I was born in the Netherlands and was raised partly in Canada, but then moved to the United States to get several university degrees, the final of which was a Doctorate in Education, from Northern Arizona University. Although schooling was difficult for me as a child, struggling with speaking English and making good grades,  my goal was to go beyond what most girls in my culture were  allowed to do—to further my education, beyond just getting a teaching certificate.

After a seven-year study researching high-performance learning method based on the neurosciences and best practices from around the world, in 1993, I earned my doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. Shortly thereafter, I co-founded the National Institute for Teaching Excellence with Dr. John Grassi and Kathleen Carroll at Cambridge College in Boston, Massachusetts. Later, I became the senior professor of education in the master’s degree program at Cambridge College in Ontario, California, where I taught teachers of at-risk students.

In 1994, I co-authored the book The Learning Revolution, which became a literary sensation worldwide. Along with my co-author, Gordon Dryden, we wrote and published four updates during the next 20 years. During this time, I also ran workshops teaching people how to accelerate their self-learning abilities. My workshops are very hands-on and I incorporate music and nutrition with learning for high achievement, which comes as a bonus. I was amazed at how well received my multi-media presentations were— they attracted huge audiences in several countries around the world, ranging from corporations and educational organizations to schools.

My best-selling co-authored book was partly based on real practices that I had implemented as a teacher and trainer, working with people of diverse cultures and socio-economic levels and in all age groups, from early childhood to senior citizens. I especially value my teaching at-risk students—those who have learning difficulties, which brought me to study how both music and nutrition affect the brain. This changed my personal life too.

Upon moving to New Zealand for eleven years, I discovered some of the best schools in the world, which had used The Learning Revolution book as a catalyst for “tomorrow’s schools.” I also began running nutrition and raw food workshops with co-chef Sally McFarlane. More and more I began to see how our health related to peak performance in learning.

Overall, I have spent the last 30 years researching, writing, and conducting practical training worldwide based on the latest scientific research to accelerate our innate self-learning abilities, which are applicable to all areas of our lives But even within this short time, I have come to realize that the world now doubles in knowledge every 13 hours, with self-learning robots leading the way! Hence, it means we humans have to become self-learners too! The Learning Revolution 2.0: Self-Learning, is therefore timely, as part of a Learning Revolution 2.0 series, focusing on the relevance of self-learning within this new AI era. I coined the term ‘self-learning’ as it means taking full responsibility for our life holistically—mentally, physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually. This also activates the need for coaching each other, to foster strong relationships and teambuilding skills, so that we do not have to make the self-learning journey alone.