David Dodgson

David Dodgson blogged for Modern English Teacher over 4.5 years up to the end of 2021. During his time as the MET blogger, David wrote 52 posts spanning his teaching and managerial experiences across 3 different countries and 3 different jobs and drawing on his 20+ years in ELT. Throughout his career, David has worked in Kazakhstan, Bahrain, Turkey and Gabon, gaining experience with young learners, adults, EAL students and exam preparation classes, and holds an MA in EdTech and TESOL and the Trinity DipTESOL. When he finally returned to the UK, he relished the challenge of teaching in the UK for the first time as EAL Coordinator in a leading independent school, which was reflected in some of his more recent posts. David still continues to write, so expect to see articles from him in the new-look MET, as well as in publications like MET, ETp and TESL-EJ. You can find his personal blog here. His interests include supporting learning with technology, and teacher self-development. He also uses digital games as authentic materials for language learning, and blogs about it at eltsandbox.wordpress1.com. David believes that writing articles and blog posts allows you to be part of the wider ELT community, provides a platform to share and reflect on your experiences and to learn from others by engaging with the world of ELT beyond your own personal teaching context. So above all, his advice is to "write on"!

On Form: Finding and Applying for TEFL Jobs

In the third post in his series on career development, MET’s resident blogger David Dodgson shares advice and ideas on finding the right job in the wide world of ELT. From identifying the best openings to filling out the dreaded application form, David shares his own experiences and invites your advice through the comments section.

Project Handover

In his latest post, our resident blogger David Dodgson, describes a recent project he gave to two classes with very different results. He shares his reflections on why the first attempt did not work out as planned and how handing more control and ownership of the project over to the second class resulted in a much more engaging learning experience.

From TEFL Job to TEFL Career

In the first of a new series of posts, MET resident blogger David Dodgson looks at how to make the transition from English language teaching as a job to a career.

Starting the Year with some R&R

The New Year is a common time to reflect and make resolutions. In his first post of 2018, MET’s resident blogger David Dodgson guides us through his process of reflecting on his teaching and development in 2017, and using those reflections to inform goals and ideas for 2018.

4 Misconceptions about Pronunciation

Inspired by the January 2018 issue of Modern English Teacher and a recent debate in his teaching centre, MET resident blogger David Dodgson addresses some common misconceptions about teaching pronunciation, and suggests some quick and easy ideas for incorporating more pron work into our classes.