Inspiring Educators: Meet our Kaplan Teachers

At Kaplan, we’re all about the teachers.

These are the people that leave you with good impressions, help you with mistakes, give you the confidence to communicate in another language and best of all become your support network in a foreign country.

We spoke to a number of our wonderful teachers to find about what makes their classroom experience so special. Read on to find out about how you can have fun and progress in the Kaplan classroom!

John, a senior teacher from our Torquay school, describes his love of working at Kaplan. “The teachers talk quite often in the staff room about how we wake up in the morning looking forward to going to work. When you come in, someone will make you laugh. You’re going to have fun before you go into your class. That sets the tone for the whole day.”

“I work at Kaplan because of the people I work with every day. They’re the most beautiful teachers.” – John

Kaplan’s teaching method

Kaplan schools follow the K+ learning methodology, which is all about full immersion and expert teaching. Our course books, specifically designed for Kaplan, cover relevant topics such as a news event or recent movie. This allows our students to talk about current affairs in the real world. Although this approach is standardized across the world, each teacher is unique and brings their own flair to the classroom.

And John couldn’t agree more, “We all use the same books, but at the end of the day it’s the students and teachers working together to create the lens of the material.”

Georgia, a teacher in Bournemouth, lives for a challenge and only wants her students to succeed. Georgia previously taught English in Greece. When she first started at Kaplan, she gave her students homework and quickly realised that when they were all faced with a challenging task, the class chose to unite and work together to overcome their obstacle. In light of this, she upped the stakes and told them if they could write an essay on a T-shirt and it had no mistakes then she would wear it for an entire month – and so the T-shirt challenge was born.

“Part of learning abroad is not to be the best or learn the quickest. It's to bond with those who experience the same struggles with you and make friends you will keep long after your Kaplan experience has ended.” – Georgia

Progress further with K+ online

Michael, the Study Center Manager in our Covent Garden school, explains to students on their first day that learning goes beyond the classroom and that’s what makes Kaplan so special.

Many students choose to study abroad because you are immersed in the language 24/7. At Kaplan, students are encouraged to participate in the social program, this helps them practice their new language skills in a real-world setting. Adding K+ online to the mix, means students can go over lessons of the day or week, and brush up on vocabulary and grammar by completing mini exercises and quizzes.

K+ online is also an important tool in training students to use a foreign keyboard. Georgia makes time on the computer compulsory in her week as learning to type is important. Sim, a teacher from Liverpool, agrees that students today need to know how to use a keyboard properly as many students learn English to use in a professional setting.

“In the modern world, most of your writing is going to be online: writing reports, writing emails, writing communications within a company. That’s why we make them use computers as part of the modern world.”  – Sim

Charlotte also encourages use of K+ online, she says learning English cannot be mastered in the classroom only. “K+ is a cycle – the teaching, the social, and the practice at home.” 

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It’s all about our students

Georgia says that one great benefit of Kaplan is that it can really respond to what students want.

Whether students want to progress their English to study abroad, develop their English for their career or improve specific areas in their language learning, teachers can cater to the students in their class. It gives teachers insight into how English is being used out there by our students, long after they have left Kaplan. 

“We have many students who want to learn English for their profession. This is wonderful because it gives us the opportunity to understand how English works for them. I had a student who was doing volunteer work at a hospital and she wanted to know more vocabulary to use at the hospital.” – Georgia

Our teachers are adaptable to their students needs. Michael admits that even though the approach to teaching at Kaplan is standardized, he also takes direction from his students. Many Latin American students really struggle with the grammar and pronunciation and it means I will spend longer on these areas to ensure my students feel ready to move on to the next thing.

“It’s not easy to learn a language, especially English, so it can be frustrating for them. It’s such a great feeling when you’re in the classroom and you’re trying to get a difficult point across and the students go ‘ah’.” – Micheal 

Why not join thousands of students that have learned English with us. Choose from 38 schools around the world.