About Us
Anne van Dam
Educational Consultant, Educator & AuthorDeeply passionate about the role of play in children's learning process, Anne believes in the power of documentation as a tool for educators to reflect on and grow in their practice by exploring the various threads, ideas, and connections that underpin children's investigations.
Throughout her career, Anne has held various roles in the field of education, including teacher, curriculum coordinator, head of school, and vice-principal.
Anne's collaborated with the International Baccalaureate (IB) regional office in The Hague, where she worked with the PYP (Primary Years Programme) development team on the IB PYP review. Her focus areas during this collaboration included learner agency, early years education, inquiry-based learning, and aspects of creating a strong learning community.
Since 2015, Anne has been working as an independent consultant. Her primary goal is to support schools and educators in developing a shared pedagogy that recognizes and honors young children as incredible learners and meaning makers.
“Fiona and Anne have had rich journeys as pedagogical leaders and have poured their experience into this text: We found insights that had us nodding our heads in agreement and stories that gave legs to those foundational understandings. Anne and Fiona recognize that the experience of children depends on the experience, orientation, and imagination of adults. Finding Our Way will help teaching communities grow those capacities in affirming and nourishing ways.”
- —Matt Karlsen and Susan Harris MacKay, The Center & Studio for Playful Inquiry
Fiona Zinn
Educator, Leader, Author, and ConsultantFiona Zinn specialises in early childhood and primary education. Her work focuses on reflective, values-driven pedagogy, inquiry-centred learning, and the creation of professional cultures that place children at the heart of practice - where children, teachers, and families can flourish. Over three decades, she has worked with early childhood services and schools around the world, supporting teachers to develop creative, playful and concept-driven inquiry practices that honour children’s thinking.
Fiona’s practice has evolved from classroom teaching to roles in leadership, university lecturing, and international consultancy. The questioning, learning, and reflection that comes from her engagement with leaders and their teams continues to inform her work. She travels internationally to collaborate with educators on curriculum design, learning environments, leadership, creativity and documentation, exploring the organizational structures and pedagogical practices that make shared, responsive pedagogy possible.
Her work is anchored in the conviction that education can be regenerative, transformative, and deeply relational, and that when educators are intellectually, emotionally, and professionally engaged, children’s learning thrives.