Our Staff

Jenny DOWLING

MA, (Language Teaching), MPH, CELTA

I’m the Academic Manager of all the programmes at the ELA, University of Auckland. My job is to co-ordinate all the programmes that we teach in our Academy. I work closely with the programme managers, teachers and students so that our school is the best in New Zealand. I love meeting people from all around the world and helping people reach their goals, especially at the University of Auckland.

Jennifer WRIGHT

M.Sc., TESL Cert., B.A. (Honours)

I am responsible for the Academic English programme. My role is to ensure that we provide our students with the best quality Academic English programme and with the highest quality instructors. I welcome feedback from both students and instructors to ensure that we deliver the best teaching and learning experience.

Rachel COLLIER

BA, CELTA, PGDip SLTA

I am the Manager of Global English Plus. I enjoy meeting students from all around the world and helping them with their programme of study. It is great to see students progressing, with the help of our highly trained teachers, and then achieving their goals. I look forward to meeting you.

Kirsten MCDONALD

DELTA, CELTA Teacher Trainer, LLB, B. Soc. Sci.

Hi, I'm Kirsten and I'm the Business Development Manager. My background is in teaching and teacher training, having taught students and trained teachers around the world since 1996. I am now involved with designing and promoting the best programmes for our students and look forward to meeting with you.

Kathryn DELANEY

B.A., B. Ed. DELTA, CELTA Teacher Trainer

I am a teacher in the Academic, Global English Plus and CELTA Programmes. I am also Manager of Teacher Training and Professional Development. I enjoy being in the classroom and teaching students of all levels and from many different countries. The teacher-training courses at ELA are also rewarding, as it is great to see people realise their potential as teachers in just 10 weeks.

Toby BLAKEY

PGDip Educational Management, DELTA, BA (Hons) Media Studies with French

I help ensure the quality and smooth running of the General English courses and I also teach on the EAP and TESOL courses. I’ve studied languages myself and taught English for over 10 years. Lived in France, Canada and Taiwan and am more than happy to now call New Zealand home.

Maren BEHREND

MA; DELTA and CTEFLA; Cambridge CELTA and CELTYL Teacher Trainer

I teach Academic Modules, Global English Plus, IELTS, Business, Writing and Teacher Training. I've tried learning other languages and know how hard and frustrating it can be. I admire people who make the effort to come to New Zealand to improve their English and enjoy both being able to help them and learning from them in the process.

Steele BURROW

Ph.D. (Languages & Literature), M.A., TESL Cert., B.A. (Honours)

I’ve been teaching academic and general English at ELA for the past 10 years and I also teach in the School of European Languages & Literature at the University of Auckland. I look forward to working with you to improve your English language skills.

Maria TREADWAY

BA, DELTA

I am a teacher at the ELA, working in Academic, Global English Plus and Teacher training programmes. Learning a language is often a challenging, yet empowering experience for a student. As a teacher, I get to help people achieve their goals, which is a hugely rewarding for me too. I look forward to working with you.

Leslie ROBERTSON

B.A., Dip. TEFLA.

I am a teacher at the ELA, in both the Academic and Global English Plus programmes. I particularly enjoy seeing the improvement in students’ speaking and writing in the time they spend with us and hearing how they put their new language skills to use outside the classroom.

Charlie HADFIELD

BA (Hons), PGCE, Maitrise de Lettres, MA (Educ)

I teach both the Academic and Global English Plus programmes. Teaching is a very rewarding occupation, as I see students from all over the world fulfilling their potential and meeting people from lots of other countries, and so helping international understanding.

Nicole STOUPE

M.A., B.A., CELTA

I’ve been teaching English for ten years and especially like sharing ideas through writing about current issues. I enjoy teaching the wide range of nationalities that we have at the ELA, where each day in the classroom is different.

Manju BHASKAR

M.A, PG Dip LT, Trinity Cert TESOL

I teach Academic English, FCertEAP, PGDEP courses as well as TESOL (TKT) and Global English Plus programmes. Having experienced learning English and other languages, I can relate well to the difficulties that students face and help you with effective strategies to become confident users of English.

Ming PHOON

BMus(Hons), Trinity TESOL

I co-ordinate the computer labs at ELA and teach in the Global English Plus programme. I aim to ensure that you have a wide range of applications, websites and resources at ELA’s study centre which you can use to enhance your language study while at ELA.I enjoy discovering new ways to use technology in teaching and learning English. I hope you can benefit from these in the classroom and the study centre.

Joanne Ninkie

I have been working at the English Language Academy for two years. I am the Groups Coordinator and I also take care of orientation for students. Previous to that I worked in South Korea for 5 years in various roles in English education. I am looking forward to meeting you and helping you settle into your life here at the ELA and in Auckland.