Introducing the New Director of Studies, Graham Braddick
By I’mACE Team
I’mACE Magazine recently had the opportunity to sit down with Graham Braddick, the new Director of Studies at the Australian Centre for Education (ACE), an English school that has been operating in Cambodia since 1992. Read the following interview to learn more about Graham’s background and impressions so far.
Could you give us some background information about yourself?
I am from the UK and have been working in Asia since I was 22, accumulating over 34 years of experience in ELT and international language education. My wife is Thai, and we have been married for 25 years. Since I graduated from university, all of my professional experience has been in ELT and international education. I first came to Asia in 1985 to work in Beijing as a university lecturer. Since then, I have worked in Indonesia, Italy, the UK and Thailand. I have held senior academic and management roles in Thailand and Malaysia. Moreover, I worked across all ten ASEAN countries when I was with Macmillan Education. Prior to coming to Cambodia, I was working for IDP as the Director of English in Bangkok, Thailand.
Where does your passion in education lie?
My passion really lies in working closely with teachers to ensure that they have the highest quality of professional support, training and resources to enable them to deliver excellence both inside and outside the classroom, in support of students’ learning and development. Although I have had a number of senior academic and management roles, it has always been working with teachers that most fulfils me. I think teachers really set the tone in terms of quality.
What are your first impressions of ACE?
So far, I have been very impressed by the people here at ACE, not only the teachers, but everyone across the entire operation. The professionalism, breadth and depth of experience, enthusiasm and commitment that I have seen overall have left a strong impression on me. Everybody is really passionate about what they are doing, and there is widespread use of technology both inside and outside the classroom. It feels really good to be back in a school environment.
ACE’s reputation for quality in education in Cambodia and increasingly internationally is already well established, but I think it is going to the next level now. There is a growing awareness of ACE’s international standing in the UK, Europe and Australia.
What advice do you have for students at ACE?
My advice is to always be curious. I understand that Cambodia does not have a reading culture, but if students can get hooked on reading at a young age, that helps them enormously.
What are your plans for academic expansion at ACE?
The first two to three weeks has been about trying to talk to as many people as possible and getting as many points of view as I can, so that I can develop a clear understanding of our students’ academic needs and the resources and training needs of our teachers. I am focusing on the quality of teaching and learning, professional development, and testing and assessment. There is already a lot in place here, but it is now about finding out what we have and determining how we can take the learning experience to the next level. There is already a wide use of technology in the classroom, but there is also a need to look at how we can make more use of digital materials and online learning platforms. This is another area I will be looking at closely so that we can increase the amount of exposure ACE students have to English. Our students will continue to have face-to-face learning in the classroom with their teachers, but they will also be able to extend their study with online resources and materials, either on their own or with guidance from their teachers, who will set, monitor and provide feedback on learning tasks. I am really looking forward to the challenges and to working with the talented and experienced teams across the ACE campuses to ensure that our students receive the very best English language education in Cambodia. Ultimately, this will enable them to achieve their goals and realise their dreams.
We would like to thank Graham Braddick for taking the time to speak with us.