Alan Maley
Videos & Podcasts
Videos & Podcasts
3 Key Tips for Novice Teachers. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
A Poignant Incident in My Career. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
Balancing Diverse Needs. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
Changes over Time in the World of Teaching. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
Changes within TESOL. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
Dealing with Problematic Behaviours. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
ELT Publication Recommendations for Teachers. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
Group Dynamics. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
How to Avoid Burnout. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
Influences on My Approach to Teaching. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
Influences on My Teaching Career. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
Lesson Planning Advice. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
Maintaining Healthy Disciplines. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
My First Memories from School. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023
My Interests Outside of Work. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
On Homework. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
On Not Knowing the Answers. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
On Testing. Alan Maley. HLT Digital 2023.
Overcoming Obstacles in Teaching. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
Rewarding Experiences from Working Abroad. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
Teachers´ Personalities Affecting Their Success. Alan Maley, HLT Digital, 2023.
Teaching and Innovation. Alan Maley, HLT Digital, 2023.
Teaching in an Unfamiliar Context. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
Technology in the Classroom. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
Textbooks vs Authentic Materials. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
The Main Goal of any Teacher. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
The Number of Students in a Classroom. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
The Role of Discipline. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
Using Mother Tongue/L1 in the Classroom. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
What I'm Currently Working on.... Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
What Motivated Me to Become an English Language Teacher. Alan Maley, HLT Digital 2023.
Korea Bridge. 2011. Alan Maley @ 2010 PAC KOTESOL Conference.
Pavilion ELT. 2012. Over the Wall - On the Importance of Reading Widely.
East Meets West Education. 2013. From Preparation to Preparedness IATEFL 2013 Adrian Underhill & Alan Maley.
Malu Sciamarelli. 2015. Mr Spider.
CELT Athens. 2016. Interview.
TESOL Greece. 2016. Interview.
TESOL Greece. 2016. Alan Maley Plenary Talk.
IAFOR Media. 2016. When Will We Ever Learn? Ten Great Educators and their Legacy.
Cambridge University Press Elt. 2019. Creativity when Teaching English Language.
The Creativity Group. 2019. Creativity in the Classroom.
The Creativity Group. 2019. Spontaneity, the Other Side of Creativity.
The Creativity Group. 2020 Developing Expertise through Experience.
IATEFL Global Issues SIG. 2021. Meet our PCE speakers - Alan Maley.
Sirhajwan Idek. 2022. Masterclass: Haiku with Alan Maley (UK).
HLT.digital. 2022. HLT Digital: Alan Maley shares who mostly influenced his teaching career.
HLT.digital. 2022. HLT Digital: Alan Maley talks about own work and what considers as innovative.
HLT.digital. 2022. HLT Digital: Alan Maley talks about his first memories from school.
HLT.digital. 2022. HLT Digital: Alan Maley shares 3 key tips for novice teachers.
HLT.digital. 2022. HLT Digital: Alan Maley talks about a poignant incident in his career.
HLT.digital. 2022. HLT Digital: Alan Maley tells what has changed over time in the world of teaching.
HLT.digital. 2022. HLT Digital: Alan Maley shares who has the biggest impact on his teaching approach.
HLT.digital. 2022. HLT Digital: Alan Maley on teacher´s personality.
HLT.digital. 2022. HLT Digital: Alan Maley on the number of students in the classroom.
Poetry performance. 2023. Alan Maley with Claudia Ferradas.
2018. Pilgrims Teaching. An Interview with Alan Maley
Podcasts
2022. Tefl Training Institute Podcast. Creating Creativity in Language Teaching with Alan Maley. (source)
Interviews
2014. ELTWorldOnline. An Interview with Alan Maley. Exploring Creativity in the Language Classroom. (source)
2017. The C Group. Interview with Alan Maley. (source)
2018. Academia. Interview with Alan Maley on Practical Approaches for Teaching Writing. (source)
2019. Azim Premji University. Practical Approaches to Teaching Writing: An interview with Alan Maley. (source)
Alan Maley
Recommended books
The Inner Game of Tennis
Timothy Gallwey
Not much to do with tennis - but everything to do with how we can live more fully.
Teaching Languages: A Way and Ways
Earl W. Stevick
A wise book introducing and reflecting on innovative methodologies.
How Children Fail
John Holt
A devastating critique of the mis-education in current vogue.
Bird by Bird
Ann Lamott
A wonderful book about being a creative writer.
Lost in Translation
Eva Hoffman
A moving account of how the writer lost her mother tongue (Polish) and acquired a new language (English). Perceptive reflections on language and the person.
Out of our Minds: Learning to be creative
Ken Robinson
A highly critical perspective on current educational practices and ways to become more creative.
Respite for Teachers: Reflection and Renewal in the Teaching Life
Christine Pearson Casanave, Miguel Sosa
A critical view of current educational practices and ways to deal with them. Highly recommended.
A Book of Silence
Sara Maitland
One person's search for silence in a noisy world - and why silence is importance.
Place in HLT
Alan Maley's name has, for decade after decade, been almost synonymous with humanism in language teaching. Whether as a teacher, speaker, author, or leader, he has stood out through his wisdom, through his way of relating to others, and above all, through his commitment to his beliefs about teaching and learning.
Alan first came to prominence during his posting to the then republic of Yugoslavia, where he struck up productive relationships with other expat practitioners posted there, among them Alan Duff, with whom he went on to co-writ some very influential books for teachers such as The Mind's Eye (also with Françoise Grellet), Drama Techniques and The Inward Ear. Like so many of his publications, the focus was on fostering creativity in language classrooms and on encouraging teachers to look beyond the limits imposed by textbooks, and curriculum and examination requirements, in order to motivate learners to express themselves and to enjoy learning. This has become something of a crusade for him over many years, aimed at benignly undermining the conventions of orthodox methodologies and the hegemony of exam boards and 'mainstream' publishing houses by placing learning and learners at the center of the educational process. He has done this through countless articles in most major ELT journals and through his always engaging presentations at conferences and other professional events.
Alan has held teaching posts and senior positions with the British Council in a number of countries, including France, Italy, Ghana, China and India. After leaving the Council he worked in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. In the UK, he was also Director General of the Bell Educational Trust for five years in the 1980s. In all of these places, we won the respect of local colleagues and left his mark on the ELT community. But on these travels, he was also constantly picking up ideas through engagement with fellow professionals and others, something which is evident in the creative work which is so close to his heart. In his poems and stories, as well as in his talks and interactions with others, there is a rich vein of intercultural awareness and deep respect for the people he has encountered and worked with. He has always enjoyed working closely with others, and many of his publications are co-authored.
He has always tried to use the influence that these posts have given him to inspire others, to further the cause of humanism in language teaching, of environmental concerns, and of creativity. This was particularly evident during and after his term as President of IATEFL, and his subsequent commitment to the Global Issues Special Interest Group and to the fostering of the C Group and, more recently, the Worlds into Words creative writing group. His Place in HLT Digital is a testament to this career-long commitment to humanism.
