For a full up to date CV please contact Clare Hanbury. These are my career highlights,
Class teaching
Between 1983 and 1987 I was a class teacher in two international schools in Thika, Kenya and then in Hong Kong. My days in the classroom were the preparation and foundation for all my work with and for children in international development. As a drama and language specialist and as a generalist in the classroom, I created innovative ways to develop and transform children’s thinking and learning. Each day brought fresh challenges in my work wiht children. How to balance listening and questioning, creativity and repetitive practice of basic skills, boundaries and freedom, activity and stillness, noise and quiet. My classroom experience means that I have been able to work with education practitioners at all levels with confidence and with an understanding of the reality of a very tough job. It was a marvellous time and without it I would not be the practitioner in children’s participation that I am today.
Project management and development
For six years, I was a programme officer at The Child-to-Child Trust (CTC) based at the University of London’s, Institute of Education, I was training, writing, teaching, speaking, advising and evaluating and growing a wide network of expert practitioners in children’s participation in health. I helped to develop the CTC 6-Step approach as framework and starting point for participatory projects, I was responsible for authoring or contributing to many of their key publications (see publications for details and links). I worked at a policy level with many colleagues based in the ministry of health or eduction in their respective countries. Writing and training is something I have continued to do for CTC in my role as an independent consultant. The geographical areas of work for included: East and Southern Africa, South East Asia, Eastern Europe, The United Kingdom and the Far East.
I have many many stories of wonderful projects I was involved with! The more challenging and diverse communities I reached include:
- The fourteen thousand Sudanese boys living in a Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya
- Girls at secondary schools in Aden and Sanaa in the Yemen
- Somali children living in a refugee camp in the Yemen
- Street children living on the streets of Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa and Ho Chi Minh;
- Children of the Masaai in Kenya; and
- Girls in new community schools living in the Chitral valley, Northern Pakistan.
In all cases, I would be working through the local project workers. I always felt that the strength of the work was in its variety.
Belonging to CTC was like belonging to a huge family with family members all over the world. Most of the materials we developed were copyright free and we raised funds to send as many as possible out to key practitioners who would otherwise have not had access to them. It was a privilege to work in such close contact with some of the foremost thinkers of their day notably Hugh Hawes, in education and Professor Andrew Tomkins and Professor David Morley in child health. The combination of academic rigour, creativity and generosity of spirit were values instilled in me by my time as a staff member at the Trust.
Research and Evaluation
Before and after my employment with the CTC I undertook two masters degrees. The first one was an MA in Education in Developing Countries at the University of London’s Institute of Education. I specialised in curriculum development, teacher education and education in refugee camps. It was during this time that I met Hugh Hawes and learned about his work in curriculum design and his passion for CTC - an organisation he co-founded. After 6 years with CTC, I was ready to undertake further research and enrolled in the Masters in Maternal and Child Health at the University of London’s Institute of Child Health. I specialised in a conducted research on children’s rights in health care. I was invited to present this at the London based, Royal College of Surgeons. My masters degrees helps me to straddle international education issues and international child health issues. They help me to understand approach and conduct research and monitoring and evaluation assignments with academic rigour.
In 2009 I was invited to become an external evaluator for the UBS Optimus Foundation. My latest project with them was to review the work of PHMDF, a Georgian NGO who is helping to steer the development of the National Child Protection System for Georgia from their base in Tbilisi.
Running a small children’s charity
For two years, I was the Director of Learning for Life (LFL). LFL seeks to increase access to education for girls in South Asia and to improve the quality of education. Most of the schools we supported are in remote rural areas of Pakistan. LFL’s major projects during this time included setting up a community schools programme with the National Rural Support Programme and the Sahad Rural Support Programme. LFL supported training and evaluation to strengthen the quality of educational inputs across its projects. The Department for International Development (DfID) and the UK National Lottery were among the major donors secured for these projects. Work with LFL included strategic planning, the development of funding bids, project management from policy to field level, organisational management, evaluation and fund-raising. I believe that one of the skills honed in this job is my ability to think big while understanding the detailed requirements to make a strategy both practical and effective.
Consultant
I have been an independent consultant for 14 years. I have specialised in international development in the areas of the participation of children in the design and development of health and education activities and programmes, children’s rights, child protection, life skills, school health, creating and strengthening networks, HIV and AIDS education, life skills for HIV prevention, anti-personnel landmine awareness education, sexual and reproductive health, curriculum development and working with children in difficult circumstances. I have also worked in partnership with projects in the UK.
Most recently I have: conducted a feasibility study on children’s participation; developed a toolkit on children’s participation in child protection for trainers and children’s rights workers with partners in Africa; and developed a toolkit and guidance for monitoring and evaluating life skills for youth development. For a full list of my consultancy work, please ask me for my CV. Click here for a list of my publications.
Setting up my own social enterprise projects
In 2008 I set up two projects: Young Solutions international (YSi) and Lifeskills Handbooks.
The purpose of YSi is to develop and advocate for the participation of children and young people in health and social justice issues. Its work is aligned with others working on child participation issues and to promote a framework for participation called The Tricycle System that builds upon many years using the CTC 6-step approach in the field. Unique to the YSI approach are tools grounded in the related fields of appreciative inquiry and coaching. I am working on a 3rd edition of the YSi handbook.
The original purpose of Life Skills Handbooks was to make available for free, life skills materials that many people find useful and which were not longer in print. However its purpose is expand to meet the needs of those interested in this work. Large numbers of people visit this site (over 28,000 to date) and many download the free materials. Seven hundred people have signed up to joined its community.
My own personal and professional development
I am an advocate for reflective practice and I seek research and training that helps me to update and deepen my skills. I trained as a coach with the Parent as Coach Academy – a highly focused coaching niche that has brought a new dimension to my work with children and young people and to the adults that support them. My current work includes working with one or two clients in a coaching role. Often these are people working on international development projects at a policy level and our work is always powerful and transformative. I also bring coaching skills to my role as an external evaluator. I am currently undertaking further training in teenology with the expert teen coach and adviser on young peoples issues, Sarah Newton.
I have undertaken training in public speaking with the wonderful Doug Stephenson and from time to time take on the thrilling task of keynote speaking!
I have a wide network in the international development sectors, in the health and education sectors and in the donor community. This network helps me keep abreast of the latest thinking and trends. I enjoy using and learning about new communications, technology and social media and am active on my blog sites, on face book and on twitter.
Voluntary work in my community
Wherever I have lived of worked I have sought opportunities to do voluntary work. Here are five major pieces of work that I feel were the most important.
- Volunteer, at the Chi Ma Wan Closed Refugee Camp for the Vietnamese, Hong Kong. Duties included redesigning the English language curriculum, developing materials, teacher training, programme monitoring and teaching. (1986-1988).
- Bereavement counsellor for a London charity specialising in supporting children. (1996-1999).
- School development committee, Cambridge Steiner School. Duties included successfully campaigning for and purchasing a school building from the local authority (March-June 2008) and leading a linked campaign to get state funding for the school (Sept 2006-July 2008).
- Fundraiser for the Swavesey Village Playground Committee and successfully raised £86K of the 96K needed to renew a village play area (2003)
- Chair of the finance committee, school governors, Dry Drayton Primary School. (Sept 2008-to Sept 2010).
For a full up to date CV please contact Clare Hanbury.
