Karen is a “Native Speaker” English teacher and Teacher Trainer from San Diego, California (USA). She has been living in Austria and teaching English to children since 1998. Prior to Storytime, she worked extensively with primary and secondary schools in Lower Austria as a 'Native Speaker' teacher where her experience in 'team teaching' was highly regarded. Since the start of Storytime, she has conducted numerous story/project weeks with primary schools in the region and overseen the English programmes in 18 Kindergarten groups each week. Additionally, Karen has designed and led Teacher Training workshops for the University of Education in Lower Austria, as well as the Lower Austrian Ministry of Education (Kindergarten sector).
Karen holds a Master of Science in
Teaching English to Young Learners, with Distinction
from
Aston University (UK). Her
dissertation 'Stories in Syllabus Design' earned her the Collins Prize
in TESOL for 'Best Dissertation'. Karen's
main research interests include: young learner motivation, Content and
Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), and Drama techniques in the language
classroom.
From 2005-2007 Karen was an active committee member and Events Coordinator
of the IATEFL YL SIG
(International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language
– Young Learner Special Interest Group). Through her work with IATEFL,
as well as her international contacts, Karen has been able to expand her
knowledge of English as a global language and maintain a high level of
international teaching standards.
Karen enjoys using a variety of techniques and
innovative approaches in her lessons
that complement the learning styles and multiple intelligences of individual
learners.