Do you ever wonder how fairy tales survive—or crumble—when they’re dressed in uniform? In my latest Camino a Ítaca column for HOY, I explore exactly that: how the stories we inherit transform when they’re repackaged by institutions, power, or conformity. I reflect on the tension between imagination and order, and trace how even the most…
It’s summer fiesta season here in Spain and in today’s Camino a Ítaca we look one of the most widely extended fiestas takes place, the Fiesta of Futility, the ‘oposiciones’. Click over to read the originally published piece in Spanish in the HOY the originally published piece in Spanish in the HOY or read the…
The newest results of the international PISA test in the Camino a Ítaca this week. Once again, excuses are made but the root cause is once again avoided. Click over to read the original article published in Spanish in el HOY or read the English version below. (PDF en castellano abajo) The programmed ritual self-flagellation…
In this week’s Camino a Ìtaca I use a word that I never thought I would in the newspaper. Click over to read the originally published piece in Spanish in the HOY or read the English translation below. (PDF en castellano abajo). I often wonder just how many times Maria Guardiola plays that crucial time…
In this week’s Camino a Ítaca a look at how blind the far right is to the meaning of their own words. Click over to read the original piece published in el HOY or read the English translation below. (PDF en castellano abajo) I never thought I would see something like this happen. It seemed…
School’s out on the Camino a Ítaca this week. Today a look at what education might look like if the PP forms a coalition government with the neofrancoists here in Extremadura and then at the national level. Click over to read the original in Spanish published in el HOY or read the English version below.…
Sectarian Classrooms In this week’s Camino a Ítaca a look into some Spanish classrooms via the Levant and its sectarian divisions. Click over to read the original in Spanish published in el HOY or read the English translation below. (PDF abajo) I had never seen such provocative lingerie in shop windows anywhere else in the…
LOL Law In today’s Camino a Ítaca we take a look at the new education law and the (not) changes that have been introduced. Click over to read the original in Spanish published in el HOY or read the English version below. (PDF abajo) It’s been just over a month now since that typically Spanish…
This week’s Camino a Ítaca draws parallels between religious bigotry in two distinct places. The faith trap is lethal to inquiry and thought and is throw about with alarming regularity. Click over to the original article published in Spanish in el HOY, or read the English version below. (PDF en castellano abajo) The world recently…
This week’s Camino a Ítaca reminds me that after so many years, Spain can still be a mystery to me. September is in full swing and education is on many people’s radars and it is definitely on mine. Combine that with the ongoing pandemia and then throw in a few negationists and you have a…
Back to this? As our children head back to school, this week’s Camino a Ítaca looks back to the future and the eduaction that awaits them. What will this academic year year? Click over to read the original in Spain in el HOY or read the English version below. (PDF en castellano abajo) The long…
Lady of Elche statue In this week’s Camino a Ítaca we walk back to the fifth book of the Jewish torah, back to deuteronomy. Well, if not exactly back to this religious text, back to something equally atavistic: Oposiciones. The medieval method they use here in Spain to choose their public school teachers (and other public…
In this week’s Camino a Ítaca we return to the trail of education and the challenges the kids face here in Extremadura, Spain. A place where ‘no pain, no gain’ is the way forward in learning. You can click over and read the original published in Spanish or read the English version below. (PDF en…
Crucifixes in classrooms Next stop on the Camino a Ítaca is a look at how you can indeed have your cake and eat it too…as long as you ‘believe’. You can read the English below or click over to the original in Spanish. You can also find the Spanish version in PDF format at the…
Koranic Learning An academic detour on this week’s Camino a Ítaca and a look at Spain’s uncertain Back-to-school week. With COVID contagion rates soaring above the WHO recommended levels, it’s more than likely only a matter of time before classes move online. If the recommended distance wasn’t enough to kill cooperative learning, online classes will…
This stop on the Camino a Ítaca takes us back to the swamps of Northern Florida, aquiring new skill sets and seeing the world through very different eyes. Read the original English below or click over to the published version in Spanish. Tambien se puede ver el original en castellano abajo en PDF. I’ve always hated…
With the arrival of the plague, things have become clearer. An opinion piece on the current state of education during the current state of emergency in el HOY. The extended English here and the published Spanish version below, or click on the link.
Starting a new course this week in Caceres and Merida with the Centro de Profesores y Recursos. Should be interesting. http://cprmerida.juntaextremadura.net/67-noticias/3026-lista-de-admitidos-al-curso-speaking-in-colour
Writing in the local paper. Local Issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs, which can now be seen online (in Spanish) as well.
Harnessing the Visual Zeitgeist and Stories Beyond the Images In Madrid today.
The regional newpaper HOY has been hosting a series of articles on the state of the University of Extremadura. I was asked to contribute and rather than offer an in-depth academic analysis, I opted to tell my story and experience of working there. First the English version: It came as a complete shock to me.…
Writing in the local paper. Local Issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs. After having lived here for more than a decade, I still catch myself looking up in wonder as the last rays of the setting sun hit the Torre…
Writing in the local paper. Local Issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs. One of the first questions I ask my students when I start a new course is often one of the most difficult for them to answer. And…
A new teaching adventure this week, braving the new online, virtual world. I was invited to participate in some online training with Macmillan in Madrid which was beamed to the world. The first session, Bing, Bang, Boom, Boing and Baa: onomatopoeia and the importance of sounds in the YL classroom, was a fun look at bringing…
Something a bit out of my ordinary. Should be fun, can’t think of a better way to celebrate the day. For an after the fact recap, click over here.
Open a job search for ESL job openings around the world at any time of the year and a sunny southern corner of Europe is bound to tally the most hits. A place where, if you subscribe to RP pronunciation patterns, the rain falls mainly on the plain. A place I have called home off…
Last month I was asked by one of the editors of IATEFL’s TDSIG newsletter to contribute to their Teacher Development Stories series and I came up with the following. They say you never miss the water till the well runs dry and as is often the case, they were right. For years, the institute where…
In between travels, I spend my time looking at English through another lens, that of the learner. I’m currently the Director of Studies at the Instituto de Lenguas Modernas de la Universidad de Extremadura. Onestopenglish decided to do a profile on the centre and the Continuous Professional Development program that we run. Click over here…
Teaching isn’t a competition but it’s nice to have your ideas recognized sometimes. The picture drew me into the idea… It was worth it… Click over to Cambridge’s site to see.
One of my interests, other than traveling and music is teaching…and teaching English. Around this time of year (Christmas), teachers are often looking for something seasonable but perhaps without the mistletoe. Here I try to combine my three main interests. Macmillan International published one of ideas recently on their teaching site, Onestopenglish.
I look back on the time that we lived in Vientiane, Laos very fondly and in fact often question why we ever left. The city was opening to the world back then and seemed to change daily and I’m sure that it would be unrecognizable now, but memory has a way of playing tricks on…
Writing in the local paper. Local issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs. As I write this, a constant hum drifts up to my fourth floor vigil from the busy Rua Mayor below. I’ve been to Salamanca many…
Writing in the local paper. Local issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs. I grew up attending a French immersion school on the very English speaking prairies of western Canada. Every subject, except English, was given in French by first language…
Uncomfortable truths in the Young Learner teaching game here in Spain and around the world. Contributing to Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto’s teaching webpage.
After a long break, blogging for El Pais once again. This time a 3 part series on the dismal future that lies ahead for learning in a climate where education is viewed as an expense rather than an investment. The 1st installment goes into the labarynth that teachers must go through in order to actually…
