My father, Pete Medway, who has died aged 73, was a highly regarded English teacher, lecturer and academic. The recent publication he co-wrote, English Teachers in a Postwar Democracy (2014), marked the end of an influential career and a generous life.

Born in Bradford to a customs officer, Robert, and a pharmacist, Margaret (nee Hancock), Pete attended Bradford grammar school, where he made original contributions to the school magazine, and, in Greek, played the lead in an Aristophanes play. At Christ Church, Oxford, he studied classics before switching to English, then in 1963 trained as a teacher at the Institute of Education in London, under the progressive influence of Harold Rosen.

During the following 16 years, he taught in Walworth, south London, where he met and married my mother, his fellow teacher Jen (nee Biggs), and in Crofton, near Wakefield. Showing patience, respect and an interest in their experiences as individuals, he helped his pupils in a way that was then unfamiliar to most working-class children at comprehensive schools. His book Finding a Language (1980) outlined his approach and is one of the key texts on educational practice.

After a few years attempting to follow the principles of self-sufficiency championed by figures such as John Seymour, selling wholefoods at Wakefield market, Pete completed a PhD at Leeds University and became senior research fellow in the school of education there. His interests in writing, language and communication saw him lead a number of projects. In 1991, he joined Carleton University, Ottawa, as professor of linguistics, where he co-authored a series of publications based on a project called Relearning Writing for Work.

In 2002, he was appointed to a lectureship at King’s College London and trained the next generation of English teachers until formal retirement in 2006.

A large number of former pupils and students have attested to his profound influence as a mentor and friend. Many will miss his humorous company and his lively correspondence.

He is survived by Jen (they separated in 1988 but remained on good terms), his children, Helen and me, his grandchildren, Lucy, Johnny, George and Rose, and his sister and brother, Alison and John.