IATEFL Teacher Training and Education SIG newsletter, October 2023

Gillian Porter Ladousse Scholarship

This year, I was lucky enough to have been selected for the Gillian Porter Ladousse
Scholarship. When I received the email telling me that I had won, I was ecstatic, and a
little shocked as it meant that I was finally going to be able to go to IATEFL and talk
about something I love - teacher education and management. Before I get into my
reflections, though, I would like to take a moment to recognise the importance of the
person behind the scholarship - Gillian Porter Ladousse. You may not have heard of her,
but Gillian was once the coordinator of the TTEdSIG, and as is stated in the scholarship,
was “the driving force behind the conference fund” (IATEFL, 2023, p.1). Without Gillian,
myself and many other TTEdSIG members would never have been able to attend the
conference, and for this I was truly grateful. Unfortunately, Gillian passed away in 2002,
but you can still find many of her books, such as Role Play and Speaking Personally, in
many ELT bookshops.

Three things I liked

So, looking back on the conference, there were many positives. Let’s take a look at
three of my biggest highlights.
1. Quantity of content: When preparing for the conference, I remember sitting
down with the programme and thinking “Wow, there’s a lot to choose from.” And
indeed there was - with hundreds of sessions taking place, IATEFL lived up to my
quantity expectations. There were talks about teaching, training, managing,
materials writing, and many more topics. And, let’s not forget the exhibition - there
were all the big names, and many smaller ones as well, all with their goods on
display (and sometimes some beer as well!).
2. Quality of content: In my mind, quality is more important than quantity - and
IATEFL delivered on that as well. I was a little worried that the 30-minute time
limit for many sessions would stop speakers from going into the juicy details of
their areas, but I was pleasantly surprised (although I’ll come back to this point
shortly). Many of the talks I chose focused on teacher education and
management, and I’ve come away with many takeaways. I was blown away by
3. the wealth of knowledge in many of the sessions, and the number of interesting
and new ideas for all areas of ELT.
4. Networking: I met so many ELT professionals from all over the world, many of
them familiar faces, many of them new. I really enjoyed the social events - I
attended the Scholarship Winners’ gathering and an event for Cambridge
University Press and Assessment, and was warmly welcomed by everyone there.
The environment was so friendly.

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 IATEFL Teacher Training and Education SIG newsletter, October 2023
Six things I learnt
1. From Astrid Mairitsch, I learnt about how EFL pride is impacted by numerous
factors such as salary, how valuable teachers see their work as being, and how
the teaching profession is viewed in their context (e.g., in many Eastern contexts,
teaching is viewed very positively, whilst in many Western contexts teaching is
viewed somewhat differently - not negatively, but not as high of a status as other
professions). Her talk really connected with me as it spoke of the importance of
management practices, and got me thinking about how many of the factors
impeding pride are actually connected to poor management practices.
2. From Ben Beaumont, I learnt about how the Trinity CertPT is developing
teachers’ cognitions through materials development. Trinity CertPT candidates
carry out four assessments that involve an evaluation of a resource, the
adaptation of a published resource, the creation of a resource, and a reflection on
using a resource. Ben spoke about an impact study that Trinity is carrying out
with NILE, and they’ve seen some brilliant results so far. In terms of my
takeaway, I really liked the idea of teacher development through materials
creation, and I am looking to see how we might integrate such a task into our
development menus (i.e., teachers get to choose their development tasks for the
term).
3. From Anna Hasper, I learnt about the importance of understanding what stress is
and isn’t, and how we can help our teens manage their stress when taking
exams. Anna emphasized the need for us to help learners recognise their
emotions so that they can put into place strategies that we pass on. One way we
might do this is by asking learners to reflect on their exam experience and note
how they were feeling throughout. A strategy they might use to calm themselves
during exams is 3-3-3: in their heads they say three things they can see, three
things they can hear, and then they move three body parts. A simple way to take
the mind off the exam, get some breathing in, and refocus before continuing.
4. From Gabriel Diaz Maggioli, I learnt some different ways we can view teacher
learning activities. He put forward that teachers can learn through the following:
exposition (e.g., working with authentic teaching materials), practice (e.g.,
designing and original activity), collaboration (e.g., conducting case analyses),
inquiry (e.g., carrying out book reports), creation (e.g., creating podcasts or
blogs), and reflection (e.g., learning autobiography). I think all of us teacher
educators can see how we might bring some of these types of teacher learning
activities into our development programmes!
5. From Amira Salama I learnt about how resourceful ELT professionals are in the
African context, especially those associated with Africa ELTA. Amira presented at
the TTEdSIG plenary, and spoke about her context - Africa. She shared stories of
conducting conferences outside conference building dues to issues with venues,

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 IATEFL Teacher Training and Education SIG newsletter, October 2023
and working in contexts with very few resources. She also shared some of the
success stories she’s been involved with, one being the Africa ELTA Female
Leadership Mentoring programme - a very powerful and moving initiative. Amira’s
talk pushed me to think about how much I take for granted in my training context.
She also reminded me of how loving and strong our ELT family is.
6. Giovanni Licata led a workshop in which we acted as managers with certain
characteristics, and we saw how more controlling and less trusting managers
actually failed to get their teams to complete their objectives (in our case, design
a new logo for IATEFL!). His session reminded me of the importance of building a
strong ethos of community within our organizations, and ensuring that teachers
are trusted, all members of staff are kept in the loop, and that power is shared
amongst everyone where possible.

Nine tips for future IATEFL goers

1. Sign in early: So, Day 1 of the conference, there are a lot of people, and all of
them are going to sign in to the conference and collect their conference bags.
Depending on the time you arrive, there may be a queue - so the earlier you sign
in, the better. IATEFL were really great as they offered plenty of moments to do
this before Day 1 even kicked off.
2. Remember it’s a marathon: My fellow TTEdSIG committee member Clare
Hayward told me at the start of the week “Remember it’s a marathon, not a
sprint”. I didn’t really know what she meant until Day 2 of the conference when I
hit an energy ‘wall’. I had been trying to attend as many talks as I could, and then
just didn’t have the energy to continue. So, please also take on Clare’s advice -
it’s very good advice indeed!
3. Have a plan of attack: There are a lot of sessions to choose from, and to get the
most out of each day, I would have a plan of action (taking into account tip #2).
This means creating a mini-calendar for each day, making note of the location of
each session.
4. Plan in breaks: Remember to rest and relax - a great way to do this is plan in 30-
minute breaks throughout the day. Use these breaks to get outside, take some
fresh air and recharge the batteries before going back in. You might also use this
time to consolidate your notes, or chat about what you’ve learnt with a conference
friend.
5. Visit the exhibition: I didn’t visit the exhibition until Day 2 of the conference, and
when I got there I was shocked! They had free coffee, loads of people chatting, a
cafe, and a few places to sit down. And, of course, they had publisher stands!
The exhibition is a great place to meet new people, discuss your projects with
publishers that might be interested, and socialize with other members of your
‘tribe’.

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 IATEFL Teacher Training and Education SIG newsletter, October 2023
6. Take a water bottle: You’re going to be moving around a lot, and then when
you’re sitting down, you’re going to be focused on the talk and chatting with other
delegates. This means your body is going to get a little tired, and so you need to
be drinking a lot of water. I went through about two litres each day, and still felt a
little parched when I got to my hotel in the evening.
7. Attend the plenaries: I know that some people missed out on the plenaries as
they are the first sessions of the day, and they last about 50 minutes. This is a
real shame, because the plenaries are often packed full with really interesting
information. I know it’s a struggle to be there at 9, especially after a night out
socializing - but they are worth it!
8. Take (digital) business cards: You’re going to meet a lot of super interesting
people, and you’ll want to get back in touch with them at a later date. And you
know what? They will want to get back in touch with you as well, so having your
business card on hand (or digital) is going to come in handy.
9. Attend the TTEdSIG PCE: I was lucky enough to not only attend the TTEdSIG
PCE, but also form part of the committee running things on the day. We were so
lucky to have an amazing line-up of speakers (as I am sure other SIGs did also). I
would highly recommend attending the PCE as the group is smaller and you
really get a lot out of the day.

IATEFL 2023 Harrogate was a huge conference, and for me one of the highlights of my
career. I have come away not only with practical and implementable takeaways, but with
new connections, strengthened friendships, and a feeling of gratitude towards our
amazing ELT community. I very much look forward to repeating this experience next
year in Brighton, and I hope to see you all there!
IATEFL (2023). Gillian Porter Ladousse Scholarship 2024. Gillian Porter Ladousse

Scholarship 2024. https://www.iatefl.org/file/gillian-porter-ladousse-scholarship-2024pdf

Jim is a teacher, trainer, manager and blogger working in Zaragoza, Spain. His interests lie in
teacher education, task-based language teaching, and developing learner autonomy. You can
normally find him with a good book in his hands or working on his blog, Sponge ELT