So… my name’s Anneke!
I live in Devon, in the South-West of England, and I’ve spent most of my life between languages and disciplines. German and English. Philosophy and education. Research and the classroom. That in-between space is where I feel most at home. My students are living a version of the same thing, at an earlier stage. They’re just at a point where the crossing between languages can still feel uncomfortable. Most of what I do is make that middle stretch shorter and less lonely than it would otherwise be.
How I teach
I listen first and teach second. That sounds like a slogan, but in practice, it means the first few lessons are mostly diagnostic: I want to know what you’ve already tried, what bored you, and where the explanation stopped making sense. Most learners arrive having been taught by someone competent. The gap is usually not knowledge but fit.
After that it depends. Some people need immersive conversation and very little grammar. Others want the rules laid out properly before they’ll risk a sentence out loud. Exam candidates need something different again: a clear read of the mark scheme and a plan that fits the weeks remaining. What stays constant is the pace: you work through ideas at your own speed, and I don’t move on because a syllabus says I should.
Lessons are online, one-to-one, and built around Zoom, interactive whiteboards and a shared Google document. So, everything we work on stays yours afterwards, and nothing lives only on my side of the screen. Sessions run 50 minutes. I teach across CET and CEST, which means learners in European countries can book at a sensible hour.
My Background
- PhD in Education, University of Exeter
- Postgraduate Certificate of Secondary Education, University of Exeter
- Master of Arts in Philosophy and Religious Studies (Distinction), University of Chester
- Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Humanities with Philosophy (First), The Open University
- Member of The Tutors’ Association
- Enhanced DBS certified
- Proofreading I (Introduction), Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading
- Proofreading II (Headway), Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading
- Copy-editing I (Introduction), Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading
Alongside the teaching
I also write about education and learning technology – features, essays and commentary for The Guardian, Teach Secondary and getAbstract, among others. It’s a useful counterweight to the lessons: writing about how learning works is a good way of keeping the research close to the teaching. There’s a selection of it here if you’d like to read some examples.
Still deciding?
That’s reasonable. A discovery call is 30 minutes and costs nothing — we talk about what you’re aiming for, try a few things out, and you get a feel for how I teach before committing to anything. Most people know by the end whether it’s a fit.
