Issue 54

Welcome to issue 54 of the International House Journal of Education and Professional Development.

Issue 54 Cover

The writer of a 1998 article in the IH Journal began with a reflection “on the many good things that have come my way, most of them through being a teacher of English.” That writer was Brita Haycraft, who sadly passed away at the end of 2024. I never had the good fortune to meet Brita, though that is not to say that my life was never touched by her work - I have made a career out of what I had expected to be a short stint at a school in the IH network, and now a third of my life has been spent in IH’s warm embrace. I wish I could have met Brita, but reading her articles for the Journal is a consolation that others too can share. Our issue opens with an in memoriam for Brita in which members of the IH network share their memories, and Brita herself speaks through her many articles in past issues of the IH Journal.

Brita was a passionate leader and her legacy can be seen in the names of the schools that bear the International House name. But in her heart of hearts she was an educator, and would have been delighted to see passion in any teacher, regardless of who they worked for. This ethos finds its reflection in the IH Journal’s proud practice of highlighting the work of teachers from around the world - the work of those who belong to an IH school, as well as of those who do not. The goal is universally the same - to push the culture and practice of language teaching forever forward.

Issue 54 is the work of writers from around the world, sharing their thoughts on topics as varied as organising an ELT conference and the provision of pull-out EAL support. Rhona Snelling has crafted a guide to the creation of lower-level materials that many readers will return to time and again, and Itxaso Astarloza guides us past the orcs and dragons in her exploration of the use of role-play games in the language classroom.

We have Rodrigo Arellano and Gizem Sahim to thank for our mini-special feature, which in this issue focuses on IELTS preparation. They have put together a highly useful four-part series - one for each of the papers in the exam - full to bursting with useful activities that I’m sure exam preparation and General English teachers will appreciate.

In all, there are seventeen articles in this issue for you to enjoy, along with a trio of book reviews, and the first Polish-language article to appear in the Journal.

Even though Issue 54 is just now going to press, I am already excited at the prospect of receiving submissions for Issue 55. For anyone interested, I recommend taking a look at our Writing Guidelines - and reading through the articles we’ve published over the years. Our aim is, as Brita’s always was, to help the language teacher - to reduce the strains that come with the job, and to maximise the potential for fun and enjoyment. I, too, can reflect on the many good things that have come my way - and I, too, feel that they have come to me thanks to my being a teacher of English!