Meet Our Staff

Michelle Fitzjohn

Grad. Dip. TESOL

Michelle Fitzjohn has worked in the education sector for more than 40 years, in varying roles, but she discovered that ESOL English students teach her as much as she teaches them and that is what she loves most. She then decided to further her studies and gained a Certificate in Adult Teaching. She then completed a Grad. Dip. TESOL in 2007. She went on to work at Pathways College, University of Waikato and has been working at WIE since 2013. Michelle is currently a second language learner of French and says this has given her many insights into the difficulties facing her current students.

Mary Rose Lithgow

PgDip in Second Language Teaching, with Distinction, Bachelor of Teaching, Certificate of International TESOL, National Certificate of Adult Learning (NCALE), ATCL (Speech and Drama)

Mary Rose is an experienced ESL teacher, having taught students at all levels from beginner to advanced. She has had international experience teaching literacy in Singapore and English in China where she and her husband established an English learning centre in Guangzhou. She is also an examiner for Cambridge English examinations. Her love of teaching and the students she meets are her motivation.

Jade Tarry

TEFL certification

Jade is a dedicated ESL teacher who joined WIE in January 2024. Born and raised on the Coromandel in New Zealand, she brings both local insight and global experience to her role. She became a certified English teacher at the age of 19 and has since taught in various parts of the world. With a passion for helping others, Jade enjoys volunteering across a range of causes. She is also a third-generation bricklayer, a legacy passed down from her grandfather to her father and then to her at age 15. Some of her fondest memories are of long days working alongside them and ending the day with a shared chat. Jade values patience and connection in the classroom and enjoys the challenge of helping students understand new concepts. She looks forward to supporting learners on their English journey at WIE.

Margaret Bakker

BA Linguistics, PgDip SLT

After living and teaching English in Japan, Margaret decided to move back to New Zealand and obtain a Postgraduate Diploma in Second Language Teaching. In addition to English teaching, she has been involved in the development and delivery of WIE’s New Zealand Certificate of Language Teaching Levels 4 and 5. Margaret is friendly, approachable and dedicated to her students’ wellbeing and achievement. She has a passion for the ongoing development of materials and lessons that are not only stimulating, but of value to the overall language acquisition process.

Josie Zhou

MLitt in English Language Teaching, currently completing a PhD in Education.

Josie has extensive experience teaching English at both secondary and tertiary levels. Over the years, she has taught a range of courses, including NZCEL, English for Academic Purposes (EAP), IELTS preparation, and General English. She has worked with diverse student groups, supporting both language development and academic literacy skills.

Rowena McCoy

ESOL Teaching Certificate, Masters Degree in English Literature

Rowena has worked for Wie since 2015. She has taught students at all levels (from beginners to advanced) and enjoys connecting with students from all over the world. She completed her ESOL training at Wintec where she obtained an ESOL teaching certificate (Level 7). She also has a Masters Degree in English Literature and a BA with Honours in English Literature (Waikato University). Rowena worked as a Research Assistant at Waikato University and found working with academics enlightening and rewarding. This experience encouraged her to follow her passion to teach ESOL, a career she finds inspiring and motivating.

J.P. Jennings

NZCLT 5. PgDip in Second Language Teaching (Enrolled)CELTA

JP is a friendly person with a passion for learning languages. He speaks French and Spanish to a high level as well as some Japanese. He has spent 6 months teaching English in Spain and has been at WIE for one year. Living in Spain lets JP understand first-hand what it’s like to live in a different country and helps him relate to students from a range of different cultural backgrounds. Having done a degree in Linguistics and Spanish, as well as the NZCLT level 5, JP has a high level of understanding of the English language and student needs. JP is currently working towards his Postgraduate Certificate in Applied linguistics with the intention to purse a Masters. JP is committed to creating a fun and interesting learning environment to help students achieve their goals.

Christa Row

NBA in Linguistics

Christa became interested in languages at a young age. She studied Japanese and Spanish at high school and graduated from the University of Waikato with a degree in linguistics. She is currently studying Italian and Croatian and looking into the science of second language acquisition.