Specialist Teacher, Learning Consultant, Lifelong Learner

Founder OPTIMISE LEARNING

Inaugural Chair, Board of Directors, Minessence International Cooperative Ltd.

Debbie is an innovative and highly experienced educator with a career spanning almost 40 years in special education, classroom teaching, university lecturing, workshop and retreat facilitation, corporate learning and development, and coaching and mentoring.

Her greatest passion is working with children and their families, and she finds enormous inspiration in identifying and nurturing the unique potential of every learner.  She believes it's a special privilege to inspire self-belief and confidence in children and their parents, creating optimism about personal value and future possibilities.

Debbie established Optimise Learning to provide highly professional and personalised learning consultancy, educational assessments, specialist one-on-one teaching, advocacy, workshops, and coaching for children, parents and supporting professionals.  She has a special interest and expertise in Literacy Support including Dyslexia.  Using her wealth of experience, she also supports gifted children and those with disabilities, significant medical needs and learning difficulties, and is passionate about empowering learners through a strengths focus.

Debbie believes it’s a great privilege to nurture and celebrate the unique and limitless potential of every learner.

An engaging speaker, Debbie has presented at international, state and regional conferences, and to full auditoriums, large teams, and small parent groups. She's delivered flexible learning experiences for undergraduate and post-graduate students at the University of Southern Queensland, and extensive professional development for teachers in the Darling Downs Region.

In her role as National Learning and Development Manager at Shine Lawyers, Debbie integrated her expertise as a FranklinCovey 7 Habits Facilitator, Minessence Values Consultant, Leadership Coach and Mentor, and Belbin Team Roles Consultant.

Through her deep interest in permaculture-inspired self-reliance and resilience, Debbie also offers professional consultancy, support and mentoring to facilitators as they design and deliver innovative, engaging workshops and courses.

Motivated by vivid childhood memories of tasting food plucked fresh from the garden, Debbie enjoys growing abundant organic produce with her husband in their own backyard.  She feels blessed to live on a peaceful 5 acres in the Lockyer Valley near Toowoomba, where she feels consciously interconnected with nature.  She enjoys design, reading, travel, permaculture, edible gardening, healthy cooking, nostalgic pastimes, and savouring simplicity.

Above all, Debbie has an insatiable appetite for learning, and every day that she learns or experiences something new is a great day. Debbie aspires to live her very best life and to empower others to discover their unique gifts and potential.

Connect with Debbie

debbie@optimiselearning.com.au

http://www.linkedin.com/in/debbiebassingthwaighte