What’s happening on TeachingEnglish in October, November and December 2026?
For teachers, we’ll be focusing on the theme of Understanding my professional identity. For teacher educators, the focus is Contributing to the profession. On this page, you’ll find free online training courses, live webinars and other online events, podcast episodes and research – all related to the three-month themes. You’ll also find training and resources related to our evergreen themes throughout the year. Learn more about our themes for 2026 by downloading our 2026 theme calendar.
In addition to our themed events and content, we also have hundreds of lesson plans and classroom resources. Below we’ve selected some lesson plans to help you engage learners with topical issues and special United Nations days in October, November and December.
Teacher pathways
Choose from three learning pathways designed to help you take charge of your professional development and advance your career as an English teacher.
- Understanding your professional identity
Get started with this ready-made pathway of free tools and resources to help you:
- understand your professional needs and interests to help you define short-, medium-, and long-term career goals
- use technology and other tools to develop professionally, connect with other professionals to create a learning community and stay up to date with developments in language education
find opportunities to learn, develop and apply your learning in the classroom.
Teacher pathways: Getting started with understanding your professional identity
- Going further with understanding your professional identity
If you want to go further with your professional development, this workbook will help you take your skills to the next level. It’s designed to help you create a regular learning habit and apply what you’ve learned in the classroom. You’ll find an overview of the theme and recommended learning materials. You’ll also find support to reflect on and personalise your learning. You can use the workbook in different ways – do what works for you! We hope you find it beneficial.
Teacher pathways: Going further with understanding your professional identity- Working on understanding your professional identity with others
This group study guide for teachers and teacher educators looks at understanding your professional identity. It forms part of a series of group learning booklets in which teachers and teacher educators will find useful theory and practice for teaching English effectively, including short case studies and professional development activities to do with others.
Understanding your professional identity
Online events and webinars
See our free online events and webinars for teachers and teacher educators below.
- Creating inclusive English classrooms through teacher education – teacher educator webinar (14 October)
The session will examine how approaches – including ‘talk around the text’ and teacher reflective workshops – can help teachers recognise and challenge gender stereotypes in secondary English language classrooms. It will also explore how critical and social justice-oriented pedagogies and professional development interventions can prepare pre-service teachers to address issues such as race, social class, gender and power dynamics.
Wednesday 14 October 2026, 13.00 (UK time).
- Understanding your professional identity – two webinars (23 October)
Join us on Friday 23 October 2026 for two inspiring webinars on English teacher well-being and professional development ideas.
Friday 23 October 2026, 12.00 (UK time).
Find out more about and register for Understanding your professional identity
You can also join the events on Facebook. No registration is necessary to watch on Facebook.- Protecting culture and language through parent–school partnerships – Teacher educator webinar (11 November)
This webinar explores how teacher educators can support teachers in building effective partnerships with families to promote heritage language maintenance and biliteracy. Drawing on research in heritage language education, translanguaging and multilingual pedagogy, the session examines why home language loss often reflects institutional practices rather than family attitudes.
Wednesday 11 November 2026, 13.00 (UK time).
- Reflecting on your teaching – two webinars (13 November)
Join us on 23 November for two practical webinars on how to become a confident teacher and mentor, and how AI can help you with your professional development.
Find out more information about this event here.
You can also join the events on Facebook. No registration is necessary to watch on Facebook.- Preparing teachers to use AI – Teacher educator webinar (9 December)
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly present in education, teachers and teacher educators face a shared challenge: how to integrate AI meaningfully without weakening literacy, disciplinary thinking or teacher agency. This webinar introduces a practical, research-informed framework that positions AI as a scaffold for thinking rather than a shortcut for task completion. You will explore a context-adapted RWD–AI (real-world-data–AI) model in which AI acts as a cognitive partner for critique, reflection and revision – always mediated by the teacher. By the end of the webinar, participants will be better equipped to help teachers move from ‘using AI tools’ to promoting deeper literacy, reasoning and professional agency.
Wednesday 9 December 2026, 13.00 (UK time)
- Ideas that changed my teaching – two webinars (11 December)
Join us on December 11 for two practical sessions sharing inspirational teaching ideas.
Find out more information about this event here.
You can also join the events on Facebook. No registration is necessary to watch on Facebook.- Facebook, Instagram and YouTube live events in October, November and December 2026
Join our online community of more than four million teachers worldwide. We will be hosting weekly events throughout October, November and December via our Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channels.
These 30-minute live sessions are a great opportunity for you to join teachers from around the world.
Engage with English language teaching experts and community members on a range of topics and themes to help you develop your teaching skills, and share ideas and questions with a vibrant global online community.
See what’s happening in our community on Facebook
See what’s happening in our community on Instagram
See what’s happening in our community on YouTube
Online training courses
We have a range of courses running connected to the theme of Understanding my professional identity and our evergreen themes. Live events and discussions related to these courses are hosted in our Courses for teachers community on Facebook and on YouTube. Learn more about our courses for 2026 by downloading our courses calendar. Find answers to our most frequently asked questions about training courses.
Courses connected to Understanding my professional identity
- Classroom research – enrol before 24 December
Discover how to reflect on and explore issues in your teaching context, plan and carry out a small-scale project and communicate your findings effectively.
- Building understanding through dialogue – enrol before 24 December
Create positive relationships and effective communication in your classroom by exploring techniques to develop empathy, critical thinking and intercultural competence.
Find out more and enrol on Building understanding through dialogue
Download the Building understanding through dialogue workbook
- Focus on professional development – enrol before 24 December
Take control of your professional growth by exploring the wide range of development opportunities available to you as a teacher and discover how to maximise their impact through collaboration and reflective practice.
Find out more and enrol on Focus on professional development
Courses connected to evergreen themes
- Including learners’ languages (new) – enrol before 24 March 2027
Use your learners’ existing languages to support their learning of English, and discover how valuing and celebrating home languages in the classroom enhances learning while promoting inclusion and equity.
Find out more and enrol on Including learner’s languages
Download the free Including learners’ languages workbook (coming soon!)- Climate action in language education (updated) – enrol before 24 March 2027
Learn to integrate environmental issues in English language teaching and develop the skills you need to take and sustain meaningful and impactful action to protect the environment in your local context.
This updated version builds on the foundations of the previous course while taking a more practical and action-oriented approach to climate education. The updated course includes new content and activities focused on embedding climate action in teaching and learning, developing learners’ critical-thinking skills and encouraging meaningful action both inside and outside the classroom. You’ll also explore practical, adaptable strategies for engaging learners with climate-related issues in a range of educational contexts.
Find out more and enrol on Climate action in language education
Download the free Climate action in language education workbook- Feedback and error correction (new) – enrol before 24 December
Identify why learners make errors and respond to them effectively in the classroom. Develop the skills to give meaningful feedback that supports learning and confidently apply a range of feedback and error-correction techniques.
Find out more and enrol on Feedback and error correction
Download the free Feedback and error correction workbook- How to teach reading – enrol before 24 March 2027
Boost your learners’ reading skills by learning what effective readers do and develop these skills with engaging classroom activities.
Find out more and enrol on How to teach reading
Download the free How to teach reading workbook- Classroom management for primary – enrol before 24 March 2027
Give your primary learners the best environment to learn English by improving your management of instructions, learning activities, resources and physical space.
Find out more and enrol on Classroom management for primary
Download the free Classroom management for primary workbook- How to adapt resources (new) – enrol before 24 March 2027
Learn how to evaluate resources, select and adapt relevant lesson plans for your context and explore how your learners can be powerful resources in the classroom.
- Teaching English to refugees and displaced learners – enrol before 24 March 2027
Make your classroom a trauma-sensitive learning environment. Help your learners to shine by working creatively with limited resources and by managing challenging behaviour positively.
Find out more and enrol on Teaching English to refugees and displaced learners
Download the free Teaching English to refugees and displaced learners workbook
Courses for teacher educators
- Helping teachers to learn – enrol before 24 March 2027
Discover how to support teachers in their professional development by planning and delivering effective training. Find out how to set up and support communities of practice to facilitate collaboration, and learn how to encourage all types of self-directed learning.
Find out more and enrol on Helping teachers to learn
Download the free Helping teachers to learn workbook
For the classroom
See a selection of lesson plans below that you can use to focus on United Nations special days in October, November and December in your language teaching classrooms.
- World Teachers’ Day (5 October)
My AI teacher
Age group: Secondary
Level: A2 and above
This lesson looks at how AI can be used by learners to help develop the level of their English.My ideal teacher
Age group: Primary
Level: A2 and above
This lesson encourages learners to appreciate teachers’ qualities.- International Day of Tolerance (16 November)
Open-mindedness
Age group: Secondary
Level: C1 and above
In this lesson, learners practise and improve their listening skills as they listen to a podcast about open-mindedness.Peacemakers and peace-breakers
Age group: Primary
Level: A2 and abovePromote the values of peace, respect and tolerance in your primary classroom with this lesson for face-to-face or online teaching.
- World Children’s Day (20 November)
Children’s rights
Age group: Primary
Level: A2 and above
This lesson helps raise awareness of children’s rights.- World Soil Day (5 December)
Nature photography
Age group: Secondary
Level: B1 and above
Use this lesson to practise langauge related to describing nature. This lesson involves taking photos of nature outside the classroom.Investigating insects – part 1
Age group: Primary
Level: A1 and above
In this lesson, learners will discover the names of insects that they find in their outdoor surroundings and think about how they can be categorised according to their different characteristics.- International Migrant Day (18 December)
Project: Welcoming refugees
Age group: Secondary
Level: B1 and above
In this lesson, learners work together to present ideas for welcoming refugees to their hometown.Home: Welcoming refugees
Age group: Primary
Level: A2 and above
This lesson explores the experiences of refugee children using the heartwarming short animation Home by Aardman Animations. It celebrates fun, empathy and friendship in welcoming new classmates from different cultures.
Podcast episodes
See podcasts connected to the themes below.
- How can peer-led training and mentoring support teachers’ development?
Teacher professional development is a crucial part of being a good teacher. However, we often think that ‘good training’ can only be obtained from ‘expert trainers’ at large conferences or through online workshops. And while these can definitely be hugely beneficial, many teachers forget that there is so much that they can learn from their own colleagues in their own contexts. In this podcast, we hear from two organisations that are involved in peer-led teacher professional development workshops.
Listen to How can peer-led training and mentoring support teachers’ development? and download the show notes- What are your top tips for teaching English?
In this podcast interview, we ask 19 experienced ELT professionals to give us their top tips for teaching English effectively. These tips cover five key areas: the importance of personalisation and context; criticality; humanistic approaches to teaching language; using social media; and general pedagogy. These concise, focused suggestions will hopefully maximise the learning experiences and learning outcomes in your classes and make your own ELT journey more pleasurable.
Listen to What are your top tips for teaching English? and download the show notes
- How can my colleagues and I support each other?
When working in a busy and stressful educational environment, it’s important that teachers support and help each other as much as possible. In this episode, we hear from several teacher networks around the world about how they support their members, the projects they are doing and the impact that they are having. Following this, we speak to Pauline Blake-Johnston, who has a wide range of experience in participating in and managing teacher networks. Her experience ranges from being the chair of NATECLA Scotland (the National Association for Teaching English and other Community Languages to Adults), to vice-chair of the Glasgow ESOL forum, to being a board member for IATEFL’S ESOL special interest group.
Listen to How can my colleagues and I support each other? and download the show notes
Publications, research and insight
See publications related to the themes below.
- Scalable models for teacher professional development
This report draws on 14 global case studies and presents evidence-informed models for effective teacher professional development (TPD).
- What’s changed in English language teaching?
Find out how English language teaching has evolved over the last ten years. The report explores changes in the goals, approaches and content of initial teacher preparation and in-service professional development.
- Handbook for exploratory action research
This practical handbook guides you through the steps of exploratory action research, an approach teachers can use in their own classrooms to conduct targeted classroom research.
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