Episode 33: Scott Thornbury
Scott Thornbury joins Leo, Mike, and Andrew in studio.
Scott has taught and trained in Egypt, UK, Spain, and in his native New Zealand. Until recently he taught an online MA TESOL program for The New School in New York. His writing credits include several award-winning books for teachers on language and methodology. He is also the series editor for the Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers, and a trustee of the Hands Up Project, which promotes drama activities in English for children in under-resourced regions of the Arab world. At present, he is working for the Mosaik Foundation, training teachers of refugees in the Middle East in how to integrate communicative activities into their online classes.
We delve into Scott's career journey, and he discusses:
his career beginnings
his early influences and the "mother goose approach"
a paradigm shift away from drills and accuracy to a fluency-based, communicative approach
views on teacher development
his writing process and how nothing on the page in front of you is alright when there's a lot behind you
Dogme and Leo Van Lier's influence on him
For more on Scott Thornbury:
His website is www.scottthornbury.com
He tweets at @thornburyscott
His highly acclaimed blog https://scottthornbury.wordpress.com/
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About scott:
Scott is a teacher and teacher educator, with over 30 years’ experience in English language teaching, and an MA from the University of Reading. His previous experience includes teaching and teacher training in Egypt, UK, Spain (where I live), and in his native New Zealand. His writing credits include several award-winning books for teachers on language and methodology, as well as authoring a number of papers and book chapters on language and language teaching. He is the series editor for the Cambridge Handbooks for Teachers (CUP). He was also the co-founder of the dogme ELT group.
About the Mosaik Foundation
Just 3% of refugees can access higher education, compared to 37% of global youth. University lets refugees contribute to local economies, increase their self-sufficiency and help reconstruct the country when they return home. The Mosaik Foundation helps refugees reach university.
Their mission is to empower a community of refugees to shape and lead programmes that improve access to university.
See their website and donate.
About the Hands up Project:
There are currently over 40 volunteers around the world who are giving up their time to tell stories and do other online learning activities with Palestinian and Syrian children and their teachers through the Hands Up Project.
“Well, anyone who’s ever taught kids will know that having a class of motivated and enthusiastic children with their hands in the air, wanting to put themselves forward, is something that can make our jobs as teachers feel very worthwhile. Despite all the difficulties that Palestinian and Syrian children face in their daily lives, those of us around the world who now volunteer with HUP are greeted with this sight on a regular basis. This is what The Hands Up Project is all about.”
- Nick Bilbrough, Founder and Coordinator of the Hands Up Project
See their website and donate.