready curriculum in every classroom

As we all know, balancing the demands of meeting standards, hitting deadlines, and ensuring deep learning can be overwhelming. Ready, Set, Teach is designed to help educators like you navigate the complexities of curriculum planning with confidence and clarity as a practical guide with actionable steps to help you succeed! 

Ready, Set, Teach will help you:

  • Learn to prioritise key content and create a focused, effective teaching roadmap.

  • Gain insights from teaching teams who’ve tackled similar challenges and succeeded.

I wrote this book to empower you to create a classroom environment where students thrive.

COMING SOON …

You Can’t Make Me! Creating the conditions for intrinsic motivation and engagement

This work in progress focuses on the conditions that are required for intrinsic motivation and engagement. Drawing on self-determination theory it explores topics such as:

  • developing autonomy supportive environments

  • building competence and self-efficacy

  • creating a sense of belonging

  • intrinsic motivation and engagement

Smiling woman holding a microphone at a seminar with attendees seated in the background.

Dr Janelle Wills 

Dr. Janelle Wills is a leading voice in Australian education, with over 40 years of experience spanning classroom teaching, school leadership, and system-wide reform. She is passionate about improving learning outcomes and has worked extensively with schools across the country to foster positive, sustainable change.

Janelle holds a PhD in education, with research focused on self-efficacy and reading development. Her work has contributed significantly to areas such as special education, gifted education, assessment, and feedback—offering teachers practical tools backed by solid evidence.

As an author, Janelle has written and co-authored numerous professional resources, including Ready, Set, Teach: Crafting a Learning-Ready Curriculum in Every Classroom, Thinking Protocols for Learning, Transformative Collaboration: Five Commitments for Leading a PLC, and A Handbook for High Reliability Schools.

What sets Janelle apart is her ability to bridge theory and classroom practice. Her professional learning sessions are engaging, grounded in research, and full of practical strategies that educators can apply immediately. A lifelong learner herself, Janelle brings curiosity, relevance, and clarity to every conversation about teaching and learning.

High-impact Teaching Strategies

Support your staff to embed high-impact approaches and techniques shown to significantly enhance student learning and achievement. These strategies are supported by research and are considered effective in a wide range of educational contexts.

Critical and Creative Thinking Skills

Based on the book, Thinking Protocols for Learning, these workshops bring together easy-to-use, research-based strategies for teaching thinking skills, designing group activities, and promoting a collaborative classroom environment.

Formative Assessment

Dive into the profound impact that formative assessment can have on student engagement, motivation, and overall learning outcomes. By employing a range of practical strategies, discover how to foster a more inclusive and responsive classroom environment that caters to diverse learning styles and needs.

Differentiation

In today's dynamic and diverse classroom environments, educators face the challenge of meeting the diverse needs of their students. This workshop aims to equip educators with a comprehensive understanding of differentiation, clarifying what it is and what it is not, while providing practical strategies to implement in their teaching practices.

Student Engagement

Equip educators with strategies to enhance student engagement by addressing the four fundamental questions that students often ask themselves. By delving into these questions, participants will learn how to create a supportive learning environment that encourages positive responses to each question, ultimately leading to improved student engagement and academic success.

Gifted Education

Janelle’s PhD focused on supporting gifted students and in particular twice exceptional students. The study highlighted the importance of clear identification protocols (such as the use of a range of assessment sources, discussions with students and parents, and an awareness of the characteristics of gifted students) and support mechanisms for assisting students to achieve, and remain socially and emotionally well-adjusted.

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