BELTA goes to Glasgow: 51st IATEFL Conference
03/04/2017 - 19:06
Today was the unofficial start of the 2017 IATEFL Conference. The conference, which runs for four days, officially begins tomorrow. The PCE (Pre-Conference Events) are available for those who do not think four days is enough! Every SIG (Special Interest Group) holds a full-day of workshops and talks organized around a theme, and many of 131 Teaching Associates come together for a full-day of sharing and planning. BELTA President, John Arnold, is in Glasgow and he attended the Associates Day PCE. All this week, he will be reporting about his experiences at IATEFL.
I must be getting old; I’ve come to that point in my life where the thought of travelling fills me with dread. I am not sure what it is or why it is occurring, but it does! On Sunday, 2 April, I could sleep in, enjoy a home-cooked breakfast, and spend my time packing for my trip from Belgium to Glasgow. The journey itself was uneventful. I was dropped off at the airport, which was nice (taking the airport train can be a hassle and expensive); my flights from Brussels to London and from London to Glasgow were on-time; and, I got a taxi almost immediately from the airport to my hotel, which is across the street from the venue (The Scottish Event Centre). Overall, the experience should have been pleasant, but that nagging feeling that I no longer enjoy travelling was with me the whole way.
When I travel to a conference, typically, there is a small problem. This trip was no exception. When I arrived at my very comfortable hotel, I realized that the power converter I brought for my MacBook did not work with my cord. Dread now set in! I needed to plug my laptop in because I must still finish my presentation for Thursday and I need my laptop to present. Now, I am kicking myself for not being better prepared. Luckily, the people at the hotel’s reception were helpful, and we found a solution. (I never truly paid attention to this Apple power cord; did you know you can swap out the European plug for a British one? Well now I know, and I will invest in that end of the power cord when I return to Belgium!)
It is funny how those feelings simply wash away once I attend the first event of the conference. This year, it was no exception. Today, I had the pleasure of representing BELTA, Belgium and all our memberships and partners at the Associates’ Day Pre-Conference Event. Since the beginning, BELTA has been an Associate of IATEFL. Basically, BELTA and IATEFL share the same basic philosophies/missions when it comes to teaching English. As of today, BELTA is one of 131 Associates of IATEFL; these Associates encompass over 95.250 educators world-wide. Unfortunately, there weren’t 131 people at today’s sessions, but I estimate about 50 – 60 Associates were represented.
The day was mostly about how the Associates, like BELTA, can work more closely with each other, SIGs and IATEFL itself. I won’t bore you with the details! One of the things I did realise is that BELTA does a pretty good job regarding these points. We constantly remind our membership that they – once they have joined BELTA – can become members of IATEFL for a significantly reduced price.
We also partner with other teaching associations. In the past, we held a summer conference with TESOL Toronto, which was highly successful, so much so that I am trying to partner with another Associate to offer it again in 2018. We have a partnership agreement with IATEFL Poland in which one of their members comes to our conference and one of our members can go to theirs. Today, I spent some time talking with other Associates to develop similar partnership agreements. We believe that having several international presenters at BELTA Day always enhances the whole experience. Also, last year’s BELTA Day was a joint venture between BELTA and the Learning Technologies SIG. The LTSIG sponsored two speakers at our conference, including one who is now attending IATEFL. The SIG was instrumental in helping us secure Gavin Dudely as our plenary speaker, and SIG Coordinator, Shaun Wilden, also presented. Hopefully, next year, we can partner with another SIG, maybe the Literature SIG, so we can include a literature strand at BELTA Day 2018.
So, after the frustrations of travelling and the frantic search for a plug for my laptop, today, I moved into conference mode: listening, notetaking, networking, and thinking! As the week progresses, I will try to get you all up-to-date on my experiences here in rainy and cold Glasgow. But you can all join the conference was the comfort of your living rooms! Just go to the IATEFL Online site sponsored by the British Council and follow the plenaries and some of the sessions. All the plenaries and some sessions are streamed live and other sessions are recorded and placed on the site. Go to the site, register and stay up-to-date with the latest from the 51st IATEFL Conference in Glasgow.
Part two
