Karen Heath – Director of Teacher Professional Development Courses
Karen Patricia Heath is the Director of the IB Institute, and Director of Teacher Professional Development Courses. Her experience includes over a decade of research, teaching, and admissions at the university level. Karen holds a 1st class BA (Hons) in Modern History from London Guildhall University, an MPhil in Historical Studies from the University of Cambridge, and a DPhil in Modern History from the University of Oxford. Karen is a firm believer in the value of Continuing Professional Development and is just as keen to hear from those who are new to the teaching profession, as she is from those who are already well-established in their chosen field.
Devon Krohn – CELTA Main Course Tutor
Devon has been working in English Language Teaching for 28 years. She has worked in Germany, Czechia, Hungary, Romania, Italy, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Earlier in her career, she started out teaching English as a Foreign Language before moving into educational management when she passed her DELTA in 2000. She worked as Assistant Director of Studies responsible for Young Learners and General English in Budapest, after which she moved into CELTA and DELTA training. She has also carried out Content and Language Integrated Learning teacher training courses with Kazakh STEM teachers and has written teacher training workshops focusing on the development of writing and speaking skills for Cambridge Assessment. She has been a Cambridge examiner and CELTA assessor for 14 years. Her MA TESOL thesis explored the role of decoding listening skills in English as a Foreign Language course books. In her free she enjoys quizzing, travelling, and taking pictures of trees on nature walks. Among her other achievements, she speaks English, French, German and a little Hungarian.
David Briggs – CELTA Teacher Trainer
Dave is an experienced CELTA tutor, who has delivered CELTA courses in Oxford, the United States, Spain, and Ireland, over the last 25 years. He taught English in Greece and Japan before settling in Oxford. During his time in Oxford, he has worked with refugee children at Oxford and Cherwell Valley College, as well as teaching on the linguistics module at Oxford Brookes University. He is an inspector for the University of Cambridge, ensuring standards are being met for CELTA courses around the world, for both remote and in-person delivery. Dave’s work in the industry has also led to him being a published English as a Foreign Language author. In his free time, he enjoys reading detective stories, gardening, and being taken for a walk by his stubborn and determined rescue dog from Greece.
Claire Marshall – CELTA Teacher Trainer
Claire is an experienced Teacher Trainer and over the last 20 years has delivered CELTA courses in London, Spain, Italy and Japan. She has run CELTA departments for much of this time and has been a Head of Teacher Training in London. She started by teaching English in Japan then moved to London, teaching in private schools and Further Education. As well as teaching English, Claire has a wealth of experience delivering Maths and Numeracy classes to adult learners – mainly refugees and asylum seekers. She has developed courses and materials in this area and for Teacher Training. Having moved to Scotland in 2023 she divides her time between the countryside, working in London, and more recently Pisa and Oxford. In her free time Claire is a keen gardener and is currently trying to create a garden from a very soggy Scottish Lawn. She also volunteers for an historical printing press and shop and is enjoying learning about printing and binding books.