Featured Teacher
KATE JONES LOVES TO TEACH
BY LEISA GRACE WILSON
K
ate was born and grew up
in North Wales in a small
village, she attended the
local Primary and Secondary
schools and learned to speak Welsh
as a Second Language. Kate decided
to remain in Wales to study History
at a University in Aberystwyth. She
thought she would live in Wales for
her entire life but in her early twenties
she started traveling and realised she
would like to see more of the world.
Now Kate lives in Al Ain in Abu Dhabi,
which has become her home away
from home.
Kate Jones, was nominated as a Middle
East Education Influencer at the Middle
East School Leadership Conference
2018 ( #MESLC ) and for very good
reasons, she is an education blogger,
speaker and a keen advocate for the
use of social media for Continuing
Professional Development. She has
now added author to her growing list
of accolades, with the publication of
her first book with John Catt Edu.
This book is very aptly named after her
popular blog (https://lovetoteach87.
com), Love To Teach: Research and
Resources for every classroom. This
is an exciting book that combines
the latest educational research with
examples of what this can look like in
the classroom. Filled with research-
informed ideas to support all teachers
and leaders in both Primary and
Secondary schools, this book is a must
read for all educators. In this feature
we talk with Kate about her book, her
blog and her work as an educator who
truly loves to teach.
Why did you become an
educator?
I wanted a career that had a link
and connection to History, as I had
thoroughly enjoyed studying history
in school and University. I had also
gained some experience working
with schools, I really enjoyed this
experience. It seemed a natural
decision to combine my love for
the subject and my enthusiasm for
working with young people in a school
environment.
What or who inspires you
most?
My family, especially my parents. They
inspire me with the qualities they
possess - always kind, generous and
caring. I try to show those qualities
in everything I do. The pupils I work
with have inspired me to find out more
about education and to create original
resources that I use in my classroom
and then share with other teachers
around the world for them to use with
their learners too - seeing a teacher in
a different school or country using one
of my resources inspires me to keep
sharing and inspired me to write an
educational book!
Why did you start blogging
and why are you involved with
Edu twitter?
Back in Wales in 2015 my Deputy
Headteacher at the time, Paul Williams,
encouraged all of the staff at my
school to use Twitter for professional
development. I was very skeptical at
first but then quickly embraced this
huge and wonderful global network of
educators. It was through Twitter that
I discovered teachers were blogging
about education - I had no idea there
were educational blogs online and so
many of such a high quality! I haven’t
blogged as much in 2018 but now that
my book is published I will have more