Episode 30: Luke Meddings
Leo invite Luke Meddings into the digital studio. Luke is a teacher, trainer, and author with over 30 years in the ELT industry. In 2009 he co-authored "Teaching Unplugged" with Scott Thornbury, a book that represented a revolution in English Language Instruction. In 2020, Luke founded "The Context," which helps students, teachers, and institutions in the industry.
Luke reflects on the Dogme movement, why it was viewed as controversial, where it is now, and if he still views it as controversial.
In much more detail, he tells us:
his teaching beginnings and why it led him to a "teaching unplugged" approach (3:00)
the first school he started - "Explore Your English" - and why it was idealistic (18:00)
the genesis of Dogme and meeting Scott Thornbury (25:00)
why presenting on Dogme at conferences was met with both excitement and contempt (40:00)
the writing of "Teaching Unplugged" and why they didn't use the word "Dogme" (44:00)
the 10 principles of Dogme and why they chose the 3 they did for their movement (55:00)
his thoughts on progressive education and how we still need to do better (1:02:00)
For more on Luke Meddings:
Follow him: @LukeMeddings
Follow The Context on Instagram: @thecontext_edu
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About luke:
Luke Meddings is an award-winning author, trainer and international speaker. In 2000 he co-founded the Dogme ELT movement with Scott Thornbury, and their book Teaching Unplugged (Delta, 2009) won a British Council ELTon award in 2010. Since then Luke has trained extensively, and in 2011 set up independent e-publishing collective The Round with Lindsay Clandfield. Their own book, 52: a year of subversive activity for the ELT classroom, was published in 2012.
He has been a teacher, author and teacher trainer in ELT for over 30 years. In 2000 he co-founded the Dogme in ELT movement with Scott Thornbury; their book, Teaching Unplugged (Delta, 2009) won a British Council ELTon Award for Innovation in 2010. He has trained and spoken extensively since then, sharing ideas with teachers around the world.
In 2011 he started the independent e-publishing collective, The Round, with Lindsay Clandfield. Their book 52: A Year of Subversive Activity for the ELT Classroom, was published in 2012, and the project was short-listed for an ELTon award in 2013.
In 2020 he announced a new project, The Context, which offers lessons for students, sessions for teachers and ideas for schools. The Context recently partnered with International House Belfast to give a series of teacher training workshops in Russia.
Luke has also been Deputy Editor of the EL Gazette, wrote a column and blog for The Guardian newspaper, and co-founded an experimental language school in London
