My sincere condolences to Tim’s family and thanks for creating this beautiful tribute page. 

On Friday, when I read the news I sat down to write a tribute to one of the humblest most talented and charming individuals I came across in my career in promoting international education without knowing where to send it. My friend and Eurocentres colleague Idoia kindly shared this page with me today.

In early 2009 I was asked by Maura Lēao of Yazigi Travel - who referred to Tim on Friday as a true gentleman - to bring a teacher trainer to Brazil to give a seminar at Yazigi’s annual conference. As luck would have it I struck gold and got Tim. My first recollection of Tim’s arrival in Brazil was his producing his receipts and an accompanying text explaining his expenses with such detail. Why he had bought a cup of tea here and a snack there, he'd practically written an essay. Traveling internationally for the company for the first time, Tim was being ultra careful, taking no privilege for granted. It was the first indication of his incredible attention to detail and his integrity.

My second recollection was arriving at the conference. Having meticulously created 50 giveaway packages, each with a delicately cut paper wine glass sitting on top of individual copies of his presentation notes, all in clear plastic wallets, Tim asked me nervously “What if more people come? I’m not prepared for that” I told him I thought he’d prepared more than enough, amazed at the impeccable production of materials. Yikes, I thought I prepared well until that moment….As we approached the meeting room, there were teachers spilling out the door. Tim looked horrified and turned to me saying, “I can’t have people in there who don’t have the packs. It won’t work properly”. I assured him it would be fine, that people could share if need be and he got himself ready to talk to his already captive and soon to be participatory audience of around 70, some sitting on the floor, others, like me, standing at the back. 

After a brief introduction Tim asked participants to take their wine glass out of the pack. He’d barely spoken a word and you could just feel the the excitement in the room. Brazilians weren’t as accustomed to drinking wine back then as they are now and they giggled in delight as they were asked to say cheers to their neighbor and “clink” their rather floppy paper glasses. I can’t recall if by then he’d already launched into Korean and if we’d had to repeat the words “geonbae”; after all, learning Korean, not English, was the topic of the day. Proudly referring to his wife Chan as the reason he was able to address us in this beautiful exotic language, Tim began to speak, first asking participants to listen, then to listen and repeat and finally to write down a few words. Needless to say, the workshop was a huge success. 

During that same trip we had a working day in Rio at the end of which I suggested a visit to Bar Semente, a live samba music venue. Tim was in his element and so happy to have had the chance to see Brazilian musicians performing. The success of the trip led to Tim being invited back to Brazil the following year as a guest speaker at the Yazigi conference. Later visiting visiting schools in Recife and Joao Pessoa in North Brazil he landed himself in a “Yazigi jail” in the latter, embracing the traditional Sao Joao festivities and taking part in the schools drama activities.

You only get one chance to a create a first impression I was impressed to the extent that there was a before and after Tim Goodier in both my career and in life. While it was Confucius  who first said “I hear I forget, I see I remember, I do I understand”, it was Tim who taught me to put those words into practice, inviting the participation of others and listening to them.

The last time I saw Tim was back in his London office at Eurocentres for a chat with a cup of tea and a biscuit. Just lovely!  May you rest in peace Tim and play a little tune on the guitar for everyone up there in the clouds.  

The accompanying illustration is from a photograph I took of Tim with a room full of happy teachers. Long before Marie Kondo coined the phrase "spark joy", Tim was sparking joy in the classroom. 

Deirdre Malone.