Empowering Multilingual Families – The Vision Behind Teaching With Class

Rebecca Gulka, founder of Teaching With Class, is transforming how students aged 8 to 16 approach English Literacy. Drawing on her experience teaching in international classrooms, she noticed how traditional education often prioritises exam content over essential life skills. Her online school, Teaching With Class  focuses on nurturing self-awareness, problem-solving, and self-advocacy—empowering students with tools needed to succeed in academics and beyond.

Through interactive virtual classrooms, Teaching With Class provides high-quality online English education tailored to students’ needs, helping them build foundational skills, develop critical thinking, and prepare for iGCSE qualifications in a supportive environment.

Here, Rebecca shares her journey, insights, and how she’s making a difference for students and multilingual families navigating online English education.

Teaching with Class: Revolutionising Online English Education

Can you tell us a little about your background and what inspired you to start Teaching With Class?  

When my international teaching career brought me to France to build a life with my husband and stepson, I knew my diverse classroom experience would shape whatever came next. After years of teaching across different countries and cultures, I found myself uniquely positioned to spot a crucial gap in the French education system – particularly for expat and immigrant families struggling to navigate bilingual education.

As a mother of a bilingual child myself, I intimately understood the challenges these families faced. It wasn’t just about helping students with English; it was about supporting entire families through the complex journey of multilingual education and cross-cultural adaptation. When my colleagues at my previous international school questioned my decision to strike out on my own, I knew there was a deeper need to be met – one that traditional schools weren’t addressing.

What is Teaching With Class, and what makes your approach to English Literacy for multilingual families unique?

Teaching With Class is an online school that delivers comprehensive English Literacy education through real-time virtual classrooms, combining academic rigour with personalised support. The curriculum keeps students at grade level in English, no matter where their global journey takes them.

Students engage in live, face-to-face classes where teachers work directly with them, writing and collaborating in real time. The curriculum bypasses traditional busy work to focus on authentic reading and writing projects that challenge students at their level. Reading and writing projects are authentic – novels, articles, and opinion pieces – and writing is scaffolded and explicitly taught, with real time feedback during classtime. 

Can you tell us more about your online English education group classes – who are they designed for, and what key skills do students develop through them?

Our intimate group classes nurture every student’s potential while ensuring each voice is heard. In these small groups, students build strong foundations in literacy and comprehension before digging into higher-level skills like critical thinking, debate, and sophisticated essay writing. Whether preparing for real-world challenges or rigorous academic exams, students develop the confidence and capabilities they need to excel. For those ready to take on the challenge of iGCSE, our specialised prep classes provide the perfect stepping stone to international academic success.

Do your classes accommodate both fluent English speakers and those who are still getting to grips with the language? How do you balance their different needs?

Our classes welcome students at every stage of their English journey – from fluent speakers to emerging language learners. Through Universal Design for Learning, we create an environment where every student finds their own path to success. In our dynamic classroom, students work at their own level – one might be crafting sophisticated paragraphs while another masters their first sentences – all while engaging together in meaningful literary discussions and reading the same story. This personalised approach ensures every student progresses at their own pace, building confidence and skills within our supportive learning community.

What are the different levels of curriculum that you offer and what does a typical lesson look like?

We offer three carefully designed programme levels to support your child’s English development. Our Junior program (ages 8-10) builds strong foundations in literacy, while our Intermediate programme (ages 11-13) guides students as they develop critical thinking and communication skills. For older students (ages 14-16), our iGCSE English Language and Literature programme prepares them for international qualifications through intensive work with complex writing and classic literature.

Every class combines engaging literary discussions with guided writing practice. Students receive real-time support as they write, with teachers working alongside them in shared documents, offering immediate feedback and encouragement. This hands-on approach ensures students develop confidence in both their analytical and writing skills.

You also offer private Early Readings Skills lessons for very young learners, can you tell us more?

We also offer private lessons for Early Reading Skills for students who are 4-7 years old. These lessons are rooted in research, building foundational phonics skills and early writing skills. Starting these skills very young ensures that students build the strong foundations they need for reading confidence and academic success. Our systematic approach gives young learners the essential tools they need at this crucial stage of their literacy development. Keeping the classes short and frequent accommodates the attention span of very young learners.

How has your experience teaching in International Schools around the world shaped your approach to multilingual education support?

My years teaching in International Schools across different countries have deeply influenced how I approach education today. Working with students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds showed me that truly effective education needs to be both rigorous and flexible. In international classrooms, you quickly learn that every student brings their own unique perspective and learning journey – there’s never a one-size-fits-all solution.

This experience proved invaluable when designing our virtual classroom approach. I saw firsthand how students could maintain their academic growth even while moving between countries and educational systems. It taught me the importance of creating consistent, high-quality education that travels with families, ensuring students don’t lose momentum in their English Literacy development despite geographical changes.

In international education, you learn to bridge different educational systems and expectations. Some students come from highly structured environments, others from more exploratory ones. Some are used to focusing on exams, others on project-based learning. This diversity taught me to develop an approach that honors various learning styles while maintaining high academic standards.

Most importantly, international teaching means that I have a deep understanding of the expectations students face when they return to their classrooms or take their exams – and exactly how to support them in meeting those expectations. 

You also work one-to-one as an academic coach for students with SEN. What types of challenges do you help them overcome, and what does a typical session look like?

As an Academic Coach, I put my students in the driver’s seat. They take ownership of their goals, identify what they need help with, and set their own weekly priorities. My role is to guide them toward these self-determined objectives.

A typical session usually begins with a check in, discussing challenges and goals. Once we’ve figured out what the goal is, I can guide students through reaching those goals, either by working with them on writing skills, talking them through difficult concepts, or helping them to plan out their homework through the week to stay on top of things.

I love seeing my students leave our sessions feeling calmer, more organised, and confident in their preparation for class. As they approach greater independence in their academic journey, my role is to equip them with the tools and strategies they need to succeed on their own terms. I’m committed to providing expert guidance throughout each student’s academic journey.

You’re part of SPRINT France, a network of Special Education health and education professionals. Can you tell us more about this, and how this involvement has enhanced your work with SEN students?

Being part of the SPRINT network has been transformative for my educational practice. This professional collaboration has enhanced my ability to support students with special educational needs, making our services more accessible to families who need them. The network’s approach to professional collaboration means I can work effectively with other specialists supporting each student, creating a more comprehensive support system.

The opportunity to collaborate with fellow educators and specialists has strengthened my teaching methodology and expanded my capacity to serve diverse learning needs. Through SPRINT, I’ve built valuable professional relationships that ultimately benefit our students through enhanced, coordinated support.

What kinds of feedback have you received from multilingual families about how your classes or coaching sessions have impacted their children’s education and confidence?

I have been lucky to receive really lovely feedback from families – families who are relieved to finally find someone who ‘gets it’, and who they can feel comfortable communicating with to get help and support. Sometimes, parents need education about how schools works and how to support their children as much as their children need to learn to read and write! Parents have reported that their children are getting into programmes they are applying for, are feeling more confident at school or getting higher grades, or that they are relieved to finally be getting the support they’ve been lacking. 

You also run extra curricular activities such as Model United Nations Club, what does it involve?

Our Model UN club is a really fun initiative. Many public schools don’t have the capacity to run something like this, but students can join online debates with students across Europe. We meet once a week, and students get to dig into political issues, doing research and collaborating to come up with solutions to current, very real problems. They’re building their reading and persuasive writing skills and building the confidence to express those ideas in public debates.

Can you tell us more about your Book Club For Busy Teens?

This is my favourite Sunday night every month. We all want our kids to read more, but we often don’t know where to start. With the input of the students themselves, I choose really engaging, interesting novels – novels they might not be getting to read at home. Parents are happy because their children are reading more. Students are happy because the reading doesn’t just feel like homework – they helped choose the book, they’ll express their opinions and debate the issues, and they always get a chance to write a review and publish it on our student blog, Kids Get Published.

How do you support students balancing group lessons alongside their regular schooling and existing commitments?

This is different for every family and their goals, and the different academic programmes they are already in. Our classes are designed to be both synchronous and asynchronous, and as well as the core activities we do every week in class, there is always more reading and writing to engage with on the google classroom through the week. Families discuss their goals with me, and I can guide them through choosing how much of the work they can and should engage with each week.

You are based in Bordeaux. What drew you to this city, and how did you find the experience of settling into life in France, both personally and professionally? 

Bordeaux is a beautiful city – though I will admit to missing Paris! Bordeaux has been a wonderful place to raise my stepson – big enough to be diverse and exciting, small enough to feel safe and secure. Settling into France was certainly a challenge – not least because I knew this was going to be permanent, not a year long adventure like some of the other places I’ve lived. But nearly 8 years on, France, and Bordeaux, feel like home.

What is your favourite aspect of what you do?

My favourite favourite thing is when a student pops into my zoom room to tell me they don’t need help – they figured it out on their own. That tells me it’s working!

What are you most excited about for Teaching with Class in 2025?

In 2025, I am really excited to expand our book club and to, hopefully, open up some really great creative writing and opinion writing classes – really letting student voices shout loudly and confidently, and giving them the authentic opportunities to publish their work, submit to competitions, and let people hear what they have to say.

Find out more about Teaching With Class online English education on their website or contact rebecca.gulka@teachingwithclass.com. Read more articles and interviews on the MumAbroad blog.