Meet Our Teachers

The experienced, qualified educators you'll learn with

Every Choc Education class is led by an experienced, professionally qualified teacher. Between them, our teachers have decades of classroom experience across the UK, Europe, Asia and beyond — and they share one conviction: English should be meaningful, memorable, and genuinely enjoyable to learn.

Matthew Bakewell

Matthew Bakewell

Principal, Education Lead

BA English, Royal Holloway, University of London · 30+ years of teaching

Matt has taught English to students from every continent, helping many to maximise their SAT scores for entry to top American and English universities. His classes are designed to make the learning stick in the memory, utilising competitive games, dramatic role-play and surprising anecdotes.

His lessons are structured to connect new knowledge to embedded knowledge and give plenty of time to deliberate practice and immediate remedial feedback. Matt holds an English degree from Royal Holloway, the University of London, and has been teaching English for over 30 years.

Fun fact · For a time, Matt was Head of English at the school the King of the UK, Charles III, attended.

Kevin O’Brien

Kevin O’Brien

Senior Educator, School Leadership Advisor

BTh, Sydney University · Grad Dip Ed, Murdoch University · 20+ years in school education

Kevin has gravitated with a passion toward leadership and teaching situations from a young age, whether it be in learning, business or on the sports field. A strong spiritual search culminated in him achieving a Bachelor of Theology from Sydney University through the Churches of Christ Theological College of NSW, along with a four-year Diploma in Ministry. This further led Kevin to direct his focus toward primary and secondary school teaching by achieving a Graduate Diploma in Education from Murdoch University in Perth, WA.

Kevin has over two decades of experience in school education, having worked across regional and city schools and colleges, in both the government and private sectors. His experience extends to educational organisation, administration and management, with promotions to Head of Department, Deputy and Acting Principal positions, along with many registrations and professional development certifications.

Kevin believes education starts with a purpose. Once the ‘why’ is clear, most other obstacles are overcome. This is the significant difference between child and adult education: adults will take on learning programs that they have a purpose for, whereas children are generally stuck in a ‘purposeless’ traditional school system that requires a great teacher — through instructional relationships and exceptional programming — to help young minds find their purpose. In any context, the best teachers clearly build a bridge between learning and purpose for outstanding results and outcomes. “If I can show you ‘why,’ then I can teach you ‘how.’”

Fun fact · Outside the classroom, Kevin has a soft spot for biscuits and chips. If there are biscuits lying around, they won’t last long!

Phil Hawes

Phil Hawes

Educator

CELTA-qualified · 18+ years of international teaching

Phil is a CELTA-qualified English teacher from London with over 18 years of international teaching experience. After teaching in the UK and across Europe, he has been teaching in Taiwan since 2017, helping students of all ages build confidence in English. Throughout his career, he has worked with learners ranging from children to adults and has extensive experience preparing students for IELTS, TOEIC and Cambridge English Qualifications.

Having studied multiple languages himself, Phil understands the challenges students face and believes that students make the greatest progress when they are surrounded by language they can understand and use in meaningful, real-life situations. His lessons immerse students in authentic communication through games, role-play and purposeful speaking activities, providing plenty of understandable language, regular practice and immediate feedback to help students retain new language and use it confidently in real-life situations.

Fun fact · Before becoming a private pilot in Belgium, Phil had to take an English exam — to prove he could speak English.

Join Us

We're building Choc Education for the long term — and that means investing in the people who make it happen. We back our teachers and staff with training, mentorship, and room to grow, and we treat everyone in our community with respect, whatever their role. If you're an educator, or want to be part of what we're building, we'd love to hear from you.

Get in touch