I attended an elt conference 2 months ago. One of the plenary speakers, George Pickering, started with a great question : Who are we ? and after talking for a while, went on asking questions : Why do you attend conferences ? What is the point in it ? I started asking myself the same questions. Why did I wake up at 6.00 am and come to this conference ?
Let me tell you my answers :
I came to this conference because I wanted ..
to learn from others and put into practice what I learned.
to enjoy myself with other people
to hold up a mirror to my future teaching. (I'm an elt student not a teacher yet.)
collaborate with other teachers and change the way we teach (in a positive way)
and the list lasts forever..
After answering questions, I thought the teacher saying that she had to come to the conference because another teacher friend of her made her come. (I'm talking for another conference)
The problem is that we see conferences as a waste of time. We attend conferences because we have to do so. Instead of grumblings, we should see the positive side of elt conferences because they are great for us to know where we are,and where we can be.
Who doesn't want to be a better teacher on a monday morning after attending two-day elt conference at the weekend. I always think that I'm a better teacher (will be) after attending an elt conference.
I strongly believe that the world will be a better place with teacher who seek for life-long development.
Happy blogging :)
- sevim.acikgoz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Log in or register
Follow TeachingEnglish
 |
 |
 |
 |
Comments
I liked this post as a person who likes to participate in conferences. I definitely support the idea that if an ELT devotee wants to improve himself or herself should take part in these conferences, because nothing is benficial as sharing issues with the others.
Keep blogging,happy blogging ;)
What a nice summary. I think we have to consider all of the things that you mentioned... and do so with the right frame of mind!
There's so much to be learned from sharing ideas with colleagues.
Participating in conferences is in high importance to me, since I meet different teachers, learn new ideas, share my thoughts with others. I try to go to every ETAI conference although I don't have a driving liescence. it's very important that each teacher wiil improve himself/herself as an English teacher and as a human being.
There is no way to keep up with new ideas, techniques, and even situations that may arise when teaching if we don`t attend conferences and try to keep up with the changing world. I have seen so many teachers stuck on one point in life and not improve what is one of the most important things in life (teaching others to be able to communicate). We have to stop seeing conferences as the mandatory thing to do and see them as the world of opportunities that they represent.
Good point Sevim. I love attending seminars or conferences. It is a must for my CPD.They inspire me a lot and give me more energy.
I think we should question that 'why people see conferences as a waste of time, they attend conferences because they have to do so and why they can't see the positive side of elt conferences and seminars.'
I have given 20 seminars for the board of education since last year. According to the feedbacks I can say that some of the people don't have the concept of professional development. They think that they studied at the university, they are qualified enough and have experience. They do not consider the changes. Or, some of them think that they do not have even a single minute free, they have lots of problems on their minds. Some of them think that it will be like in-service trainings (they weren't good in the past)so, again a waste of time. Some of them are really happy with the seminar because they like sharing. At the end of the seminar, most of them get rid of their predujices and want seminars regularly.
First of all, if awareness raising can be achieved at the university, there won't anything like you wrote and if continuous professional development studies are disseminated, people's point of view will change on this topic.
Dear Sevim,
It's great to meet enthusiastic teachers like you. I'm sure each thing you do for your professional development will open a new door for you in your career.
Good Luck and happy blooging:)
First of all, I would like to share this:
Did you know that:
•65% of conference attendees believe they learn nothing from plenary sessions…
•55% of conference attendees prefer the coffee breaks to the break-out sessions they attend…
•45% of conference attendees “sneak” off to do a bit of sight-seeing…or shopping…(!)
(from Tony Gurr’s blog:http://allthingslearning.wordpress.com/category/conferences/)
After sharing these not surprising results with you I would like to state where I stand
I agree with you to a point but here I get the impression that most of us put the blame on teachers
–our lovely colleagues-
but the question is then do people actually learn a lot from conferences? Yes, of course but unfortunately, not all the time.
Rabia says ‘awareness raising can be achieved at the university’
Then, should universities do some stuff the raise awareness?’ Yes, obviously. But then how can they do it?
Sometimes the answer could be pretty easy. Tony says:
'Hey, here’s a whacky idea… - …speak to your HoD and ask her to cancel the “boring administration meeting” she had planned for you all this week! Get a cup o’ tea (and a biscuit) with your friends…take the time to “sit” and “chat”…and REFLECT!'
I think the bottomline is seminars could be good,conferences might be useful..but not all the time.
And let us sometimes give our dearest colleagues a break because at the end of the day we are human beings...
Great first post Sevim which also led to a first day discussion.
Welcome to the blogathon
Good luck!
cheers,
Eva
Dear Sevim,
I like going to seminars/conferences that I have chosen to go to myself. However, I don't necessarily enjoy those that have been chosen for me by my supervisors. Also, sometimes seminars/sessions ARE a waste of time. I have been to great presentations and I have been to poor ones. When you are an overworked teacher (most of us are) you really hate it when you have to endure a training session that you understand is a waste of your very precious time. That's just life I guess.
Good luck in the blogathon!
I agree with you as I like attending Elt conferences ,too.You can get lots of different ideas and try to do the activities you have learned there.But then after a while you stop trying them as the people around you ask you why you still continue doing it as for them it is meaningless and they don't care if the lesson is done with or without activities .But if the other collegues would feel the same way you feel,then many things could be different and difference is something which can be easily noticed and the most wanted.
Happy blogging to you ,too:)