Alejandra Vives Vergara and her co-researchers have developed the Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES). This scale is important because it connects precariousness with health outcomes. Their research, published in the Occupational & Environmental Medicine (OEM) journal…
Tagged By precarious work
Working in the global ELT industry: Is it just me?
Most of us are familiar with the idea of ELT as a global industry. But while it is not uncommon for teachers to move around and work in various countries and contexts, grasping an understanding…
Strength Through Solidarity – English Teacher Worker Group Chile
IN NOVEMBER 2019, a month into the Chilean uprising against massive inequality, I published an Open Letter to the English Teaching Community in Chile. ‘Chile has woken up’ I wrote, ‘and we have the duty…
Time to talk about … jumping ship
In this interview Phil Longwell talks about his research on how teachers have handled the Covid-19 pandemic, positive psychology, and why he’s jumping ship. We’re publishing this to coincide with the final Time to Talk…
We need to talk about…flexibility
Employers believe that the fixed, temporary, zero- and short-hours contracts that dominate many workplaces today give them flexibility. And this flexibility helps them to plan, predict costs, and save money. How such flexibility helps workers is…
Will Covid spell the end of ELT?
In April, with the first wave of Covid-19, we had our first #eltworkerchat. Many teachers had lost hours, student numbers were down – and there was a strong push to go online. Some teachers found…
Teacher Survey – Precarity and the Lockdown!
Accordian to a recent survey, replacing words with the names of musical instruments often goes undetected. OK. That’s a terrible joke. But not a bad introduction. Keith Copley, author of the excellent article Neoliberalism and…
An Open Letter to the English Teaching Community in Chile
A 30 PESO PRICE HIKE ON THE METRO was the straw that broke the camel’s back. We all understand the reasons behind the nationwide protests in Chile. We see them in memes…
10 Things I Learned About Precarity
In August 2018 Richard Smith of the Centre of Applied Linguistics at Warwick got in touch to see if I’d be interested in writing a key definition of ‘precarity’ for the ELT Journal. So,…