October 2026 marks 15 years since I moved to Spain to teach English.

Fifteen years! I'm still not quite sure how that happened.

When I arrived, I certainly didn't have a five-year plan mapped out, let alone a fifteen-year plan. I was coming to Spain to teach English because I had friends who had done the same and enjoyed it, and I couldn't have imagined how much that one decision would shape my career (and my life).

Fifteen years later, I've spent countless hours in the classroom, become involved with English language examinations, completed a second Master's degree, moved into academic management and spent a lot of time thinking about teaching, learning and how we can help both students and teachers develop.

And the funny thing is, the longer I work in ELT, the more I realise how much I still have to learn!

Looking back over the last 15 years, there are a few things that stand out to me:

1. Experience doesn't mean having all the answers

When I first started teaching, I think I assumed that experienced teachers eventually reached a point where they just... knew. They knew what activity would work, how to deal with every possible classroom problem and exactly what to say when a student asked a difficult question. And importantly, they knew what they were doing!

I'm not sure that's actually how it works.

Fifteen years in, I definitely feel more confident in the classroom than I did when I started. I've seen the same problems (and many new ones!), taught a lot of different learners and have learnt which things are worth worrying about and which really aren't. But I've also become much more aware of what I don't know.

Experience doesn't necessarily give us all the answers. Instead, I think it gives us better questions. And perhaps that's what being an experienced teacher is really about: being able to notice, question, adapt and try again unapologetically.

2. The classroom is only one part of learning

This is something I've thought about more and more over the years.

When we're teaching, it's very easy to focus on what happens during our 60, 90 or 120 minutes together. Did they understand the grammar? Did they complete the task? Did they use the target language? Did we achieve our lesson aims?

All important questions, of course. But learning doesn't begin when students walk through the classroom door, and it certainly doesn't stop when they leave.

What happens outside the classroom matters too. The opportunities students have to use English. The way they approach homework (if they do it at all!). Whether they have the study skills to know how to study. Whether they reflect on their mistakes. Whether they feel confident making decisions about their own learning.

This is probably one reason why learner autonomy has become such an important area of interest for me. My Master's research looked at teacher and student perceptions of learner autonomy in Spain, and it's a topic that has continued to influence both my teaching and my work in teacher development.

The more I learn about learning, the more I think our job isn't simply to teach students English. It's also to help them become better at learning English.

3. Teachers need development, not just training

This is something I've become particularly interested in since moving into academic management. I've delivered (and attended!) plenty of training sessions over the years. Workshops, webinars, conferences, CPD sessions... you name it. And training is valuable.

But attending a two-hour workshop doesn't automatically change someone's teaching.

What happens afterwards is probably much more important.

Do they get the chance to try something out? What happens when it doesn't work? Can they talk to someone about it? Do they receive useful feedback? Do they have time to reflect? Do they feel comfortable experimenting?

I've become increasingly interested in the difference between training and development.

Training can give us ideas. Development takes time. It involves experimenting, getting things wrong, reflecting, getting feedback and trying again.

And I think this applies to teachers in exactly the same way that it applies to our students.

We wouldn't expect a student to master a new language point simply because we'd explained it once. So why do we sometimes expect teachers to change their practice after attending one single workshop?

4. Good leadership is often about the things nobody sees

Moving from teaching into academic management was a pretty big change for me. One of the things I've come to appreciate is just how much of a language school happpens behind the scenes.

A timetable that works. Having the right resources available. Clear communication. Problems being dealt with quickly. Teachers knowing what is expected of them and where to go when they need support. All of these things might seem fairly mundane, but they have a direct impact on what happens in the classroom.

And perhaps that's one of the things I enjoy most about academic management - making sure the practical and operational side of things works well enough that everyone else can concentrate on what they're there to do; teachers can focus on teaching and students can focus on learning. And everyone has a better chance of doing their job well.

5. Your career doesn't have to be a straight line

If you'd told me 15 years ago what I'd be doing now, I'm not sure I'd have believed you!

I came to Spain as a fresh graduate to teach English. Then came examinations, interest in my own development, another degree, the development of others, academic management, learning design and a lot of things in between!

Looking at my CV now, it might look like a fairly logical progression, but it certainly didn't feel that way while I was living it. At the time, each step just seemed like the next interesting thing to try out and enjoy. A punt.

And perhaps that's something else I've learnt: careers don't necessarily have to be linear to make sense. Sometimes you only see the logic to the connections when you look backwards.

For me, that common thread has always been learning: learning how people learn, learning how to teach better, learning how teachers develop, learning how we can create better learning experiences and, perhaps most importantly, continuing to be a learner myself.

Fifteen years later...

So here I am, in October 2026, 15 years after arriving in Spain with the intention of teaching English "for a while".

I didn't know I'd still be here. I didn't know where ELT would take me. And I certainly didn't know that teaching English would lead me to become so interested in learning itself.

Fifteen years on, I'm still teaching, still learning, still asking questions - and still trying to work out what I want to be when I grow up. 😉

Maybe that's not a bad place to be.

15 years through pictures: Me (2012) about 200 metres from where I currently live, amazed at the ridiculously cheap price of a caña and tapa of pulpo a la gallega. Me and Crispín (2016) pretending to be athletic - Crispín's still going strong. Me (2023) with wine (what else needs saying?). Me (2026) at work, part of the International House family.