Teacher Profile: Dr Gianfranco Conti

Year(s) and Subject(s) Taught French, Spanish (Years 5 to 13).

How long have you been teaching? 20 years.

What do you do in your free time? Body-building, Tennis; Blogging, Book-writing.

Why did you become a teacher? Why did you choose teaching as a profession? I love the feeling of making an impact on younger people and of contributing to their growth when I was tutoring children during my university years and people told me I was good at it.

Tell us about your own education journey. I studied at Hull university, then I pursued a Master’s and a PhD in Applied Linguistics at Reading and Oxford Universities.

What is the most memorable moment in your teaching career so far? The day I was awarded the TES (Times Educational Supplement) award for Best Contributor.

What do you like most about teaching? The feeling that I am contributing to my students’ development, arousing their interests and curiosity, hopefully teaching them skills that will help them to be successful, self-reliant human beings.

What is the best thing about teaching at your school? The children are highly motivated and keen to learn and there is a lot of emphasis on professional development.

Who or what inspires you? One quote inspires me: ‘Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant”. I always keep it in mind when I plan and when I teach to remind myself that every single thing we do in and outside the classroom - from a simple smile or gesture of kindness to an elaborate explanation – matters and that we have to be patient and resilient, for the results of our work will not show up immediately or even in the near future.