In business settings, I coach leaders who are curious about the role of social dynamics in their organisation, and the way they themselves can influence the social, cultural and political fabric. I find this approach helps them see more clearly their role and potential impact in the organisation and in turn they become stronger agents of the change they want to implement.
I also work with whole teams who wish to become more effective and to find more collaborative, productive and sustainable ways of working together.
I offer individual leadership coaching or organisational consulting. I have conducted ethnographic work in organisations and also in academic settings (courses, degrees, labs, research teams or networks).
For both individuals and groups, my approach is typically to identify current areas for development and provide analysis. I then propose a development strategy. My specific areas of expertise include:
- developing effective leadership;
- embracing novel ways of working;
- managing effectively organisational change and development;
- mapping one’s strengths and the best possible professional or academic fields for applying them;
- enhancing academic interdisciplinarity and creativity;
- strengthening collaborations.
Coaching Learners and Learning Innovation in Academia
In academic settings, I develop evaluations of learning and offer solutions for development of academic institutions, degrees, or courses as well as of individual academic growth.
Learning is my own passion too. It is a relational activity – people learn within and through the relationships in which they are embedded. Deepening and strengthening these relationships can enhance learning and growth. I have been involved in the research and development of a wide variety of learning approaches and styles in various fields, ranging from universities to home-education communities and individual families.
- I have been teaching in academia most of my life – at the University of Oxford (2004-2023);
- I have conducted research on learning at the University of Oxford at the Department of Education, and I am a fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK.
- I have researched interdisciplinary scientific learning, creativity and pedagogies for innovation at the University of Oxford and other leading scientific institutions in the UK and abroad – with the aim to develop more effective pedagogic strategies for collaborative research and innovation.
- I co-founded the Journal Teaching Anthropology, now a journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute in 2011, to open such discussions in anthropology; and I summarised my ideas about the importance of emotions in learning and research here: https://www.teachinganthropology.org/ojs/index.php/teach_anth/article/view/301
Didi Spencer 