This is my last blog. It's been a privilege to write for you, and a pleasure to read your views. And thank you for your many encouraging remarks. Those of us who write these pieces are delighted to learn that teachers find our work helpful: that's what we hope to achieve.

However, while I'm delighted to receive compliments on what I do (who isn't?), these are occasionally so complimentary as to make me nervous. Let me close this series of blogs by releasing a final bee from my bonnet: it's to do with respect for authority.

We all benefit greatly from other people's experience and thinking, but I feel it's also important not to have too much reverence for well-known names – this isn't good either for those who revere or for those who are revered. There have been, and are, plenty of self-appointed gurus in the language-teaching business; some of them have done good, some have done harm. Perhaps Eliot was being a little extreme when he wrote:
'Do not let me hearof the wisdom of old men, but rather of their folly',
but it's good to be critical. If one doesn't agree with what some 'expert' says, one may be wrong, but not necessarily: one may be absolutely right. We mustn't be afraid to trust our own experience and intuitions, especially because in our field, as in all the social sciences, there's a lot of nonsense around.

 There's also a lot of sense, but sometimes it's hard to tell. Impressive terminology can conceal serious confusion. When people talk about 'strategies', 'pragmatics', 'process' or 'identity', for example, I often have trouble focusing on what exactly is meant by these terms, valuable though the discussion may be. (So if you are planning to write a paper on a process strategy for teaching the pragmatics of identity, do me a favour and don't tell me.) As teachers, we have a duty to communicate clearly; we also have a right to expect clarity from those who communicate with us. Years ago I came to a comforting conclusion: if I'm reading something written by an eminent authority, in my own central area of professional interest, and I can't make head or tail of it, it's probably not my fault.

 Let me leave you with a poem.

THANK YOU, MASTER

‘Master
how should we live?’

‘Respect yourself.
Follow your own instinct
for what is good.
Call no man master.
Do not turn men into gods.’

‘Thank you, master.
We will obey your commands
to the letter.’

Warmest regards, and good luck.

Michael

Michael's now finished his period as our Guest Writer - many thanks to all of you who contributed to the discussion on his blog.