Trainer of the month
for June, 2006 is Ted Tucker at our Bangkok Academy.
A former Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana, Africa (1989-1991), Ted has
been
teaching EFL since 1992 in Saudi Arabia, Korea, and Taiwan – as well as
Thailand.
His teacher training experience includes teaching courses in Korea and
Thailand –
and he brings all that experience to his TEFL classroom here at
TEXT-AND-TALK.
Ted graduated from the University of Arizona (he’s from Tucson) with
both Bachelor’s
and Master’s degrees in education, and later studied for and gained an
MBA and a
PGCE in TEFL.
He is clearly a fan of continuing to improve yourself throughout
your life. A real believer in TEFL, Ted says, "A
career in TEFL has
changed my life: a 500%
improvement! My life back home was fine, but the ability to see the
world and
actually earn a decent living at the same time, cannot be equaled by
any other
occupation. That’s why you see people from 20 to 65 and up, with
advanced
educations – and no advanced education at all - in our classrooms. I
started in
TEFL in 1992 – but I wish I had started 15 years earlier!”
Before entering the TEFL world, Ted worked as a social worker for many
years, and
also dabbled in the business and investment worlds. While in the Peace
Corps in
Francistown, Botswana, he managed a textile manufacturing company that
was owned
by a women’s cooperative. It was his charge in the volunteer role to
increase the
company’s profits, buy land and build a new factory – all of which was
accomplished within his two years there.
Ted says it was his Peace Corps
experience that led him to TEFL, with a strong desire to see and
experience as much
of the world as possible. Ted comes to TEXT-AND-TALK for a second time,
after he initially opened our new training academy
in Phuket in 2002. Most of his graduates are still around, too, and
earning good incomes!
