Be the English Teacher Who Defies the System
Why does it still feel like you have to prove yourself every single day?
Maybe it is the parent who emailed asking for a “native speaker” teacher. Maybe it is the colleague who raised an eyebrow when you led a pronunciation lesson. Maybe it is the job listing that still says “native speakers preferred.” Or maybe it is the quieter thing: the voice in your own head that says not yet. Not fluent enough. Not the right accent. Not the right kind of teacher.
Here is what I want you to know before we go any further:
That voice was planted. And today, we are going to pull it out by the root.
I have spoken about native speakerism on international stages, been cited in academic research, and featured in EL Gazette, The PIE News, and Voices Magazine. I hold a BA, MA, CELTA, and DELTA from Cambridge. I am a qualified teacher according to the UK Department of Education.
And I still had a recruiter ask me to prove my English proficiency.
You have already tried to fix this. That is the problem.
You have downloaded the resources. Sat through the webinars. Maybe you have softened your accent in professional situations, skipped the pronunciation activities, or let the coursebook do the talking so no one questions your authority.
You have been told that more learning is the answer.
More vocabulary. More polish. More proximity to a standard that was never designed to include you.
But here is what actually happens: you complete another course, feel temporarily inspired, and return to a classroom where the same biases are still running the show. You attend CPD and leave feeling like you still have more work to do on your accent, when your accent was never the problem.
You cannot say no to unfair treatment without feeling guilty for it. Because protecting yourself feels like a betrayal of your own values as someone who got into this work to help.
Knowledge is not power when the system keeps moving the goalposts.
The problem was never your accent. The problem is an industry that was built to make you believe it was.
What no one else in ELT is willing to say
Most professional development in ELT, the Cambridge courses, the OUP webinars, the British Council certifications, is built on the same foundations that created the problem. They cannot dismantle a system they are invested in maintaining.
I am not affiliated with any of them. I do not have a publisher to answer to.
I built the Defeating Systemic Bias in ELT Masterclass Bundle because no credible, focused, research-based resource like this existed anywhere. Not for the extreme cases of obvious discrimination. For the everyday moments: the parent complaint, the job listing, the colleague’s raised eyebrow, the well-meaning academic who describes multilingual speakers as constantly translating and calls it a compliment.
This is not theory for the sake of theory. It is clarity you can act on in your next lesson, your next job interview, the next time someone questions whether you are enough.
My name is Meri. I have been teaching English for over 15 years.
Primary, secondary, adults, private schools, language institutes. I hold a BA and MA in Culture, Communications and Languages. A CELTA. A DELTA from Cambridge.
I have been on both sides of this. There were years where I moved through the world perceived as a native speaker, and the doors that opened because of that perception were infuriating to witness. Then there were years when my nationality became visible and the same doors closed. Same knowledge. Same credentials. Different treatment.
I walked into an interview once for an English teaching position. The interviewer looked at my documents, saw where I was from, and made her decision before I opened my mouth.
She did not let me speak English to her.
Before you go further, let me be clear about what this is not
It is not another phonetics course that reminds you how much work you still need to do on your accent.
It is not a methodology workshop built for native speaker teachers with your name awkwardly added to the title slide.
It is not vague diversity content that names the problem and stops there.
It is not affiliated with any institution that helped create the problem it claims to address.
DSB does not ask you to improve yourself to fit the system. It gives you the tools to understand the system and teach brilliantly on your own terms.
The Defeating Systemic Bias in ELT Masterclass Bundle
Everything you need to stop shrinking, start teaching on your own terms, and become the teacher your students actually deserve.
Masterclass 1: Accentism in ELT
This is where everything starts to make sense. We go into the roots of accent bias in English language teaching: where it came from, why it has nothing to do with your ability, and how to challenge it with language and evidence rather than just frustration. You will walk away able to speak confidently about accentism to students, parents, peers, and hiring panels.
Masterclass 2: Methodologies and Approaches Through the Decades
This is the masterclass that makes you look at every coursebook differently. We trace every major ELT methodology from the last century and show exactly how native speaker ideals got embedded into the methods, materials, and training that shaped how you teach today. You will understand why the CPD you attended never quite landed.
Masterclass 3: Teaching Global Pronunciation
This is where the research becomes action. We teach pronunciation for real-world intelligibility, not native speaker mimicry. You will learn what actually matters for communication, why accent imitation is the wrong goal, and how to teach pronunciation with full confidence in your own voice.
The 80-Page Pronunciation Activity Booklet
5 complete, ready-to-use pronunciation activities. Every one comes with a full lesson plan, teacher notes, editable templates, and tips for adapting to primary, secondary, and adult learners. Open it on a Sunday. Use it on Monday.
3 Detailed PDF Workbooks
One workbook per masterclass, packed with summaries, reflective questions, and activities to take the learning deeper at your own pace. These are not passive reading material. They are tools designed to move you from awareness to action.
Section 8 Testimonials
bla bla
Section 9 Who is this for?
bla bla
Section 11 Final CTA
Why does it still feel like you have to prove yourself every single day?
Maybe it is the parent who emailed asking for a “native speaker” teacher. Maybe it is the colleague who raised an eyebrow when you led a pronunciation lesson. Maybe it is the job listing that still says “native speakers preferred.” Or maybe it is the quieter thing: the voice in your own head that says not yet. Not fluent enough. Not the right accent. Not the right kind of teacher.
Here is what I want you to know before we go any further:
That voice was planted. And today, we are going to pull it out by the root.