Page 38 - ELG2003 Mar Issue 469

El•Gazette 469.qxp_El•Gazette 469 25/02/2020 21:52 Page 38

INTERVIEW .

“Our house is always open”

IH London CEO Mark Rendell tells Melanie Butler why the future of ELT is innovation

As CEO of International House London and in-coming chair
of English UK, you are a big name in the industry. But what
is your first memory of teaching?
I literally stumbled into English language teaching (ELT) as a way of
extending my stay in Poland in 1993 after my savings, from a
temporary desk job at the Midlands Electricity Board, had run out.
After a short induction in the direct method, I was assigned a copy
of the heavily prescriptive teachers’ book and bundled into the
classroom to lead a one-to-one lesson with an actual Polish prince,
Prince Czartoryski. I had scripted all my questions but, unfortunately,
I ran out of material half-way through. It was excruciatingly awkward.
One of my best – and worst – experiences was when I delivered my
maiden workshop at IATEFL Poland. I chose a topic that excited me:
connected speech.
To my horror, the pronunciation guru, Adrian Underhill, was sat
right there in the front row beaming back with encouragement. He
seemed to enjoy the many activities even though I had plagiarised
most of them from his eminent publications.
Serendipitously, Adrian is now a trustee at IH London – I can only
hope that he has no recollection of that fateful day.

IH London is one of UK ELT's founding organisations, with a
global strength in teacher training. What do you see as the
greatest advantage of running a ‘National Treasure’, and
what is the biggest challenge?
The forerunner to the CELTA qualification was brought into
existence by the founder of IH, John Haycraft. (It was taken over by
the University of Cambridge.) John was a great visionary who saw the
need to professionalise what was then something of a cottage industry.
IH continues to be synonymous with the highest standards in the
industry and a CELTA, DELTA or other IH teacher qualification
carries great kudos.
But our biggest challenge is to continue to keep teacher training fit-
for-purpose. We recently incorporated flipped learning into our Mark Rendell
programmes, allowing more content to be covered outside of class.
This frees up trainers to support their trainees in their teaching You are about to take over the chair of English UK. What
practice. do you think is the most important change UK EFL needs to
make and how can IH London help?
IH London only recently moved into teaching Young As the national association, we will continue to represent the industry
Learners. Now it’s one of only three organisations in the at this time of change and uncertainty. We will stand shoulder-to-
top UK rankings for both adults and young learners. What’s shoulder with educators from other sectors to make sure that students
your secret? and teachers can continue to come to the UK and enjoy the world-
I am delighted. It is a real achievement to be class education, heritage and liberal lifestyle
able to demonstrate a high level of consistency here.
and quality with very different age groups. We are playing our A good command of English is a pre-
The young-learner sector is the fastest requisite for global participation, so learners
growing in the UK and there is so much scope part by sharing our are more goal-driven and have higher
for innovation. Parents seek new advantages expertise expectations than ever before. UK
for their children and while language remains programmes need to continue to innovate and
the core ingredient we also focus on 21st adapt by offering clearer learning outcomes,
century skills: confidence building, critical thinking, creativity... communicative skills development and a safe, fulfilling and
One of my favourite experiences in the last twelve months was a cosmopolitan learning experience.
demonstration session run with Lego Education. They’re a partner in At IH London we are playing our part by sharing our expertise. We
our new IH Space Challenge programme (offering robotics and coding hosted the ‘Future of Training Conference’ last November, which was
for juniors). I bellowed an almighty cheer when my team landed the a wonderful forum for trainers to come together to explore the latest
lunar rover onto the shuttle pickup point! ideas. We are an International House and our house is always open.
We also have a real commitment to safeguarding and child
protection. The UK is a global leader in this area, due to the Mark Rendell is the CEO of International House London and Vice-
rigorousness of the Accreditation UK regulatory regime run by the Chair of English UK. He has been involved in ELT for 26 years, during
British Council. Finally, we care about the planet and carbon offset all which time he has travelled the world. Mark’s claim to fame is that he
of our young-learner travel, in line with the UN’s Sustainable was a supporting actor in the unacclaimed film, The Bromley Boys.
Development Goals.

38 March 2020