Teacher Name: Geoff Burchell

Nationality: Canadian Education: Bachelor of Arts (History), University of British Columbia Certificates: A CELTA qualification in English teaching from SwanseaUniversity in 2003

Teaching experience:
7 years of teaching experience in Vancouver, Korea, Thailand, Japan, and China
Taught conversation English to all levels from beginner to advanced
Taught Business English courses to clients such as IBM and Microsoft
Taught reading and writing to adults
Taught conversational English to children

Schools I’ve worked for
S.U.C.C.E.S.S 1997, Vancouver
MOSAIC 1997, Vancouver
Oedae FLI 1997, South Korea
Pagoda 1998, South Korea
King’s 1999, Thailand
S.T.E.C. 2000-2002, Tokyo
Prolegion 2003, Beijing
Kai En English Language Training Center 2003 to present, Shanghai

I’ve been responsible for teaching small groups, for teaching students one-on-one, for teaching medical staff, for teaching ‘free talk’ classes. I’ve also taught children to speak English. I have been responsible for designing and correcting exams and for creating activities or reworking already available ones to fit the needs of my classes. I’ve developed video materials for teaching and I’ve been responsible for doing program management and level testing.

Language and Cultural Experiences
Besides the above countries, I’ve traveled in America (four years in Alaska), the U.K, and the CarribeanSea. I get along with people of all cultures.

About Myself
I was born in Nova Scotia, Canada. With money I saved, I was able to put myself through University in 1987. I then became a counselor for teenagers-at-risk in Vancouver and in the daytime I was able to learn and practice how to teach English as a Foreign Language at the VancouverCommunity College.

Why I came to China.
I decided to come to China because my major in University was Chinese history. I've always intended on coming here. My work in the other countries of the Pacific Rim has been with the ultimate purpose of getting enough practice and experience to be able to really enjoy teaching in China. By doing things that way I would be able stay here a long time; I could begin to learn how to read and write Chinese; I could do more research on the Song Dynasty.

Why I chose to work at Kai En?
I joined Kai En as a full-time teacher in August, 2003 because I liked their English webpage which said that it was a student centered school. I like working at Kai En because it is truthfully the best school I have ever worked for in the seven years I have been teaching. This may be because there are more levels students can enroll in, it may be that the texts are geared toward students from Shanghai, and it may be that the atmosphere at Kai En is so good. The teachers are the most professional instructors I have ever had the pleasure to work with. I believe Kai En's teacher training program is both relevant and useful. And I particularly enjoy teaching in Shanghai because it is one of the great cities of the world.