1
Who is Ben Goldstein ?
I’m a writer, teacher and teacher trainer
in ELT. I’ve worked in the profession for over thirty years. I’m British but
I’ve lived in Spain for decades, así que
hablo español también.
I’m
passionate about making inclusion more accessible to teachers so that they can
create a safe environment in class in which all students can fulfill their
potential.
2. Who/ what inspires you as an
English Teacher, teacher trainer, author of the book “30 ideas of inclusion in
the world of ELT”?
Well, I think reading and researching
topics like Inclusion is what really inspires me. For example, my whole
approach to Inclusion which is person-led rather than label-led, one that
focuses on community rather than on the individual, that idea sprang from
researching the topic at length.
Another inspiration are the teachers that
I meet and the ideas that I share with them – that is invaluable really because
you might feel that your approach is right but you don’t know until you get
feedback from others in the field. Without that, you’d just be working in a vacuum and I feel that’s
a problem many academics have, that they are out of touch with the reality of
the classroom.
3. How is inclusion transforming the essence of what
we do in Education?
To be honest, I don’t think it is
transforming what we do. In fact, I believe a lot of what we think of as “inclusive
practice” is actually stuff a lot of us have been doing for years.
A lot of it is actually common sense,
things like developing empathy with your students, creating a sense of
community, using the students’ own language, encouraging peer learning,
fostering intercultural awareness – a lot of this we’ve known about a long time
but it is all very much involved with inclusive teaching practices.
What’s changed is the way all this is
framed. We are now more aware of greater variability in class, of multiple
differences be they cultural, religious, socio-economic, cognitive, physical or
sensory. We now need to appreciate these differences and that’s what’s new – we
need to develop a greater sensitivity towards our learners and greater curiosity about them, find out
what makes them who they are.
4. How do you stay motivated as an english teacher, teacher trainer, and author nowadays?
Writing is quite a solitary business and
it can isolate you – sometimes I feel like I’m working in a bubble or an echo
chamber surrounded by people who just agree with me. So, I’d say my main motivation comes when I
travel and meet teachers and get to know their everyday realities. That’s when
I see if my work is relevant or not and if my approach strikes a chord with
teachers. And, of course, each place I visit is very different so I end up
learning a lot about diverse teaching contexts and scenarios – this helps
inform my work a great deal. In fact, I couldn’t do what I do without being
able to get these perspectives from fellow teachers on a regular basis.
5. What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as an
educator?
I’ve been a writer of ELT materials for
years now and I think trying to make these more inclusive has been my biggest
challenge. Publishers say they want to be inclusive and you have a lot of EDI
guidelines that you have to follow but then they send you guidelines based
around Cultural Considerations as well and the two documents often just end up contradicting
each other- this is very frustrating. I think things are starting to improve
slowly but we still have a long way to go.
6. Apart form teaching, do you think your work on
inclusion is making a difference to others, if so in which ways?
It’s very hard to say. The book is still
very recent. I’ve started giving talks about it now and a lot of teachers do
seem to be getting the message but it’s still early days.
7. Finally,
What are your words or pieces of advice to teachers everywhere who want to keep
their inspiration alive or even motivate themselves to keep going and growing
in the field of inclusion?
I think it’s important
not to see inclusion as simply an extra or add-on, it has to be something that
is intrinsic to all our work. But I think big changes can be made in little
ways, by small gestures, it’s a process. It’s important to demystify inclusive
practice, it’s not rocket science. Teachers don’t need to change their teaching
practice overnight – in fact I believe a lot what many language teachers do is
already inclusive.
The important thing to
understand is that any adaptations or accommodations that are made by teachers
to suit students’ diverse needs have to be beneficial to all students, no
student should feel that they are receiving special attention– at least that should
be avoided where possible.
Finally, I think
teachers should see belonging as an
end goal to all this. In some way, it’s more helpful and less divisive term
than Inclusion. After all, you can be included but still not feel like you
belong. Belonging it is not something
that is bestowed on us by others, but emerges from meaningful contribution to a
group and I think that is something we can all relate to.
Simply by showing
greater sensitivity and kindness to our students, being more interested in them
as people, their lives, their interests, their stories – that’s as good a place
as any to start.
Extra information:
Ben is running a course with the amazing ITDI named: "Inclusion: Creating a sense of belonging - 6 week course starts on November 16th. Do not miss this amazing course
Here you are the link to register:
https://itdi.pro/community/course/inclusion-2025/#component=course
Hope to see all of you there on board :)
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