The Importance of Educators and their Legacy

In this interview IAFOR President Dr Joseph Haldane speaks with language learning expert Alan Maley about historically important figures in the field of education.

In this interview IAFOR President Dr Joseph Haldane speaks with language learning expert Alan Maley about historically important figures in the field of education.

This interview follows up on Mr Maley's Keynote Presentation, "When Will We Ever Learn? Ten Great Educators and their Legacy", given at The European Conference on Education 2015 (ECE2015) in Brighton, England.

The conversation begins with Mr Maley explaining the inspiration for his talk and his selection process. He elaborates on the historical significance of these figures and how their contributions have transformed education. He describes how educators like Rudolf Steiner, Paulo Freire, Sylvia Ashton-Warner and David Horsburgh have impacted his own approach to classroom instruction. He also shares experiences and challenges he's personally faced over the course of his career when trying to implement change in the classroom.


Alan Maley

Alan Maley worked for The British Council from 1962 to 1988, serving as English Language Officer in Yugoslavia, Ghana, Italy, France and China, and as Regional Director in South India (Madras). From 1988 to 1993 he was Director-General of the Bell Educational Trust, Cambridge. From 1993 to 1998 he was Senior Fellow in the Department of English Language and Literature of the National University of Singapore, and from 1998 to 2003 he directed the graduate programme at Assumption University, Bangkok. For 20 years he was series Editor for the OUP Resource Books for Teachers series. He has published over 40 books and numerous articles. He is currently a freelance consultant. For the past 10 years he has been involved with the Asia Teacher Writers’ group, which publishes original stories and poems in English for use with students in the Asia region. His main current interest is in creative writing.

Watch his Keynote Presentation, "When Will We Ever Learn? Ten Great Educators and their Legacy".

Posted by IAFOR