As a teacher, leader and teacher trainer, Paul has been working with the most difficult behaviours in the most challenging contexts for the last 30 years. Miraculously Paul studied at Homerton College Cambridge after countless attempts to sabotage his own education. Paul fell in love with teaching while working as a residential Teaching Assistant at 19. Teaching inspired him. It still does.

 

Paul worked in schools in Dorset, East London, Nuneaton and Birmingham. He was an English and Drama teacher, Head of Department, Head of Key Stage 3, Head of Faculty and coopted onto the Leadership Team. In Nuneaton he was part of a team of teachers and support professionals who worked to bring the school out of a failed Inspection. Paul led on Behaviour. In Aston, Birmingham he launched a Fringe Theatre Venue for the City while leading five heads of department across three sites where results rocketed. He has celebrated the highs of seeing young people succeed against the odds and experienced the lows of working in schools surrounded by raw poverty and scant hope. And yes, he has cried in the car park.

 

As Director of When The Adults Change Ltd Paul works in the UK and across the world show people that there is another way to support children's’ behaviour. His work is acclaimed and embedded in thousands of schools from Kazakstan to Tokyo, Sydney to Stoke and from the Welsh valleys to Dubai and Deptford. He has huge expertise in transforming school culture and changing the behaviour of adults for good.

 

Paul has advised the Department for Education on Teacher Standards, given evidence to the Education Select Committee and worked with the Ministry of Justice on Behaviour and Restraint in Youth Custody. He has been featured in the Times, Telegraph and El Pais. His media appearances include BBC1, Channel 4 News and Channel 6 in Peru!

 

His book When The Adults Change, Everything Changes (2017, Crown House) has been a best seller for 9 years selling more than 200,000 copies. It won silver in the Indies Book Awards 2018 and is a core text for teacher training courses. The follow up After the Adults Change is equally as well received and reviewed. In 2024 Paul’s latest book When The Parents Change Everything Changes was published by Cornerstone Press, Penguin Random House. This book is now available as a Penguin paperback and has changed how parents support behaviour in the home. It is published in Arabic, Spanish, Mandarin and English. 

 

Paul is a sought after speaker and travels the world captivating audiences and inspiring them to change. His recent performance at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London was sold out. He is driven by a determination to make sure every child experiences a relational education managed by calm, highly skilled adults.

 

In quieter moments Paul is to be found squirrelled away in the Cambridge University Library trying to meet a writing deadline that his publisher swears he agreed to but now seems like a tall order. His new book ‘Drift’ will be published late 2026…..or maybe early 2027...depending on deadlines….and negotiations…..

 

Paul can be contacted via the form below.