I'm Peter and my pronouns are he/him
During my 17-year teaching career, I used the coursebooks I was given and supplemented them with what I thought were good materials. It didn't even occur to me that there was nobody like me in any of the materials I was using.
It was only until I had a class of teenagers who got onto the topic of being gay that I realised that there was a problem. They were using derogatory and offensive words – mainly because they hadn't been educated about being gay.
I told them that they were talking about someone like me.
This was a great teaching opportunity – to educate respectful words and foster better understanding.
A while later, one of the students pulled me aside to thank me, and to come out himself.
This is the power of representation and role models in education.
A fantastic talk - so informative and inspiring!
Clare Hayward, ELT Teacher Trainer, Mentor and Writer, on Peter's IATEFL talk
The 2022 Freelancers' Awayday by ELT Publishing Professionals
Having had my education in the UK under the damaging Section 28, I know from personal experience what it feels like to be invisible in education.
I don't want any more generations to feel like this.
I want to help the ELT industry to understand why and how to represent and implement LGBTQIA+ identities in materials and in the classroom.
I acknowledge my privilege as a white, cis, non-disabled man from the Global North. It is essential to represent intersectional identities.
Aside from LGBTQIA+ identities, I have a particular interest in representing age, disability, mental health and body types. However, all marginalised identities deserve visibility and better representation in ELT.
Why work with me?
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DEI in ELT experience; guidelines, audits, consultations
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exam writing experience
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books for NOCN B1 and C1, ESB B1 and LRN C2
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A2 and B1 Cambridge
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IELTS
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Michigan ECPE and ECCE
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Invalsi
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unit and end of course tests
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experience in development, content and copy editing, proofreading
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extensive teaching experience
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Japan, Russia, Poland, UK
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general and business English, young learners, EAP, NCUK Foundation, IELTS
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IELTS speaking and writing examiner
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Cambridge PET writing examiner
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independent materials writer
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blog posts for We Love IELTS (now closed)
I hired Peter to write blog content for our We Love IELTS website. The content he created was always of a high standard and delivered on time. Peter's knowledge of English language learners and learning clearly shone through all his content. I would have no hesitation in recommending Peter as a content creator.
Liz Eaton, Social Media Expert, Community Manager, Content Specialist
Qualifications and Training
Professional Qualifications
BA (Hons) English with Sociology (2000)
MA (Distinction) English Language and Literature (2016)
PGCE (TESOL) (2003)
DELTA (2009)
Courses taken
Introduction: Copyediting
CIEP
September 2022
Training Academy Champions
LGBT Foundation Academy
Gold Training Academy Champion accreditation, 2022
Foundations to Inclusion
Beth Cox
October - December 2020
Editing and Proofreading
College of Media and Publishing
Distinction, May 2018
Adobe InDesign
London School of Publishing
September 2017
Introduction to Editing and Proofreading Skills
The Publishing Training Centre
July 2017
I recently had the pleasure of working with Peter, who I found to be a skilled exam writer able to write across a wide range of subject areas and with a strong understanding of test taker levels. He was reliable, professional and a pleasure to work with.
Simon Cotterill, Professional Course Director