About Mike

Mike Higginbottom taught in secondary schools in Nottingham and Sheffield 1970-2002, latterly as Head of English and finally as Head of Personal & Social Education. He is an enthusiastic, intuitive, charismatic teacher, who maintains his grip on practical classroom skills as a self-employed teacher and lecturer. He is a highly experienced team-player, used to leading small groups and fronting projects involving up to a hundred staff.

In mid-career he gained an MEd degree in Human Relations at Nottingham University, studying a wide range of topics including group dynamics, bereavement and sexuality. He is a trained facilitator for The Pacific Institute, which provides training programmes in self-image and peak-performance psychology.

Mike has also taught adult continuing-education programmes in social and architectural history for the Universities of Nottingham, Birmingham, Sheffield, Liverpool and Keele, and for the WEA. His classroom and residential programmes for adults deliberately combine detailed academic content and opportunities for further study with a lively, interactive approach that stimulates interest and enthusiasm.

Mike has run training programmes for schools, colleges and local authorities in South Yorkshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire and the Isle of Man, for the Windsor Fellowship which seeks to raise aspirations among ethnic-minority young people and for Business & Education South Yorkshire, the county’s leading provider of work-experience placements. He works in collaboration with associate trainers in stress management, holistic therapies, tai-chi and shiatsu.

In the midst of a busy working life, Mike enjoys travel, photography and the theatre, and makes a point of keeping fit and maintaining a wide circle of friendship.

Because learning is a life-long activity and a trainer needs to share the experience of being trained, Mike regularly puts himself outside his comfort zone to feel what it’s like to face tough challenges. In slightly more than a year he increased his running-capability from less than half a mile to 10 kilometres, and is now working to increase his confidence as a barely-proficient swimmer.