I found my passion for teaching 20 years ago when, at the beginning of my career, I started to become more aware of the importance of play while observing the way in which my students were using the English language while learning English collaboratively.

I graduated from the Faculty of Letters and Sciences and then I completed my master’s studies in Intercultural Communication and Linguistic Studies. I consider myself an incredibly lucky student who had the opportunity to engage her adult students in real communication situations before completing her university studies. The experience I had at that time encouraged me to learn more about teaching strategies and techniques that could help my students learn more, but at the same time in an enjoyable way.

 Participating in various seminars, courses, conferences, and workshops proved to be very useful for me as I felt a new world of possibilities was opening in front of my eyes. However, I felt that I could do more to become a better teacher. In 2008 I obtained my first international teaching certificate (TKT), and later, in 2010, I obtained the CELTA international certification (pass A), an experience that helped me better understand the learning process beyond the classroom. 

Having been awarded an A grade—an achievement earned by only 2% of CELTA graduates globally at that time motivated me to continue to learn and work with students and children of different ages and levels. Later I became a teacher in the UK, where I taught Secondary school children from various cultures. This helped me to obtain the Qualified Teacher status, an important qualification recognized by the British authorities. 

Later, I pursued the CELT-YL qualification in Barcelona, gaining international recognition in teaching young learners and refining my ability to engage children through play, curiosity, and challenge-based learning.

I like to think of myself as a curious person who always wants to try new strategies to make teaching and learning relevant for the future, but also enjoyable. 

This is the main reason why I enjoy participating in various education-related events, some of which include: Innovate ELT conferences in Barcelona, the Cooperative Teaching and Learning Strategies course offered by CPD International, the Active Learning and Assessment for Learning workshop offered by Cambridge International Examinations, the Common Ground Collaborative workshop on writing modules through Inquiry, courses on Teaching through Guided Inquiry, as well as the most recent courses and conferences (Creating Cultures of Thinking, Introduction to Teaching CLIL, Navigating the Changing Demography of International Schools- a deep dive into EAL, Project Zero Sparks conference). 

Being a member of the Common Ground Collaborative, Avenor College has offered me the opportunity to learn more about visible learning, guided learning, thinking routines linked with concept-based teaching and learning as well as metacognition. 

So far my mission as an English Curriculum Leader has been that of supporting my colleagues in the process of integrating an interdisciplinary vision of the learning process through the development and enrichment of the Cambridge curriculum through extracurricular projects as well as modern teaching strategies (Inquiry, CLIL).

In addition, since one of my goals is to support children in becoming effective communicators across disciplines, I have delivered training sessions on ‘Literacy Across the Curriculum’ and ‘Introduction to Teaching CLIL’.

More recently, I contributed to the development of the Teacher Capabilities Roadmap—a practical tool designed to support reflective practice and continuous improvement in teaching. I also took part in an OECD project focused on metacognition, a key element of concept-based teaching and learning.

My passion for both my own and my colleagues’ professional growth drives me to oversee and actively contribute to the school’s professional development program and to continue leading the ‘Teachers for Teachers’ project, which supports talented early-career educators. 

In my new role as Curriculum Development and Teacher Training Lead, I aim to support my colleagues in developing a connected, concept-based curriculum. Guided by a coherent learning matrix, our goal is to help Avenor students make meaningful connections and think creatively about real-world problems. To achieve this, we will continue to foster an environment where students cultivate independent thinking and take ownership of their learning process.