Author Archive

The best improvisation is prepared improvisation

One of the great delights of the annual IATEFL conference is seeing young teachers find their own voices and deliver confident, well thought-out presentations. One of the talks I enjoyed most in Birmingham this year was by Sebastian Lesniewski, and…

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Phrase of the day: come in for criticism

President Obama has come in for criticism from BREXIT campaigners after commenting on the upcoming referendum The government has come in for criticism for failing to spend enough on flood defences. The plan has come in for heavy criticism because…

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IH Torun Teacher Development day: April 2016

I'm just back from three wonderful days in the beautiful Polish city of Torun. Great to meet so many people again - and lovely to have the chance to talk to - and work with - so many local teachers.

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CELTA, the native-speaker bias and possible paths forward

Last week at IATEFL, Silvana Richardson delivered a rousing, righteous plenary tracing the historical roots of - and critiquing - the institutionalised mechanisms and habits of mind that continue to privilege native=speaker teachers over non-natives. The talk can be viewed…

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