Otancia

MFA Creative Writing, BA English Literature and Mass Communication, Level 3 ILM Coaching, Level 3 Award in Education and Training, Level 3 RQF Support Teaching, Cambridge CELTA, IELTS Academic, Community Information Technician Certification

I am a humble and dedicated teacher/ tutor from Trinidad and Tobago with twenty-three years of teaching experience. I have a BA in English Literature and Mass Communication my Major in both English Literature and Mass Communication. I also finished an MFA in Fine Arts Creative Writing Prose Fiction. I have qualified with Cambridge CELTA UK, Level 3 Award Education and Training and Levelb3 in Coaching ILM UK. I have also been long listed in 2019 and 2020 for the Johnson and Amoy Achong Caribbean Writers Prize in writing for fiction and non-fiction respectively and I have won the UK Island Voices Short Story Prize 2022. I enjoy gardening, cooking, writing/correspondence, reading and research; presently working on my novel. At present, I teach at Arima Boys Government Primary School in Trinidad. I have worked with charity organisations in my home country such as Arima Football Association and also with oversees charity namely People and Places UK in Morocco, as well as Open Doors and Ministry of Education in Chile and I also have my own tutoring service. I tutor in all subjects at the primary level and at the secondary level in English, English Literature, Writing and assist with research projects, as well as I tutor in English as a second language. I also do research, coursework and thesis help. I have worked with students with low self-esteem and behavioural problems using meditative/holistic techniques such as meditative corners, music, song and dance, connecting with nature and creative writing using the theme of self-actualization where I use ‘I am’ poems, life writing, journals and other forms of writing to assist in academic and overall self-awareness program. My career goals are to teach, educate and inspire; to learn and to affect positive change in myself and others as well as to provide a foundation for lifelong learning. My philosophy of teaching has involved from my own experience of being taught and from my experience of teaching and this is simple “Teach the person or individual and not the curriculum (unknown author).” This means that regardless of the academic idea or curriculum, the first principle of teaching anyone is to care, to use your heart and the holistic aspect of self. This is to embody: body, mind and soul and go beyond; to make a human and humane connection and to impart and to gain knowledge from whomever that you are teaching. To accomplish this, I have tried to apply in my teaching a variety of strategies based on essential educational principles, such as cognitive functioning, learning theory, diversity issues, instructional planning and assessment, as well as encompassing the idea that each person is an individual and that I myself will also be a learner. Thanking you for your consideration in advance.