Introduce yourself in three words or phrases.
Language lover, educator, and Vespa enthusiast.
What makes you get up in the morning?
I have two teenage sons who wouldn’t get to school if I didn’t!
Tell me about a defining moment in your career
The first two minutes of my first-ever teaching experience on my CELTA course in 1997 were the worst 120 seconds in the history of language teaching.
It’s always been up from there.
What do you like most about your job?
I am incredibly lucky that the circles of people I work with – from my immediate colleagues here in Norwich, to the hundreds of NILE trainers and project colleagues around the world, to the thousands of inspirational teachers we work with every year – are kind, committed and passionate about what they do.
It’s a pleasure to have that kind of interaction every day at work, and never knowing what new context will be next round the corner.
If you could learn a language instantly which would you pick and why?
The sociolects my kids use so I could avoid the embarrassment when I’m driving them and their friends to and from somewhere. (I was going to say “Cringe!” but apparently, that’s a perfect example of the problem.)
Champion/cheerleader which we should all follow and why?
The one person whose blog posts I always stop and read, whatever else I’m doing, is Phillip Kerr.
I love the unapologetic, principled, critical reflection he brings to our field; always compelling reading and conscientiously researched.
Describe a project or initiative you are currently working on that excites you
Our current project with the British Council, Accelerating English Language Learning in Central Asia.
It is the first time I’ve seen genuine engagement and alignment across tiers in an education system – from Ministries of Education to regional authorities, to school leadership, to classroom teachers – and across very diverse regions in five countries.
The scale of that, and the knowledge that the principles and practices that we’ve developed with the local specialists are being implemented in 10,000 schools, is both exciting and daunting!
Book or podcast recommendation for others in the sector?
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking only recently published works are worth your time. That would leave you with Miley Cyrus, not Mozart.
I like revisiting books that have been influential and seeing what lessons they have for times then unknown. A Way and Ways by Earl Stevick is on my desk right now, and it’s got very significant implications for the way we look at our language education sector today.
