Talking Teaching with Karl Millsom

Geoff Jordan is a Ph.D. Tutor in distance learning MA TESOL at Leicester University and a self-described anarchist.  His writing on Second Language Acquisition and English Langauge Teaching have earned him a reputation for being outspoken, and his passion for these topics shone through in this conversation.  

We talked about Geoff's history as an EFL teacher and his transition to teaching at the university level and touched on a vast array of research topics in the field of language learning. This one is particularly dense, so you might want to take notes and do some additional reading when you're done watching! The links below will point you in the direction of more depth on many of the topics we discussed  

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Sufyan is a passionate advocate of homeschooling and alternative education, inspired heavily by the works of John Taylor Gatto and Peter Grey. He currently holds a TA position in a UK Primary School.   

Sufyan is currently developing Edukate F1RST, which is intended to give all children the opportunity to identify and unlock their own version of genius by maximising their access to quality material and guidance.  

We talked about Sufyan's decision to homeschool his own children and how his thoughts on education have developed as he has had increasingly varied contact with the mainstream system. We also talked about Sufyan's experience of school as a person of colour in the UK and what that experience is like today.

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A conversation with Anita Modestova.  

Anita Modestova is a CELTA qualified teacher, psychologist and business trainer. She specialises in teaching general English to adults, low levels and also delivers seminars on how to build your career as a self-employed teacher.   

A conversation with Richard Jones-Nerzic.  

Richard is a History Teacher with a particular interest in the philosophy of history education and its relationship to epistemology and identity. He currently teaches in Switzerland and is an experienced teacher of the IB Curriculum. 

 We talked about the development of history as a corse subject in education and the different philosophical approaches to teaching history as well as the increasing influence of the IB curriculum and its strengths as an internationally oriented approach to education.  

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A conversation with Hugh Dellar.  

Hugh Dellar has over twenty-five years’ experience in the field and is the co-founder of the online school and training company Lexical Lab. He has co-authored two five-level General English series, Outcomes and Innovations, both published by National Geographic Learning, as well as one level of the high-school series Perspectives.   

His first methodology book, Teaching Lexically, came out via Delta Publishing in 2016. Most recently, he has worked on two levels of the new Pearson General English series, Roadmap.  

We talked about Hugh's experience authoring teaching materials and navigating the publishing industry as well as the value of textbooks in the classroom and the impact of the Lexical Approach on EFL teaching.  

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A conversation with Emma Hagedorn.  

Emma was born in the Philippines but has lived and taught in Thailand, and now resides in France, where she teaches Early Childhood in an international school. Emma's approach to teaching emphasises cultural diversity, and she truly believes that every child, is different, and every child, is uniquely amazing.

We talked about Emma's career, teaching in different countries and cultures, the challenges and joys of early childhood teaching, and the role of the parent in childhood education.   

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A conversation with Jan MacWatters  

Jan has taught in Germany and the US and is now a teacher librarian in Texas.  

We talked about what a teacher librarian is, the value and changing face of libraries and the importance of copyright laws in education. I learned so much in this one, and I hope you do too...  

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A conversation with Simon Kitson.  

Simon is an independent Educational Psychologist and founder of EDGE Psychology, an institution established to help children and young people who are experiencing difficulties at school, especially those struggling with academic work or having behavioural issues.  

Simon has over 20 years’ experience carrying out independent, evidence-based assessments of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN)  

We talked about Simon's work with parents, teachers and schools in supporting students with special needs, especially students with Autism, and addressed the state of the UK education system with regard to SEN.   

This one was a bigger step outside of my own field than previous conversations, so it's pretty dense, and I learned a lot. I hope you do too...  

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Simon's Website:
www.edgepsychology.org  

A conversation with Heide Frank.  

Heide taught for over a decade at the college level before teaching German to refugees entering German society. She also has experience teaching corporate German for expat workers and private Italian on top of all that!  

We talked about the challenges of teaching students from oppressive backgrounds and the similarities and differences between teaching different languages.  

You can watch the video version of this conversation on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFDzFOymv68

A conversation with Aimée Skidmore.  

Aimée is an educator with over 23 years of teaching and leadership experience in both public and private secondary schools in Switzerland and the U.S.  

We talked about teaching in the time of Covid-19 and our hopes for the future of assessment.  

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