Qualifications and experience
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Qualifications and experience | Educational philosophy
Rose Senior has a MA in Modern Languages from St Andrews University, a PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) from the University of London Institute of Education, a DELTA (Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults), and an award-winning PhD from Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia.
Rose's language teaching career spans more than 35 years. She began her career in Colombia, South America, as a Voluntary Service Overseas volunteer. After gaining her teaching qualification and teaching Spanish and French in a range of secondary schools in London, Rose and her family emigrated to Perth, Western Australia, in 1981. After teaching in the Adult Migrant English Program for several years Rose joined Curtin University of Technology to teach on English language intensive courses for overseas students (ELICOS courses).
Rose has recently retired from Curtin University where she spent 20 years not only developing and teaching a variety of language courses but also studying, writing, running professional development programs and presenting at both local and international conferences. She is now a senior honorary research fellow in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Western Australia.
Becoming an academic marked a turning-point in Rose's career, enabling her to develop her potential as a researcher and writer. Rose discovered a passion for classroom-based research and became a committed qualitative researcher (see grounded theory page). Twelve years of research into the classroom behaviour of experienced language teachers enabled Rose to develop theory from practice. Her socio-pedagogic theory of classroom practice, with its accompanying term 'class-centred teaching', provides a basis for understanding why certain language teachers are far more successful than others.
The last 30 years have witnessed the establishment of English as a global language and the rise in popularity of communicative language teaching (CLT). Rose's teaching and research activities have enabled her to develop a deep understanding of many of the key issues relating to classroom language teaching. She shares this understanding not only in her writing but also in her presentations, seminars and workshops (see professional development activities page).