Neil Hawkes

I am well known as an educator, motivational speaker, broadcaster, writer and social commentator. I enjoyed presenting at TEDx (My Talk). My passion is to transform education so that integrates sustainable values within the context of quality basic education. My enthusiasm is based on my research, practical experience as a headteacher, adviser, consultant and visitor to thousands of schools worldwide.

My transformational social and cultural philosophy is known as Valuing-based Living: valuing self, others and the environment. Its practical application, Values-based Education (VbE) is having a profound influence on schools and other institutions. This is because of its unique model for personal and cultural change. I am an educational leader and social thinker who shows how to take the lid off pupils’ potential, by creating a sustainable culture in which both children and adults thrive. My research shows the critical importance of the who in education as well as the what and how? My influence has gained me a reputation for practical wisdom, which has brought about many profound changes both in people and schools.

Dr. Neil Hawkes, D.Phil (Oxford), MEd, BA, Cert.Ed, ACP, FCollP, FRSA

I first gained international recognition when I was a Headteacher in Oxfordshire, UK where I worked with a school community to devise and implement a pedagogical system that would give children a transformational ethical vocabulary, based on values such as respect, tolerance, humility and justice. Pupils were empowered to be self-leaders, with an active moral compass that affected behaviour, their thinking and the quality of their school work. Values-based Education (VbE) is now recognised internationally as the foundation of outstanding school practice.

I recently received an email from Stephanie Giles, a former pupil who wrote:

Dr Hawkes, I wanted to thank you for implementing your truly inspirational values system. Thank you for making my childhood at West Kidlington Primary School so memorable and enjoyable, and thank you for teaching me values which I have held so closely since leaving 20 years ago throughout my adult life. I will be eternally grateful that I was lucky enough to be a pupil of West Kidlington when you were Headteacher and to have experienced the values education you implemented. Words simply cannot express my gratitude. Please just know that even after all this time, your work has had a truly transformational and lasting impact. It has made a real difference to my pathway in life - thank you.

To promote Values-based Education, I founded the charity, The International Values-based Education Trust (IVET), now known as the IVET Foundation and its transformational education dimension Values-based Education International (VbE), a powerful and influential worldwide movement for educational and social change - see www.valuesbasededucation.com

My bestselling book, From My Heart, transforming lives through values, celebrates the success of VbE worldwide and is a great “how to” book. My latest book co-authored with Jane Hawkes, is called The Inner Curriculum, how to nurture wellbeing, resilience and self-leadership. This book is heralding a new era in education, as it proposes a new more liberating way of educating children’s inner worlds.

I also actively support a number of values-based organisations such as Compass for Life, which is reaching out into education, industry and the Armed Forces. See https://compassforlife.co.uk/education/#sectors

You are welcome to contact me at: [[1]]

Participation on Humanity Rising[edit | edit source]

Day 123 A panel discussion from The Monastery, Manchester UK