This practical, highly interactive session introduces teachers to The 5 Chairs®, a behavioural intelligence method that helps staff move from reactive communication to conscious, constructive responses in daily school life.

Across three hours, teachers will learn a simple shared language — Jackal (attack), Hedgehog (self-doubt), Meerkat (pause), Dolphin (proactive choice), and Giraffe (empathy and connection) — that can be used immediately in classrooms, conversations with colleagues, and interactions with parents and students.

The workshop blends discussion, real-life school scenarios, and short reflective exercises to build awareness of how reactions impact relationships, behaviour management, and school culture. Teachers will leave with tools they can apply the same day.

Main Outcomes

By the end of the session, teachers will:

• Recognize the five core behavioural statesin themselves and others, and understand how these show up under stress, conflict, or time pressure in school environments.
• Develop skills to pause before reacting- creating space to choose a calmer, more constructive response.
• Practice language and scriptsfor the Dolphin and Giraffe Chairs to support positive communication with students, colleagues, and parents.
• Gain strategies to reduce escalation and improve emotional regulationin classrooms, especially during challenging student behaviours.
• Learn a shared vocabularythat supports consistency across staff, making behaviour conversations more effective and less personal.

Identify personal triggers that lead to reactive patterns, and explore practical steps to shift toward more conscious engagement.

Immediate Practical Benefits of The 5 Chairs methodology

• Fewer classroom escalations
• Faster conflict recovery
• Improved staff cohesion
• Greater psychological safety
• More confident communication with parents
• Students modelling healthier behaviour through teacher example

Bio

Louise Evans is an English-born transformational coach, behavioural intelligence expert, and leadership facilitator best known as the creator of The 5 Chairs methodology and author of the book 5 Chairs 5 Choices: Own Your Behaviours, Master Your Communication, Determine Your Success (2016).

Evans has spent over 30 years working across more than two dozen countries helping individuals, teams, and organisations improve communication, emotional intelligence, and conscious leadership. Her approach blends deep self-awareness with practical behaviour-change tools that make emotional and interpersonal skills accessible in everyday life.

She grew up in England to Welsh parents and, in her early 20s, began a life of international travel and work, living in France, Germany, and later settling in Florence, Italy, which she considers her spiritual home.

Louise’s career began in language and communication training, using her background in the performing arts to engage and inspire audiences beyond conventional corporate training. Her passion for cross-cultural understanding led her to specialise in global leadership, diversity and inclusion, and international communication — working with multinational companies and delivering transformational programmes in educational and organisational settings worldwide.

She is also a TEDx speaker, with a talk based on her methodology that has garnered millions of views, and her work continues to influence leaders, educators, and individuals seeking deeper emotional intelligence and more mindful communication.