Thomas has been a teacher of English Literature and Language, English Language Acquisition, and History for over a decade. His international experience includes working with the IB curriculum, the English National curriculum, Advanced Placement, ACT, IELTS and TOEFL. He has held leadership positions such as IB Diploma Coordinator, EAL Coordinator and Head of Modern Languages, as well as taking on many other administrative duties supporting the senior leadership team. His pedagogical ethos is that students should be encouraged to take ownership of their work wherever possible, and to try to make their studies relevant to their lives.
An adopted son of Chengdu, Thomas first visited the city in 2008 with the intention of staying for a single year teaching English before returning to his native Yorkshire. Presently, Thomas finds himself still in Chengdu, married to a local woman, raising a small son, and paying off a mortgage. Having worked as a teacher in other cities in China and back in Europe, Thomas has no regrets about settling down in Sichuan; it is the place he wants to be most, with its relaxed culture and spicy food.
Thomas’s passions are film, music and food, but he occasionally finds time to go cycling and hiking in the mountains around Chengdu and beyond too. He is also a creative writer and harbours some vague notion that one of his short stories could eventually blossom into a commercially successful novel. Apart from that he enjoys hanging out with family and friends.