Welcome to issue 55 of the International House Journal of Education and Professional Development.
For many of us in the northern hemisphere, this is the time of year when we are busiest – not with marking tests and writing reports, but with getting everything ready for the new school year. Traditionally, this is the best time for new ideas to be presented to language teachers, as it’s always good to start the term off with something new.
You’ll find the present issue is stocked full of ideas that are ready for immediate use. Our Practical Matters section is crammed with wonderful articles on a range of matters, including one of the most helpful applications of AI I have read in recent months, courtesy of Hamideh Hamdi. Hall Houston returns with an article that will get your students talking, and Pilar Capaul takes a look at how we can build more repetition into our classroom practice.
There is a mini feature on Innovation in EFL that will hopefully suggest a few new ideas as well, with Glenn Standish reporting on some ways in which EFL teachers have sought to innovate in the past year, and Wesley Benito considering the ways in which schools can apply new ideas to their systems. Now is a good time for me to thank those teachers, DoSes, and Academic Managers around the world, inside and outside of the IH network, who took the time to provide the raw material that these reports are based on.
The theme of this issue certainly seems to be ‘in with the new’, and to continue that thread we have introduced a section devoted to exams teaching – I expect this is something that will grow and grow in future issues, as exam preparation remains a major part of our industry. We also welcome new writers to the Journal, including our first from Myanmar – Wai Yan Htut’s article on mediation in the classroom will help anyone struggling to understand the concept while also providing useful practical suggestions.
This issue has been a lot of fun to put together, but I’m already looking ahead to spring 2026 – so if you feel inspired by what you read here, do give some thought to submitting your own piece between now and January!
Happy reading – and good luck in the classroom!
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