Featured Teacher
Mike Lambert Helps 6th Form Students
to Break Boundaries
Mr Mike Lambert, Head of Sixth Form at Dubai College.
M
ike Lambert is thorough and
inventive in his approach
to teaching. As the Head of
Sixth Form at the prestigious
Dubai College, Mr Lambert and his
team have facilitated the success of
nine sixth form students, who have
secured acceptance letters from the
University of Oxford and the University
of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
This was not an easy feat, as garnering
placements at top tier universities have
proven to be an extremely competitive
process for even the most brilliant
student.
Mr Lambert’s background as a tutor of
Latin and Greek for university hopefuls
in the UK, equipped him with the
requisite tools that he needed to drive
students to excellence when he moved
to Dubai several years ago.
“I was surprised at how much I enjoyed
the work and the huge sense of
satisfaction I got from the students’
enjoyment and success. So, I decided
to become a fulltime teacher,”
recounts Mr Lambert.
He is in his ninth year of teaching, the
last three of which he spent committed
to taking the already successful sixth
28 | May - Jun 2015 |
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form at the Dubai College to even
higher levels.
Who inspires you most?
I am inspired by anybody who willingly
gives up their life in the service of
others. I read an article recently about
David Nott, the London vascular
surgeon who has spent six weeks each
year offering his expertise as an unpaid
volunteer in every major warzone on
the planet. This guy is a genuine hero
in my mind.
What are some of the steps
that you are taking to advance
your career?
I have worked in a broad range of
schools, which has really helped to
disabuse me of the notion that there is
a right way to educate. I learnt to teach
at RGS Guildford, an outstanding and
rigorously academic boys day school
that really showed me what effective
and efficient teaching is. I have also
worked at Bedales, a very liberal and
creative boarding school, which is
famous for an incredible freedom
of expression. This allows students
to really find out who they are and
what they want out of life. Bedales,
Class Time
more than anywhere has shown me
what else education can and should
be. Subsequently, I arrived at Dubai
College where I have tried to combine
these two very different educational
approaches in an international setting.
Describe three programmes
that are instrumental in
securing the success of your
Sixth Form students in gaining
entry to top tier universities.
Firstly, we encourage our students to
read widely around their subjects –
we have recommended reading lists,
which departments have put together
or downloaded from top tier university
websites.
Secondly, we encourage all our
students to study a MOOC. MOOCs
are massive open online courses
provided free of charge by top
tier universities on almost every
conceivable subject. By studying
these, our students are getting an
insight into their prospective degree
course and again broadening and
deepening their knowledge.
Thirdly, we encourage any student who