The Motivated Classroom

About US

About

DR. Liam printer

My name is Dr. Liam Printer and I host The Motivated Classroom podcast. I am a passionate language teacher, lecturer, educational consultant, workshop leader, instructional coach and author with over 18 years teaching experience. I speak English, Irish, French, Spanish, Portuguese and German… but none of them perfectly! I currently work as a Spanish and English teacher and at The International School of Lausanne in Switzerland where I am also an instructional coach, working with teachers to develop their practice using evidence informed approaches. Prior to this, I was the ‘Approaches to Learning Coordinator’ and ‘Leader of Pedagogical Innovation’ at the school. I also lecture on the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) delivered at The Ecolint Institute of Education in Geneva in conjunction with The University of Durham.

I completed my Doctorate in Education (Ed.D) through the University of Bath with my doctoral research focusing on the motivational impact of teaching languages through storytelling for both teachers and students, specifically relating to the Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS) approach. Click here to read more about my research and publications or go to my ResearchGate profile. My first book, “The Motivated Language Classroom: Learning from the experts”, with Oxford Hachette publishing is due to be published in 2025.

I have been invited as the Keynote speaker at a number of international teaching conferences. areound the world and I deliver consultancy and training to schools, organisations and individuals across a wide range of areas in education including motivation, active learning strategies, comprehensible input approaches to language teaching and many others. Click here for full details.

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The Journey

Over the past 18 years I have designed, developed and delivered language courses in France, Ireland, Spain, New Zealand, Switzerland and Canada. In 2009 I set up The Learning Curve Institute with my business partner and was both Managing Director and Head of Languages at the Institute from 2009 until 2013.

teach english

I have been invited as the 'Keynote Speaker' at:

  • Language Teachers Queensland (LTQ) Annual Conference, Australia; 2024.
  • The Dynamic Learning Conference, Ermelo, The Netherlands; 2023.
  • The Agen Language Teaching Conference, France; 2023
  • Adelaide Language Teachers Annual Conference, Australia; 2023.
  • Language World 2023: The Association of Language Learning National Conference, UK; 2023
  • The Goethe-Institut ‘German Teacher’s Day‘, London, UK; 2021. 
  • The Association of Spanish Teachers of Ireland national conference, Dublin, Ireland; 2019.
be my guest

I have also been invited as a guest speaker and trainer to deliver presentations and lead sessions at the following conferences: 

  • Junior Cycle Teachers of MFL Conference, Ireland.
  • The Dynamic Learning Conference, Ermelo, The Netherlands 
  • Comprehended!, International Language Teaching conference, online 
  • TPRS Europe conference, Agen, France. 
  • Linguascope online language webinars, Online. 
  • ECIS Multilingual Learning in International Education, London, The UK. 
  • The Alliance for International Education conference, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 
  • Edufest international festival of education, Le Rosey, Switzerland. 
  • FEILTE Irish Teaching Council Conference, Dublin, Ireland.
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Some of the schools I have worked with:

  • Alfred Deakin High School, Australia.
  • Panyaden International School, Thailand.
  • Potencia tus clases, Spain. 
  • Syndey District Public Schools, Australia.
  • Copenhagen International School, Denmark. 
  • Difusión Publishing, Spain. 
  • ​The International School of Brussels, Belgium.​
  • The Lapeenranta municipality language teachers, Finland. 
  • The International School of Geneva, Switzerland. 
  • American International School of Guangzhou, China. 
  • The International School of Luxembourg, Luxembourg. 
  • The International School of Lausanne, Switzerland. 
  • Leysin American School, Leysin, Switzerland. 

The other

I am also a fully certified Snowsports Instructor with the highest level international qualifications (ISIA, NZSIA Level 3). I have taught snowsports through French, Spanish and English as an instructor in Switzerland, Canada and New Zealand. In 2010 I also became the Irish National Snowboard Champion after winning 2 gold medals at the Irish National Ski and Snowboard Championships in the French Alps.

Click here for an article by Basketball Ireland in June 2018 about the amazing story behind this team and the incredible successes we have had in its first 3 years.
Additionally, I am a passionate basketball coach and have been the coach of the Varsity Basketball team in The International School of Lausanne since 2015 when we started a brand new Girls Team. Read more about my basketball coaching experience here.
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liam with trophy
snow surfer
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A practical guide to Teaching with compelling, comprehensible inputs

With Dr. Liam Printer

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