Coaching & Teaching
I am based at home in Huntly, Aberdeenshire or online anywhere.
I’m currently at capacity with harp pupils, but if you’re interested in being on a waiting list, please contact me at: kirstywhatley@hotmail.com
In summer 2023, I began training as a creativity coach with Eric Maisel, learning to support people in any discipline to explore issues in their creative life. If you’re interested in being a ‘guinea pig’ client, drop me a line. For a limited time only, I am coaching people for FREE!
Teaching Experience
I’ve taught the harp for over 20 years. I worked extensively as a peripatetic teacher in Dorset for over a decade, at Sherborne Girls’ School, Leweston School, King’s School in Bruton and Hazlegrove School. I also taught for several years on the Huntly Music Summer School in Huntly, Scotland, and for personal reasons ended up relocating there in spring 2023.
In addition to harp-teaching, I have a TEFL and spent 4 years teaching English while living overseas. This opened the door for me to work in learning support at Sherborne Girls’ School, which I did for 18 months, helping pupils with a range of specific learning differences (especially, but not exclusively, dyslexia) to manage their academic studies. This enhanced my awareness of neurodiversity and the ways in which people process and learn differently. There is a fascinating, exciting array of brains out there, seeing the world in a panoply of ways.
All my teaching is pupil-centred, in that I always begin with the person in front of me, tailoring my teaching to best support that individual in realising their goals.
In 2021, I completed a 10-week advanced listening course at the Bath Centre for Psychotherapy and Counselling. My belief that the arts contribute profoundly to human and societal understanding and health has led me to broaden my teaching practice beyond music. I’m currently expanding my practice to offer coaching in any field that intersects with ‘creativity’. More on this in time…