David Watkins
has been involved in ELT since 1989 and has worked with teachers and learners in many countries including extended periods in the UK, Ukraine, Belarus, Turkey, Ethiopia, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and China. He was based in Crimea for many years where he ran his own language school but now divides his time between Ethiopia and the UK.
As a teacher trainer / consultant since 2001, David has specialised in trainer training and holds a PGCE Cert in Trainer Development. His particular expertise is establishing and enabling sustainable teacher development programmes in low-resource contexts and has worked extensively for the British Council on DFID and British Embassy funded projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe, including on programmes which focus on conflict prevention and refugee education.
David has been a CELTA tutor for many years and more than anything else enjoys the day-to-day pleasures and challenges of working with all kinds of teachers (from zero experience to seasoned professionals) to strive for the small and big changes that make the teaching profession so important and worthwhile. He is a keen cyclist and student of Russian literature.