Alan Pulverness: Find out who the people are in the room

On the occasion of our Teachers’ Day 2025, we asked Alan Pulverness, one of the speakers, a few questions. Read his answers below.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and your expertise?

I am a career-long teacher, trainer and materials writer, with specific interests in teacher development, materials design, intercultural learning, teaching literature and the use of drama in the language classroom.

What are you going to talk about at the conference? How do you think the audience will benefit from your insights?

My conference workshop will focus on practical application for teachers of the wealth of video material on the HLT website. Participants will have the opportunity to explore a selection of clips from the many interviews recorded with a range of HLT practitioners and consider how the insights and experiences discussed in the interviews can enrich their teaching plans and strategies. 

Do you recall any particular experience or an aha-moment that you have had recently in terms of teaching or learning?

Post-pandemic, I have been working increasingly online with teachers and teacher educators in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Maghreb. I have been delighted to find, again and again, that what I assumed would be diluted by remote technology has in fact liberated participants and created a more democratic learning space, enabling more individual voices to be heard than is often the case in a physical environment.

What are you working on/learning at the moment?

Working: Writing and editing modular materials for adult learners;  providing remote support for materials writers;  co-researching language policies.
 
Learning: taking an online course in professional editing, copy-editing and proofreading.

If you were supposed to give only a single piece of advice to fresh graduates who start their teaching path, what would it be?

Find out who the people are in the room!

Thank you.

You can meet Alan Pulverness at our Teachers’ Day 2025.