On every school faculty, there is the ‘fun’ teacher who is beloved by students and fellow colleagues alike. In our school, that person is Mr. Steve Imrie. We are proud to introduce him to you in this blog so you can catch a glimpse into why his colorful and energetic personality is admired by all who know him.
Hailing from Scotland, UK, Mr. Steve came to teaching a rather round-about way. He initially studied at Edinburgh Napier University, graduating with a 2:1 in Business Information Management in 2002. He became a Senior Training Manager and worked in that role for many years until he noticed that his favorite part of the job was being in the classroom rather than completing KPI’s and his administrative work.
His friend suggested he train as a TELF teacher and so he did. He began his teaching career with a year teaching business English to adults in Spain and then a year in Greece teaching children and young adults to pass Cambridge exams. That led him to China where he soon became a Centre Manager, then Senior Centre Manager looking after 2-3 centers in GZ. He loved his time in China but Hong Kong came calling and so he moved here and found ME Education.
Mr. Steve joined us at ME Education in 2017. He recalls that he was very impressed with the standard of KC2 during his interview. “It was smart, professional looking, and had a nice environment. The managers were very welcoming too.”
In his role at ME Education, Mr. Steve teaches English, Business English, occasionally History, IELTS, Exam Prep, Interview Skills and Writing. He is also training to be a counsellor to further help his students and their parents with their worries in and out of the classroom.
We asked him why he loves teaching English so much. “I’ve always enjoyed English and writing. I write for a variety of blogs and magazines and knowing how much students struggle over writing in English in school, I like to help as much as I can to engage kids with their ideas and get them on paper. I also love working with adults and teaching business English lets me share my business experience with them. I can help them to improve the standard of their business conversations, emails and presentations and that’s a real thrill for me.”
Mr. Steve describes his teaching style as ‘laidback, positive, and enthusiastic about learning.’ He likes his students to be engaged and to try their best to better themselves. He doesn’t enjoy laziness and will never do the work for students. He guides, explains and assists, but in the end the learning needs to come from the students themselves. Mr. Steve is a firm believer in the idea that if you work hard, you should be allowed to play hard. If students have done all their tasks, he is happy to have a break, relax, build a good student-teacher relationship and see if he can beat them at a game of Uno. With a laugh, he admits he cannot beat them. His fellow teachers describe his style as very collaborative and warm hearted and his students have an enjoyable, respectful and pleasant time in class. He likes his students to work with him in making essay plans, reading together, finding opinions and discussing questions and topics, before the student starts the hard work of writing or reading about a topic.
Mr. Steve has great hopes for his students and wants to be a small part in helping them to improve themselves. He believes in small steps to greatness - working hard and consistent effort will lead to success. He believes following these tenets will help his students to be happy and successful.
We always like to ask our teachers for their tips and tricks when it comes to exam preparation. Mr. Steve shares his wisdom with us.
“Always read the question. Make sure you answer the ACTUAL question. Not what you think the question is. A tip for writing in an examination, you will always have 5-10 minutes to plan your essay. Use this time because it will help a great deal.”
When he is not working with his students at ME Education, Mr. Steve boasts many other talents. He is an actor and a singer and has played many parts in plays and choirs all over the U.K., China and Hong Kong. He has even formed his own choir in Hong Kong.
Singing runs in Mr. Steve’s blood. His father and brothers share the same talent and his aunt actually released an album in the 80’s.
Teachers who love teaching, create students who love learning. Mr. Steven Imrie is a perfect example of what passion and hard work can achieve and his students learn so much from being around him.
If you want to meet Mr. Steve or you wish to enroll in adult English lessons, please reach out to us via our website.
ME Education Student Testimonials :
I am studying Singapore International School now. The supervisor of ME, Mandy and her consultant team recommend me to change to SIS because of a better learning environment, I am happy that I have changed to a school that suits me so much. I am still having lessons now in Kowloon City Centre with Steve, thank you for his help all the way and I respect him so much.
— Chandler Zhao, Year 6 , SIS
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