Tom Blackwell
I am an educator and PhD student with more than 10 years of experience working with children and young people, in particular with a personal focus on ALN and mental health. My work is guided by a strong belief in the role of education as a means of nurturing the whole human being.
I have worked across a broad range of educational contexts, including Waldorf and mainstream education in the UK. At Nant-y-Cwm Steiner School in Wales, I taught children aged 6–14 and held leadership roles in Management, Safeguarding, and Additional Learning Needs, helping to shape an inclusive and supportive culture for all learners. More recently, I’ve worked with older students as a Pastoral Coach at Pembrokeshire College, where I support engagement and wellbeing in Further Education.
My commitment to the transformative potential of education is international. I have cultivated partnerships with educators and organisations around the world, including Jhamtse Gatsal’s Children’s Community: a home and school for vulnerable children in the Indian Himalayas, as well as a grassroots educational initiative in Ethiopia aimed at expanding access and equity for marginalised communities. Across these collaborations, I remain focused on fostering and supporting education that is centred upon dignity, belonging, and the development of human potential.
I hold a BSc in Psychology (First Class Honours) from the Open University and a BA in Religious & Theological Studies from Cardiff University. In October 2025, I will begin doctoral research at the University of Nottingham, exploring the potential for integrating mindfulness into a curriculum to support the mental health, wellbeing and social-emotional development of children and young people in education. My research is informed by Waldorf pedagogy, Buddhist philosophy, and psychology and neuroscience. Drawing on both my academic work and practical experience, I am particularly interested in how mindfulness can move from being a classroom intervention to being transformative within education, not only on an individual level, but also socially and systemically.