Welcome to TEMPERA

TEMPERA EDUcation is the place where you REALLY get things done! We believe that IB is a valuable program that can take students far and unlock their potential. Therefore, our goal is to make a difference by transforming this experience from a stressful one into a successful one, without succumbing to overwhelming feelings or to procrastination. In this website you will learn all about our work and methods.

Our outstanding Learning Labs offer:

* Peace of mind for the parent.
* Enjoyable and productive learning atmosphere for the IB student.
* A cozy and welcoming space for learning.
* Sessions with the structure based on psychological techniques that enhance concentration, memory and logical and critical thinking

We are looking forward to meeting you!

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Our Mission

At TEMPERA we are focused on developing strategies for the students’ well being and personal performance.

Moreover, we strive to ensure that both students facing difficulties or high achievers will be able to find with us a personalised program to achieve their maximum potential or goal.

With branches in Vienna, Munich and Bucharest, we work with international students from all backgrounds. Check out our open events to find out more and simply pay us a visit. We would love to meet you and welcome you to our community!

Meet the teachers

Mag. Stirling Perry

IB English Lang & Lit, TOK, EE, Film

My 'super-power'

Empathy. I can easily and clearly understand the minds and emotions of my students, and thus adapt my pedagogy accordingly.

Credentials

B.A., English, University of San Diego (2002) — San Diego, California, USA
M.A., English, University of Pittsburgh (2005) — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
M.A., Education, Bilkent University (2015) — Ankara, Turkey
Teaching qualifications (2008) : English (grades 8-12), History (grades 8-12), Social Studies (grades 8-12) — University of Texas at Arlington — Arlington, Texas, USA

The 'Perry Points Advantage'

I have actually calculated my value-add as a teacher, specifically on the Paper 1. The world average for Paper 1 is usually around 10-11 points (out of 20). My students have scored, on average, one Standard Deviation above that — 12 to 14 points.

TEMPERA and I

I use the most:

E – Encoding knowledge. I strive to deliver curriculum in a manner that is optimized for students as members of a cohort, and individually.

M – Motivation. I explicitly embed motivational elements to all of my lessons.

An essential skill I help students develop

The most important skill for any student at any educational level is the ability to think critically — about the material they are learning, about their own thinking, and about the world around them. Critical thinking is the primary tool that allows students to be autodidacts.

I help students to develop critical thinking skills by first MODELING my own critical thinking process through vocalizing my own intellectual insecurities, recognizing my biases, and being open to different perspectives. Secondly, I pose tasks to students that essentially force them to think critically about certain topics or ideas.

IB Experience

I have been teaching since 2005 and in IB since 2012. I have taught at least 1,000 students. I have taught DP English, Theory of Knowledge, Extended Essay, MYP English, MYP Design, MYP Individuals and Societies, and occasionally tutored DP Film and DP Individuals and Societies.. I currently work with most of the DP1 and DP2 cohorts, as well as a few MYP students.

Sophie Mathiassen

IB Music

My 'super-power'

Connecting with the students on their level, and breaking down complex problems into simple, understandable, accessible chunks.

Credentials

Graduated IB in 2023 with a 7 in HL Music and 38 points overall
Currently attending the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus

TEMPERA and I

I use the most:

T – Time management and task organization, along with addressing M – Motivation, by prioritizing the students interests and working to give them engaging projects to better their attitude and excitement for the project

An essential skill I help students develop

The most important ability students need to succeed in music is creative ability, along with the willingness to work with unfamiliar materials and genres.

Music students tend to struggle with organizing their writing for reports, and setting a plan to ensure they meet the deadlines.

My role is supporting them in their brainstorming processes and research, and by helping provide structure to their writing surrounding their process. If needed, I sometimes also serve as a bouncing board for creative ideas and approaches regarding their own compositional processes.

IB Experience

I’ve just started working with IB students on Music and I am able to transfer my specific IB Music knowledge in a fresh way. I’ve successfully worked with 2 students in the past 6 months

Mag. Kanije Meduna

IB Academic Coach

My 'super-power'

I always listen and understand first. Then we start working on tolerating reality and channel the student’s energy to the tasks at hand.

Credentials

I have an undergraduate law degree from Bilkent University and a post-graduate LL.M. degree in European and International Business Law from University of Vienna. I changed my career in 2021 and started studying at Sigmund Freud University – Psychotherapy Sciences. I am currently enrolled in the Masters program and will practice as a psychoanalyst in the near future.

I have spent an exchange year in the US (Jermyn, PA) in highschool, where I took AP courses. Then I received my IB diploma from Bilkent Laboratory and International School in Ankara, Turkey

TEMPERA and I

TEMPERA engages in metacognition and empirically validated learning theories that maximize the students’ productivity while retaining the joy of learning. All of our tutors and coaches have a tailored approach to each student where we aim to get them to study autonomously but with readily available support in all subjects they encounter. Deadlines are tracked rigorously and we all work collaboratively as a team for our students to succeed.

If we detect areas where they struggle, we promptly book new tutoring sessions and get ahead of the problems before they become difficult to manage.

Our office set up is unlike a regular tutoring/educational institution and I observed that students cherish being able to study in a creative and relaxed atmosphere.

An essential skill I help students develop

I mainly work with the students in teaching them task prioritization and time management, as well as how to structure their work flow when they write their papers, in a manner that meets the IB criteria. Furthermore, I check with each student about strategizing what to study using TEMPERA tools and plan their upcoming week ahead to relieve the overwhelm. Teaching how to do proper research and using online tools is an important part of my work as it gives the student more autonomy and confidence in tackling what feels unknown or mysterious to them.

IB Experience

I’ve started working with IB students in 2023 and I my psychoanalytic training has enabled me to teach them anxiety management techniques. My own experience with IB and further academic endeavors allow me to extend my knowledge to our students and even provide an educated ear when they want to discuss their careers and futures!

Mag. Gina Hargitay

IB Academic Coach

My 'super-power'

One of my strengths is in writing skills. I am best at helping with essay structuring, creative writing tasks and writing analytically.

Credentials

BA History and Politics

BA Psychotherapy Science

MA Psychotherapy Science

TEMPERA and I

Students often struggle with self-organisation and time management. They have a tendency to feel as though upcoming deadlines are further away than they actually are and fail to allocate the appropriate amount of time to complete them comfortably. Inevitably this can mean that they rush the deadlines and end up stressed.

In order to address time management we ensure that we ask students week to week about their upcoming deadlines. Due to our experience we have a better understanding of the kind of timelines to work with for various tasks, therefore we help the students to create realistic timelines for their various pieces of work, as well as coming up with a strategy to work within this timeline. This helps students to avoid the stress of last minute submissions. We also ask students in the beginning of their sessions what they hope to accomplish and how realistic they feel their goals are for the day. At the end of the session we have them reflect on how much they got done as a means of helping them understand their own limits and adjust their workload and time management according to their own capabilities.

Another struggle we see often is attention. Students often are easily distracted or feel overwhelmed at the thought of having to concentrate for long periods of time, hence they procrastinate.

In terms of attention, my strategy is usually to break the time down into small chunks of concentrated work with regular breaks using the ‘Pomdoro’ timing system. This works for some students, whereas for others it is actually better for them to do longer stretches of uninterrupted work. This is more a matter of approaching each individual student and taking the time to learn how they work and what works best for them.

An essential skill I help students develop

Resilience is one essential ability students need to develop. During the IB there is a demanding workload and a large learning curve. It is possible that even the best students will have periods where their grades are not where they want them to be. They need resilience to not get disheartened and persevere to ensure that they improve.

IB Experience

I work best with students between the ages of 12 and 14. This is one of the more awkward times in adolescence. Life is just starting to feel more intense, demands of time and performance are increasing at the same time as the yearning to fit in with one’s peers. Children at this age are particularly sensitive. I myself had a difficult time at this age, so I think that I identify a lot with the feelings they are having and am therefore good at meeting them at their level and helping to mitigate some of the emotional dysregulation that is inevitable with early puberty.

I’ve started working with IB students in 2022 and I’ve been working with 28 students, throughout 1 or 2 years’ period.

Meet the founders

Mag. Pth. Ioana Anghel Pirich

CoFounder TEMPERA EDUcation Group
Lecturer & Director Learning Centre
Sigmund Freud University
Trained in Systemic Therapy
Certified IB Psychology Teacher

Ioana is passionate about working with teenagers and her main interest lies in unleashing students’ creativity, independent thinking, and self-confidence. She knows how important a good relationship is when working with students and she helps students trust and believe in themselves whilst learning how to work ‘in-depth’ and take full ownership of their work.

Her research in the influence of learning framework on self-efficacy and self-worth highlighted amasing results, when applied consistently.

Mag. Iuliana Grigorita

CoFounder TEMPERA EDUcation Group
Clinical Psychologist, specialized in Cognitive Sciences
Academic Coach
Certified IB Economics & BM Teacher

Iuliana is an expert in cognitive psychology and learning methods. With degrees in Economics and Psychology, including Clinical Psychology, she went into studying in depth the cognition and the process of learning. Her experience as a trainer and learning coach is extensive, with more than 1500 young people trained.

She researched into the field of gifteness and coached families with gifted children, both on specific parenting needs and learning techniques.

What Our Students Say

Tempera was incredibly effective, and helpful for me during my last two years of my IB Program. Tempera’s value on effective learning gave me the knowledge and understanding of learning smartly, and managing my time. TEMPERA team was Helpful, Understanding, Genuine, Supportive, Personal. I got 6 marks above my predicted.

Paris (Austria)

TEMPERA helped me to handle my stress better and be confident about me handing in my final work. I was more motivated to work as the people surrounding me were also working and always created a positive atmosphere. I enjoyed having private sessions, where I could get all my questions answered. I gained more trust into myself planning my time and learned how to take on a large amount of work without being too overwhelmed. I learned to be more open and ask all the questions I have without feeling embarrassed. The team was always caring, motivating and focused.

Anna (Austria)

I felt very at ease and supported by all members and students that were in Tempera Institute whenever a student needed a break it was easily accomplished and the members of the team always made sure students got back on track to work. There a wide variety of skills that I learnt at Tempera Institute. Specifically the way I have studied has changed as I use a particular genre of music or pen when studying a particular topic to help initiate an improved active recall. Everybody was Very kind, open, funny, and helpful.I got 5 marks over my predicted, which I am very proud and happy about.

Simon (Austria)

At TEMPERA, Ioana offered me not only learning support, but also motivation & moral. She continuously encouraged me & helped simplify the studying material so that I could easily understand. Everyone at TEMPERA is very welcoming and atmosphere is just what I needed to reach my goals.

Paula (Romania)

History was the subject I was most worried about out of all my subjects. I was overwhelmed by the amount of information that I have to learn, and I did not know how to structure it properly.

I liked that we worked on what I needed specifically, especially getting to know the different types of exams.

I started with a predicted 3 and I ended up having a 6 in my final exam!

Emma (Austria)

Before I met Ioana I was a student burdened by serial procrastination, I had no understanding of my personal learning style and no concrete place to study wherein I felt truly comfortable. Despite being a decent student, I feared I would be brought down by the looming deadlines and final IB exams.
I discovered Ioana and TEMPERA through a friend, and entering Learning Lab was honestly one of the best decisions of my school career. I was aiming for above 40 points in the IB. Ioana was always understanding and knowledgeable about every question or fear I had.
Working with TEMPERA has prevented me from procrastinating on my studies and I was able to figure out the areas which I needed to focus on, and work on those.
I highly recommend TEMPERA to any student who wants to do its best in the IB.

I got 42 in my IB finals.

Bianca (Austria)