Toronto CELTA Teacher Trainers

Simon Leclerc

Simon has been head of teacher training since 2008

Simon Leclerc has been involved in the education field, both research and training, since 1997. His initial work experiences with education were through research projects at Wilfrid Laurier University where he conducted counseling groups for high-risk students. This led to his work in researching the influences of residential mobility on academic success and socialization. After some travel around Canada, Simon completed his CELTA certification at EC Toronto in 2000 where he took on ESL teaching duties at EC until 2003. At that point, he decided to pursue a Bachelor of Education for K-grade 6 and spent some time in the public sector. Having added to his experience, Simon came back to ESL instruction at EC and also developed curriculum. Two projects of note were a young learners summer program for ages 5 to 16 (for those from disadvantaged regions of Mexico) and redevelopment of a teacher training course for non-native speakers and TKT preparation.

Looking for new challenges, Simon moved to London, England to complete his DELTA in 2007 at Oxford House College. He also continued to further his teaching experience by focusing on IELTS and Cambridge test preparation courses, as well as working as an IELTS examiner. Upon returning to Canada, he was hired as the CELTA Administrator for EC Toronto and trained up as a CELTA course tutor and then a CELTA course assessor. He really enjoys watching the transformation that CELTA trainees go through over the month of the course. Simon views the CELTA as a perfect marriage of his educational research findings and practical classroom application. In his free time, Simon enjoys going to concerts, collecting music, playing tennis, jogging, traveling and meeting up at the pub for conversation and a pint.

David Nield

David has been teacher training for over 20 years

David has worked as an ESL teacher all over the world, principally in Morocco, Italy, Poland, Portugal, England, and Canada. He has been teacher training for over 20 years mainly on CELTA courses, but also at university, on TESL courses, and with school leavers’ work experience programs.

David has done most roles in ESL from teaching to training to managing teachers and trainers and running schools and summer camps, as well as examining for Cambridge University.

One thing that has not changed is his love of the classroom and what can be experienced and discovered there, both by the learner and teacher themselves.

He emigrated to Toronto in 2009 to start a family with his Canadian wife and has since become a father to two children. He spends what spare time he has with his family, on the BBC website, or doing his movement practice. He enjoys cycling to school, brunch at the weekend, and learning how to bring kids up.

Hayley Goodwin

Hayley completed her DELTA in 2014

Hayley has been in the ESL industry since 2008 when she decided to head to Korea, seeing it as an opportunity to explore the world before settling down. As it turned out, she fell in love with teaching ESL and pursued her CELTA at IH Prague in 2009. She headed back to Korea before finally returning to her hometown of Toronto. In Toronto, she taught General English, EAP and Cambridge test preparation for three years at a private language school. Regardless of the course content, Hayley strove to make her lessons engaging and dynamic for the students.

In 2014, Hayley wanted to challenge herself professionally and decided to do the DELTA at EC Toronto. Her success on the DELTA opened up doors in both curriculum development and teacher training. In teaching and training, Hayley loves helping people to develop themselves; she finds the personal and professional transformation that takes place in the classroom to be inspiring. In 2015, Hayley joined the CELTA department at EC Toronto.
When not in the classroom, Hayley can be found outdoors, playing softball and tennis, or in the kitchen, testing out new recipes.

Patrick Huang

Patrick has been a CELTA trainer since 2007

Patrick's career in ESL is fast approaching 15 years. He has always been interested in languages and linguistics, even as he studied sciences, modern languages (BA, University of Toronto) and music (MMus, Royal Academy of Music, London). Since he finished his CELTA course at EC Toronto, Patrick has taught a wide range of classes, including 1-to-1, TOEFL, IELTS, Cambridge CAE, business and general English classes. Besides teaching, Patrick has also been an examiner for IELTS, as well as FCE and CAE oral examinations. He also enjoys leading professional development workshops and seminars. Beyond the qualification itself, the CELTA course also gave Patrick a goal and ambition – to become a CELTA trainer.

To fulfill that goal, he completed the DELTA at International House, London, and received his CELTA tutor training back at EC Toronto after that. He has been a CELTA trainer since 2007. With Toronto as his home base, Patrick has taught and trained in the UK and the United Arab Emirates. Among the most enjoyable aspects of his job is the chance to meet people from very diverse backgrounds. Being able to give them skills that will help them in their ESL career is also very gratifying, especially when they make significant and tangible progress in a short period of time. In his spare time Patrick continues to pursue performing opportunities as a classically trained tenor.

Tom Nittoly

Tom has been teaching ESL since 2006

Tom got into teaching after finishing his undergrad in English Literature and Theatre Studies. He began his ESL teaching career in 2006, teaching various levels of general English (beginner to advanced). He very much enjoyed meeting people and learning about their various cultures and interests and this remains his favorite aspect of the industry.

After several years of teaching general English, he branched out and began teaching specialty classes, including business English and exam preparation courses (Cambridge, IELTS). The new challenge these classes offered were very enjoyable and it was an especially rewarding experience to help a class work towards a common goal.

After having such a positive experience working in the industry, he decided the next step would be to become a CELTA trainer so he could help others get involved in ESL teaching. He received his DELTA certification and now splits his time between teaching ESL and training CELTA candidates, enjoying the new opportunities to meet new people and help them along their career paths.