Recently, there has certainly been lively discussion, and sometimes polarised opinions, over issues of crucial importance to individuals, societies and the planet. Aspects such as identity, nationalism, religion, sexual orientation, ethnic differences, the origin of life, environmental protection and climate change are all contested areas. Teachers, like other people, often have strong views on these issues; in their classrooms they have a platform to express these views and a more or less captive audience. Continue reading
Category Archives: IATEFL
My IATEFL Conference 2019 experience! | Nick Manthei | Aysu Şimşek
I close my eyes and imagine a place where I can meet hundreds of teachers from different places on earth, with different backgrounds, with different interests and with the same passion: learning and sharing. I open my eyes and see this place is real, like my very own self that meets these teachers and shares with them the same enthusiasm for teaching. This place is the wonderfully orchestrated 53rd IATEFL Conference 2019 held in Liverpool. The location of the event was right on the water with beautiful views of the coastline. Overall, approximately 3,000 attendees participated in over 500 talks! In these sessions, fellow colleagues presented their findings from their part of the world and discussed how it could be adapted to the participant’s home country. It was Aysu’s first time at IATEFL and Nick’s third, and both of us eagerly await next year’s conference.
Nick was fortunate enough to fly early to Liverpool and attend the special interest group on Learning Technologies. Here participants discussed how technology and feedback can be used to assist English language learning. After a great presentation on defining what feedback is and what it should be, the audience was shown several technologies that are currently being used in the classroom. This included uses of Artificial Intelligence and Screen Caption technology. During the conference, we attended several Teacher Training sessions, two of which stood out. One particularly memorable session focussed on using Lego to enhance teaching and learning, and another focussed on Assessing through Games.
Aysu has been into poetry since she could remember for her own pleasure, but for the past couple of years, she has been interested in using poetry in the ELT classroom. You can imagine her excitement at joining a poetry session with Doris Suchet to hear her ideas, poetry is another way to find out about one’s own, and certainly a great way to connect with others.
The Oxford Test of English
Oxford University Press’s Oxford Test of English Launch Event was a huge success. It was held in the beautiful Tate Liverpool Museum where many gathered to celebrate this new endeavour. The Oxford Test of English is a computer adaptive general English proficiency test certified by the University of Oxford. Nick was at the party and met several teachers eager to access this test for their students, enabling them to access further education.
The thing we will probably remember the most though was the people we met and interacted with. All the presenters were incredibly generous and approachable. We met so many teachers from around the world and learned about their students and working conditions. Conversations with teachers from Nepal, Russia, England, Thailand, Kosovo, Brazil, the Netherlands, Greece, China, and Bulgaria all helped to shape our knowledge of ELT globally, as well as help us to reflect on our own situation in Turkey.
One final note
Throughout the conference, this snippet from Alice in Wonderland haunted us:
The Hatter asks ‘Have I gone mad?’ and Alice answers ‘You’re entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret, all the best people are.’
I believe we, as the people attending IATEFL, are all ‘bonkers’ like ‘all the best people are’ because we are the living proofs that we can create a world that is equal, inclusive, kind, hungry for learning, and open to sharing.
Nick Manthei is a full-time teacher trainer for Oxford University Press. He has previously taught in Istanbul and Izmir. He recently finished his Master’s degree in Education at Endicott College on International Education with an ESL Concentration. Nick has an optimistic outlook on Education in Turkey and the world and gives real examples of how education can be made better starting with the most important person in the school: the teacher.
Aysu Şimşek is a passionate advocate of continuing professional development. After graduating from Istanbul University with joint honours in American Culture and Literature with Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy, she embarked on her own teaching career. As a teacher, Aysu had the fortune to work in supportive teaching teams and personally benefited from the valuable guidance of mentors. Now in her role with Oxford University Press, Aysu meets and supports teachers from across Turkey and is proud to be an active member of a global community of dedicated educationalists. She is a holder of a CELTA qualification, has co-written articles for Modern English Teacher magazine and TEA Online Magazine.
5 minutes with Sarah Rogerson, Director of Assessment for the Oxford Test of English
A new job and new products
I started at Oxford University Press as Director of Assessment for ELT on January 2nd this year. I remember at my interview being asked about what my priorities would be within the first 3 months of the job. I said one of my main priorities would be to fall in love with the OUP assessment products. Somethings you say at interviews because you have to, but this is something I genuinely meant. I need to feel passionate about what I do and see the value in what I do – I need to fall in love with what I do. So this blog is a love story! It’s a love story about me and the Oxford Test of English.
Where to begin… how about an exotic location!
In my 3rd week at OUP, I visited the OUP España offices in Madrid. I wanted to meet customers, I wanted to know about their problems, I wanted to know their thoughts about the Oxford Test of English, I wanted to know from them what my priorities should be. And so, my colleagues arranged for me to meet 3 very different types of customer in and around Madrid. I was overwhelmed by the positivity of these customers towards a new English language assessment in what is a very competitive market. Some key things that came out of this were that the Oxford Test of English is fit for purpose, friendly and flexible. They loved the fact that the exam can’t be failed, that it’s fully online, that it’s modular, and that it’s on demand. As a newcomer, this was fantastic to hear.
“I arranged to sit the test like an actual student”
As soon I got back to the UK, I arranged to sit the test as an actual student, and so my love was ignited! A 4 skill test, 3 CEFR levels, and it can be completed in 2 hours; it solves so many customer pain points. It had me hooked.
The assessment capability at OUP is strong. The Oxford Test of English is really impressive, and our placement test is also a winner! We’ll be revealing a new product in April 2020 and I’m really happy in my new role.
I’m thoroughly excited about the future and building the OUP assessment brand. If you want to know more, check out the Oxford Test of English website, or if you’re coming to the IATEFL conference this year in Liverpool, don’t miss our launch event!
Sarah Rogerson is Director of Assessment at Oxford University Press. She has worked in English language teaching and assessment for 20 years and is passionate about education for all and digital innovation in ELT. As a relative newcomer to OUP, Sarah is really excited about the Oxford Test of English and how well it caters to the 21st-century student.
Discovering IATEFL | Brighton 2018
From the moment I heard the heavy guitar intro to ‘Whole Lotta Love’ it was obvious I was listening to something markedly different, a formidable rock band. But it wasn’t until many years later that I truly got into Led Zeppelin.
I don’t know why it took so long after those first notes, but my ears, indeed my soul, thanks me today for it. I listen to LZ now as if they are a new band. Such as it was for me at IATEFL 2018, because even though the conference is legendary, and despite my twenty-plus years in ELT, this year’s event was my first. I’m appreciative now that I hadn’t attended before as it was a ‘shot in the arm’ that revitalised my passion for education, and at times it felt like I was attending a live music festival.
This year OUP Turkey sent a team (including myself) over to Brighton for IATEFL 2018. Collectively we attended hundreds of sessions. In the evenings at dinner, and the following mornings at breakfast, conversations flowed fast and free about what we’d seen, and what the day’s coming plans were. Some of us ‘jig-sawed’ our schedules to cram as many of the seemingly endless selection of enticing sessions in as we could.
The presenters at IATEFL were great, I always left the room with a meaningful takeaway. In some cases, my own pedagogical paradigm shifted – that’s saying something for an ‘old dog’ like me. The SIGs were of special interest to me, and Monday’s tech group alone was worth the trip from Istanbul, providing those of us with a bird’s eye view (through Google Cardboard and Oculus Rift for example) into the future of education (which made clearer more than ever that the future is fast upon us). But to me, even technology could not reach as deeply to my educator’s core than the human value of the SIG SEN (Special Education Needs).
If you are like me, I would bet that within a few seconds of meeting its president Varinder Unlu you’d realise just how important this special group is. For example, on Tuesday I attended Marie Delaney’s presentation on Teaching Students with Behavioural Difficulties, when it was finished all I could mutter to myself was, “Wow”. We most certainly need more voices like theirs in education, and I hope future conferences will reflect this. In my job I work with teachers extensively and can unequivocally say there is a strong need and demand from them for expert assistance in ELT from groups such as the SIG SEN.
Other IATEFL sessions were also impactful. It’s doubtful anyone can dispute the plenaries generated meaningful discussions that lasted well beyond their presentation time. Also impressive was the Pecha Kucha performances, those too were a first for me. The presenters were fantastic but the show-stopper was Lexical Leo – he brought the house down!
From the welcoming receptions at the publishers’ booths to the freely provided glorious black fuel (coffee of course!), the support staff were A+. It was also my first time in Brighton and I hope it’s not my last. A big thank you goes out to the host city, the organisers of IATEFL, and to all of our new friends who made this feel, at least for me in some way, like I had been to a Led Zeppelin concert.
See you next year in Liverpool!
Christopher Sheen, Teacher Trainer and PD Coordinator, OUP Turkey
Christopher Sheen is a full-time Teacher Trainer and Coordinator with Oxford University Press, based in Istanbul. For more than 20 years he has engaged in all types of learner profiles in the ELT field, in North America, Asia, and since 2014 in Turkey. Before joining OUP Turkey he was the lead trainer in Japan’s largest language company in addition to being a full-time English instructor in the largest university in western Japan. He has a keen interest in class dynamics, student ownership and CPD programs.
Teaching: The good, the bad and the balance
Sarah Mercer is Professor of Foreign Language Teaching at the University of Graz, Austria and co-author of ‘Exploring Psychology for Language Teachers’. In this post she reflects on the importance of teachers’ well-being and offers some practical suggestions to help them find their own work-life balance.
Let me get this straight from the start – I absolutely love teaching. I can’t think of any other job I would like to do more. When I read the post-its from IATEFL and Andrew Diliger’s recent blog post and saw all the positivity, I felt grateful to be part of this wonderful community. Many teachers are passionate about what they do and they also get a lot energy, motivation, and inspiration from their learners and day-to-day classroom encounters. But let’s not diminish just how demanding a profession it is. Teaching requires great skill in having competence in our subjects, interpersonal skills, pedagogical knowledge, intercultural sensitivity, creativity, technological skills, and organisational skills – to name but a few. It is a profession with a long history, which we should be proud to be part of and which necessitates specialist expertise for it to function well – That’s where we come in. In fact, we are probably the most valuable resource in educational institutions and yet very often the importance of what we do goes unappreciated and undervalued – sometimes by others but also occasionally by ourselves.
Teaching can be extremely rewarding but can also be emotionally and physically draining. Like seasonal workers, during term time, many of us work evenings and weekends. It is extremely stressful on a day-to-day basis and as administration and assessment procedures mushroom, it grows ever more exhausting having to work on tasks that are a lot less rewarding than the time spent in class. The to-do list is never-ending and there is always more we could be doing. Add to this that as teachers, we tend to be other-oriented and very often we have tendencies towards perfectionism. As a result, this can lead us to keep giving to others and doing ever more not knowing when to stop and recharge our own batteries. It is easy to see the risks and why many early career stage teachers end up leaving the profession and why teaching reports such high levels of burnout.
So, how do we reconcile these two sides of teaching? The side where we love and are energised by what we do, along with the incredibly demanding, exhausting and stressful reality of a busy teaching life. Well, part of the clue lies in the fact that so many positive comments were found at an event like IATEFL. Firstly, we know that we can benefit enormously from professional development that is meaningful, relevant and worthwhile. We can enjoy spending time focusing on things that are professionally, intellectually and personally engaging. We might do this by attending conferences, workshops, webinars or by reading blogs or books of interest. However, we must take care not to fall into the trap of believing everyone is doing more than us and start to feel guilty for all the other things we ‘could’ be doing. Instead, we should find professional development opportunities to energise us and inspire us, whilst remaining realistic about what we can manage without trying to do it all. It is important for us to celebrate who we are as individuals taking time to focus on our strengths and the things we are already doing really well. We also have to remember that we are more than just our teacher selves. Having other interests and hobbies outside of education is important to keep us balanced and strengthen our overall well-being. This means we need to plan in time in our busy schedules for the other dimensions of our lives to draw energy and inspiration from them too.
The second dimension from IATEFL that gives us another clue for our positive well-being is how important it is to connect with colleagues and share stories, experiences, and ideas from the classroom and life beyond. This kind of support network and the ability to talk with people who know and understand your situation is vital. Indeed, other teachers are often the best people to share your humour about teaching life with – Indeed, laughter is one of the best coping strategies for reducing stress. However, more important than our collegial relationships are our family ties and personal friendships. These deserve our full quality attention and time. They serve as a primary source of support, happiness, and well-being and are a vital buffer against stress. No matter how packed our schedule, we must set aside time to protect and nurture these relationships.
Being a teacher is a joy and privilege. But it is also hard work and stressful. To ensure that the positive aspects of our work predominate, we need to do things that are rewarding and give us energy as well as invest in our personal and professional relationships. Once we understand that our happiness and well-being are key determinants of how well we teach and how much our learners enjoy our classes, then it becomes a lot easier to feel less selfish and guilty about putting ourselves first for a change.
Featured image credit: ‘Finding Balance’. Public Domain via Flickr