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Meet Fiona Kearnan – A teacher who moved from the classroom to become a powerhouse educator, acclaimed international author, and advocate for children with ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Fiona has embarked on a thrilling journey of self-discovery and passion-driven career shifts. From her early days as a Special Education teacher to her current roles as an international author, educational consultant, casual replacement teacher, and professional photographer. Fiona’s story is an inspiring testament to the transformative power of following one’s heart and a desire to help improve the educational outcomes for students with ADHD. In this blog post, we dive deep into Fiona’s remarkable journey, her challenges, her triumphs, and the pearls of wisdom she shares with fellow teachers looking to explore new career horizons. We thank her for sharing her journey and offering her knowledge and advice so that others who are searching for a way to leave teaching can learn from her experiences.
Tell us about your job history?
I studied primary teaching and special education and began my teaching career as a Special Education teacher in a Catholic secondary school in regional NSW. I was then asked to teach some Year 7-9 English classes because many of the students had very weak literacy skills. My favourite class to teach was the ‘bottom Yr 9 English’ class because I knew I could make a real difference with these students. This class also had a high number of learners with behavioural challenges and working with these students has always been my passion.
In 2007 I moved to a large Catholic school in Melbourne where I taught English as well as working in the Educational Support program where I taught small groups of students helping them to develop their basic literacy and numeracy skills. In this role I also conducted educational assessments and developed individual learning plans.
My next role was at one of Melbourne’s grammar schools where I worked as a special education teacher. I assumed the role of Head of Teaching and Learning at an independent P-12 Christian college in 2011 before becoming one of Australia’s first Arrowsmith program teachers. After teaching the Arrowsmith program to students with learning and behavioural challenges I decided that I needed a fresh challenge. I decided to take a break from the classroom and work, full time, as a professional photographer for a season (I had already been doing this as a side hustle for many years).
Six months into this season I enrolled to study a Diploma of Leadership and I began supplementing my income with casual teaching opportunities.
In 2019 I returned to full time teaching at a small, independent school where I taught a Grade 5/6 class. I loved my students, many of whom had specific learning difficulties such as ASD, ADHD, and dyslexia, but I quickly realised that I was bored teaching the same students in the same room every day. This led me to returning to casual work where I was in a variety of different schools and classrooms every day.
During the COVID lockdown I completed my Master of Education in Behaviour before sitting down to compose my book.
I am currently an international author, an educational consultant, a casual replacement teacher and a professional photographer.
Tell us a little about yourself…
I currently live in Melbourne with my wonderful husband, who is a physics teacher. We have two adult daughters and a cat.
I enjoy reading, photography, cooking and catching up with my friends. I have also recently caught the travel bug and plan to visit different places every school holiday.
I have been passionate about helping students with ADHD ever since my brother was diagnosed in the early 1980s. In fact, he is the reason I became a teacher!
Recently I was diagnosed as having ADHD myself and this certainly explains much about my career path up to this point. I intend to devote the rest of my career helping teachers to understand, reach and teach their ADHD learners.
How do you help teachers?
I love helping teachers to understand why students with ADHD behave the way they do so that they can teach them with compassion. Additionally, I support teachers in developing simple, effective and easy to implement teaching, learning and behavioural strategies which help ADHD learners to develop positive behaviours at school.
I offer school-based staff development, providing demonstrations and workshops for individual schools and organisations. I am passionate about providing teachers with current, relevant and comprehensive information about ADHD to help them develop a positive and well-informed perspective of this neurological condition. The practical strategies I share have proven to be effective in all settings and with students of all ages.
What gave you the idea to write a book?
I decided to write my book because I was frustrated for both misunderstood ADHD learners as well as their teachers. I believe that most teachers want to help every single one of their students and do try their best to teach their students with ADHD. However, I also realise that most educators have received insufficient professional development about ADHD and, more specifically, have not been armed with a range of simple yet effective strategies which foster positive behaviour and learning. I wrote my book, and have launched my ADHD Education Consultancy business to address this significant issue.
How do write a book and get published?
The process of writing a book is fairly simple; just start writing! Finding a publisher is the difficult part. I tried to find a publishing company soon after I began writing my manuscript. It was a painful process. I made lots of mistakes but learned a lot. Initially, I did an internet search for publishers located in Australia, and immediately became prey to what is known as a ‘vanity’ publisher. These companies use the skills of a pushy car salesman to lure prospective authors into spending significant amounts of money to publish their book. Fortunately, I quickly discovered that self publishing was a better option for me because I had had no success in finding a traditional educational publisher. I did some research and decided that publishing my book with Amazon was the way to go for me. It provided me the opportunity to edit and make revisions as required because they print on demand. This also meant that I did not need to purchase boxes of my book in order to sell them myself. Additionally, the royalties Amazon pays are more generous than traditional publishing houses and I have more control over other aspects including costs and marketing.
If you are looking to publish a book with a traditional publisher you are required to send them a submission, and they only notify you if they are interested in publishing your book. I sent submissions to several reputable publishers and heard nothing. After waiting six months, I opted to self-publish.
The self-publishing route requires you to manage everything yourself. You must find your own editors, cover designer, and formatting expert, unless you are also equipped with these skills. I found Fiverr to be a wonderful resource to find people with the skills in the areas that I lacked. The process of publishing your book with Amazon is quite simple as their platform is very user friendly.
What suggestions can you give to teachers who want to write a book?
If you are interested in writing a book, my best advice is to go for it and start writing (or typing!). Also, avoid getting conned into spending your own money on dodgy vanity publishers who make huge profits from naïve and unsuspecting first-time authors. I have learned that many successful authors began their career by self-publishing their first book which went on to become a best seller and eventually grabbed the attention of traditional publishing houses. If you want to write your own book head to our Blog ‘How to Write a Book: A guide for Australian Teachers‘ for more information about how you can!
Any advice for teachers who want to leave teaching?
If you are considering leaving teaching, I suggest you put a great deal of thought into what you are passionate about and reflect on why you initially became a teacher. It is definitely not easy, and I’m still in the middle of the process myself, but speaking to others who have changed careers and perhaps consulting a career coach might be useful in determining your next career move.
Fiona Kearnan’s journey from teacher to international author and educational consultant is an epic tale of passion, resilience, and following one’s true calling. Through her experiences, she has become a fierce advocate for ADHD learners and a beacon of inspiration for teachers seeking new career paths. Fiona’s candid advice and heartfelt dedication remind us all to chase our dreams and make a difference in the lives of those we touch. So, if you’re a teacher with a spark in your soul, don’t be afraid to explore new horizons – you might just find your calling, just like Fiona did! Thank you again Fiona for sharing your story with our community! If you’re interested in starting your own business you might find our blog “Build a Thriving Teacherpreneur Business” helpful.
Want your own copy of ‘Flicking the Switch’ by Fiona Kearnan…
To buy Fiona’s Book – Flicking the Switch by Fiona Kearnan – CLICK HERE
Do you need help managing the behaviour of the ADHD students that you teach?
Fiona Kearnan has been passionate about teaching ADHD students for over 30 thirty years. She understands how challenging their behaviours can be in the classroom and has written this book to help teachers develop effective, easy to implement, strategies that will make a significant difference to their classroom environments.
At some point, every teacher will encounter students with ADHD. These often-challenging students want their teachers to understand the difficulties they face every day at school. They need them to care and have a genuine desire to help them reach their full potential. Fiona Kearnan, in Flicking the Switch, describes many practical, evidence-based strategies that can be easily implemented to teach new skills, reduce inappropriate behaviours, and have a positive impact on teachers’ relationships with these challenging, but misunderstood, students.
These include:
Identifying the functions of inappropriate behaviours
Understanding the effect of stress on behaviour
Developing rapport
Implementing positive behaviour plans
Encouraging empathy in peers
Stimulating dopamine production through positive reinforcement
Additionally, Flicking the Switch provides current information about ADHD and explains why students with ADHD struggle to demonstrate appropriate behaviours at school. Understanding the “why” behind problematic behaviour will assist teachers to appreciate the principles underlying the strategies and to implement them with confidence.
‘Flicking the Switch’ is for all teachers: primary, secondary, and integration aides. It explains the neurological differences in these students, describes the impact ADHD has on a student’s ability to succeed at school and provides easy to implement strategies that will support students to demonstrate positive behaviour, enabling them to engage positively in class and be successful learners.
To buy Fiona’s Book – Flicking the Switch by Fiona Kearnan – CLICK HERE
Want to Write your Own Book?
So many of us feel we have a book to write but actually knowing where to start or getting words on the page can be a huge challenge. Writing a book can seem like an insurmountable task , too hard to organise your thoughts or too hard to actually finish. If you’re interested in writing your own book we recommend checking out Leonie Dawson’s course ‘Finish your book in 40 days‘. Currently we have a bunch of our members from our Exit Stage Teach community doing Leonie’s Biz academy and within it, they are doing the Finish your book in 40 days course right now. Leonie guides you through how to write your book in 40 days, she is an internationally best-selling author herself and she knows how to market and get your book out to the right people. She will guide you through the whole process from writing your first words to publishing your book.
