This review originally appeared in IATEFL Voices 292. You’ll be pleased to know that Voices reviews have a 400 word limit, which saves you the pain of all my usual rambling in reviews! Haha.
TEFL Training Institute (TTI) is a well-known podcast in ELT. Over the last six years, podcast creator Ross Thorburn had hosted over 200 episodes, discussing all things ELT with a range of friends and guests.
Most episodes last just 15 minutes, and focus on ‘practical, thought-provoking, or controversial topics’ within the profession. They typically follow a Q&A format with Thorburn posing the questions to industry experts, or they are more general discussions between the host and a regular guest. Episodes are often supplemented with links to articles and blogs for further reading. TTI is aimed at teachers, trainers and leaders, and has hosted an impressive list of specialists over the years. These have included ELT A-listers, edtech experts, teacher trainers, seasoned practitioners, and change agents from within the profession.
Although short, there’s a surprising amount of detail in many episodes, and they provide an excellent springboard for further reflection and research. Areas of ELT that have featured quite often on the podcast include teaching online, assessment, app-based language learning, and the nature/value of ELT coursebooks. There have been various episodes over the six years relating to topics one might consider ‘trending’ – inclusive practice, AI in ELT, evidence-based teaching and the use of L1 in the classroom.
The area covered most comprehensively is probably teaching young learners. There have been episodes on phonics, play-based learning, graded readers, classroom management, task-based approaches with YLs and plenty more, with well-known YL-related guests including Carol Read, Gail Ellis, Chris Roland and Wendy Arnold. There are lots of practical episodes for teachers across the podcast, although I’d say that the episodes focusing on young learner teaching in particular give you plenty of ideas to try out.
This podcast is a great resource for professional development, and could be used as a prompt for discussion during teacher training courses. The Q&As with experts are bitesize, meaning that there isn’t much time for the host to critique ideas within the episode. Teachers could further explore the ideas presented within their own Communities of Practice or professional learning networks. TEFL Training Institute is certainly very accessible, informative, and well worth listening to with colleagues.
Recommended episode: Myths, Wisdom and Science – What Do We Know About Teaching? (with Russ Mayne)
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