Five reasons to attend BELTA Day or another conference by John Arnold
22/02/2017 - 09:03
Have you ever considered going to a professional conference, but then questioned why you should spend your time and money? BELTA President John Arnold has some practical reasons for attending a conference in our latest blog post, ‘Five reasons to attend BELTA Day or another conference.’ While giving practical reasons, John also talks about some of the talks/workshops that he is looking forward to at this year’s BELTA Day.
Bio:
John Arnold, the BELTA President, is a teacher of English at Thomas More Mechelen-Antwerp and at Linguapolis / University of Antwerp. He has been attending conferences for about 30 years now. This year, he has already attended the TESOL France Annual Colloquium, and he will attend the Annual IATEFL Conference in Glasgow in April.
Five Reasons to attend BELTA Day or another conference
I began my teaching career back in the early 90s. As many new teachers fresh out of university, I was eager to start my career and engage young minds. We are led to believe that our training practice is equivalent to real teaching. I, like many others, learned quickly that that axiom is ‘fake news’! Overseeing a class or multiple classes on a day-to-day basis is not the same as having the safety net of a mentor during your training practice. Teaching 180 days (which is the norm in the America) is daunting to say the least. As a new teacher, I realized that I did not have enough strategies or tools in my ‘toolbox’. That ‘toolbox’ was the central message from my didactics teacher. Little did he know that I needed multiple ‘toolboxes’, one for each class I now had to teach.
I learned quickly that I needed to fill each ‘toolbox’ to the brim; I also learned that I needed – like any good craftsman – to change my tools on a regular basis. They don’t necessarily teach that concept in Didactics 101! I quickly became frustrated with my education until I realized that I learned something else during those didactics classes – go to conferences and connect with other educators. We were required to attend a conference during the last year of our studies. At the time, I did not think too much about it. But, halfway through my first year of full-time teaching, I recognized the importance and significance of that statement.
Luckily, I worked at a school that encouraged and supported teachers who attended conferences. The complete teaching team was required to attend a conference together sponsored by our umbrella organization. Finishing that first conference was an amazing experience for me: I came back to the classroom with some activities that I needed to develop, some practical tips that I could utilize immediately, and some ideas that I needed to reflect on.
Since attending that first conference, I have been an avid conference goer! Over the years, my students have greatly benefited from the information, activities and ideas I have brought back and utilized in my classes. I strongly believe that all teachers (new and experienced) need to constantly update their ‘toolboxes’ by attending conferences. My colleague and I believe that our future teachers need to be taught the benefit of conferences and other forms of professional development, which is why we require our students to attend one full-day conference per year. As the students move through their degree program, they begin to see the benefit of attending the conferences because they have new ideas to bring to the classroom. When they are asked by a mentor where they have learned that strategy or technique, they proudly answer ‘by attending the ________ (fill in the name of the conference) conference!’ When we visit schools, we are thrilled when a mentor asks about said conference. We are always happy to share the details.
Since September 2016, I have been involved in the planning for BELTA Day 2017. As we have opened registration and are finalizing the schedule, the thought crossed my mind that I could encourage more teachers to attend by noting down some reasons why conference attending is important for all English teachers. Here are some of my reasons.
Refilling the ‘toolbox’
This was the main reason I attended my first conference about 30 years ago, and it is the main reason why I am still attending conferences now. I teach a variety of courses during the school year: writing courses or speaking courses in the Business, Tourism, and Interactive Media Design departments, conversation courses in the Communication department, language and culture along with pedagogy and CLIL in the Teacher Training department, and general English skills in my adult classes. Each course requires a different toolbox. The main way that I can constantly get those toolboxes filled is by going to conferences.
I can’t wait to go to BELTA Day 2017 this year, so I can attend any number of diverse workshops that will help me fill my toolbox. Two that really stick out to me are ‘Collaborative error correction in Business English teacher’ by Milica Kresovic, which I plan to add to my writing courses toolbox; and IMAG(out): Rethinking the image on the Screen’ by Rob Howard, which I plan to add to all my toolboxes; and David Crystal’s final plenary on ‘Advanced Conversational English – Fact and Fiction,’ which will be added to my conversational courses toolbox.
Class Ideas and Resources
The theme of this year’s BELTA Day is ‘Theory into Practice.’ The idea behind this came from previous BELTA Day evaluation forms. Many participants commented positively on the talks and workshops that gave them a practical idea for Monday morning. I am always on the look-out for such workshops when I attend a conference. I like to think that I can come back from a conference, sit down to prepare my next lessons and utilize something I learned at the conference.
I am hoping to attend Ron Morrain’s ‘Using Mind Maps in the EFL Classroom’, Mario Lecluyze’s ‘Small tasters from Oxford’, and either Daniel Sossi’s ‘Playing the Moment’ or Nikolay Nikolov’s ‘Stanislavsky’s System in the ESL Classroom’ so that I can walk away with several activities to fill the rest of my Monday mornings.
Also, I am very interested to see what resources the British Council, Linguapolis, Fulbright and the US Embassy have that will improve my classroom practice.
Networking
Sometimes I only see or talk to some online friends when I attend a conference. Many of these friends come from other countries. Everyone knows the importance of networking, but in the teaching field it is even more important. We are not ‘islands in the stream’; therefore, talking to people from other countries allows us to see our own teaching or system of education in a different light.
I am looking forward to catching up with Rob Howard from Germany, who I have not seen in person since last year’s BELTA Day. I am also looking forward to talking to Ron Morrain (also Germany), Mikhail Grinberg (France), Nikolay Nikolov (Bulgaria), Mija Selić (Slovenia), Daniel Zuchowski (Spain) and Gemma Webber (Italy). I also am looking forward to meeting some Belgian presenters, who I haven’t spoken to in a while, including Natascha Coene and Bart Deferme.
To stay current with recent and relevant research
The English as a Second Language and the English as a Foreign Language fields are constantly expanding. Sometimes, it is difficult to stay current with the latest research. Although I subscribe to several journals, I have found that my reading time has been greatly diminished, especially during the school year. Attending a conference is a great way for me to stay current on the latest research effectiving classroom practice.
There are many workshops at this year’s BELTA Day that will allow me to stay current. Marek Kiczkowiak’s ‘Teaching English as a Lingua Franca: practical classroom ideas’, Patrick Painter’s ‘Differentiated instruction: What do best teachers do?’ and ‘Mind the (Learning) Gap’ by the University of Antwerp (Kris Van de Poel, Ward Peeters, Marina Vulovic and Elke Ruelens) are some of the highlights. ELF, differentiation and autonomous learning are all very hot and new topics in our field. So, I am hoping to attend all or some of these workshops!
Learning what’s new in publishing field
BELTA Day, like many conferences, has a number of publishers present in the Exhibition Hall. It is the perfect time to check out new publications that might fit into my courses. I am always on the look-out for the newest course book or teacher’s book that will help me. I am looking forward to seeing the various publishers and their wares on 13 May 2017.
These are just some of my reasons for attending a conference, and more specifically, BELTA Day 2017!
What are your reasons for attending a conference? What are you looking forward to the most at BELTA Day 2017? Let the people who read this website know what you are thinking by commenting below.