Jim Scrivener

Together with his friend Adrian Underhill, Jim has proposed the idea of “Demand-High Teaching”, a suggestion that very small changes in teachers’ attitudes and classroom techniques might lead to significant improvements in student learning. The key change is for teachers to become more aware of learning itself and to start noticing when it is (or isn’t) happening in their lessons. While he proposes a teaching style that focuses on learning over teaching, at the same time he argues that good teaching does intervene, where appropriate, to gently push students to upgrade and improve their language skills. He contrasts this with much contemporary ELT that seems to hope that progress will somehow happen “by magic” after a certain amount of pair work.

As part of Demand High's commitment to changing learning culture, the approach poses questions such as: Are my students capable of more? Could they be challenged more? Would demanding more lead to more learning? Has the ELT class become too ritualised? In place of the constant need to cover more and more material, might more learning take place if the teacher focused on the potential for a deeper kind of learning? What small tweaks or shifts can the teacher make to what they are already doing to transform the focus of teaching towards bringing about an upgrade in the student’s performance?

Jim and Adrian have proposed two key ways to increase the challenge for students and ultimately to improve their learning. These approaches revolve around how teachers provide feedback and how they handle language exercises in class.

Over time, Jim’s conception of the role of the teacher has evolved: traditionally considered as a ‘giver’ in a teacher-led classroom,  the teacher is now seen as someone who provides ‘learning-centeredness’ in a learner-centred environment. When he talks with teachers, he suggests that they prepare their lessons, but not plan every step; he asks them to give themselves enough freedom and time to listen and respond to the learners.