For those who are keeping up, this is blog post #5 in my series on CPD for ELT teachers. If you’ve missed the previous days’ posts, you can find them by clicking these links:
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Blogs (1st March)
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Reflection Groups & Learning Networks (2 March)
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Magazines & Journals (3 March)
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Peer Observation (4 March)
And now for number five:
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Professional Organisations
Teaching can sometimes be a rather lonely pursuit, especially for ELT teachers away from home in foreign countries. It can also be a rather homogenising experience, if you’re teaching in a specific context and only really have contact with teachers in the same situation as you. In both situations, I think many ELT teachers might miss out on the chance to hear about the current debates, research, trends, methods/approaches, etc that are being shared around the world. I believe that some sort of networking and sharing of ideas beyond a teacher’s immediate context is a key aspect of professional development.
That’s why I though post #5 in this CPD series would be a good time to provide a few links and tips that will help ELT teachers find this big world of ELT beyond their teaching situation and get them ‘networked’ with other teachers, to facilitate inspiration and continuous development as a teacher. The list does not pretend to be complete; please add further links in the comments below.
IATEFL (International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language)
If I could only recommend one organisation, this would be it. I’ve been a member for a number of years and the conferences and publications have been a constant source of inspiration and professional development opportunities. Double thumbs up from me!
Based in the UK. They say about themselves: “With over 4,000 members IATEFL is one of the most thriving communities of ELT teachers in the world. Our mission [is] to “Link, develop and support English Language Teaching professionals” worldwide”.
As a member, you get a bimonthly copy of the ‘Voices’ mini-journal/newsletter with information about research and events going on in ELT around the world, a free copy of ‘Conference Selections’ with summaries of presentations given at the latest annual conference, free membership in a Special Interest Group with newsletters and events, a cheaper registration rate for the annual conference, and cheaper subscriptions to some of the leading journals in the field (e.g. ELT Journal).
Their next big annual conference is going to be in Birmingham in April 2016, find out more here: IATEFL Birmingham 2016
Each month, they provide provide a free webinar held by a famous name in the field. For details of the upcoming webinars (on topics such as coursebook evaluation, intercultural training, teaching with technology) see here: http://www.iatefl.org/webinars
TESOL International Association
They see themselves as a “global and collaborative community committed to creating a world of opportunity through teaching English to speakers of other languages.” And say about themselves: “For nearly 50 years, TESOL International Association has been bringing together educators, researchers, administrators, and students to advance the profession of teaching English to speakers of other languages. With more than 12,000 members representing 156 countries, and more than 100 worldwide affiliates, TESOL offers everyone involved in English language teaching and learning an opportunity to be part of a dynamic community, where professionals like you connect with and inspire each other to achieve the highest standards of excellence.” See here for a brief introduction: http://www.tesol.org/docs/membership/tesol-brochure.pdf?sfvrsn=2
The host a large annual conference of which I have only heard good reviews (see: http://www.tesol.org/attend-and-learn/international-convention), and provide publications and an online resource-bank, and guidelines for best practice in ELT. They also create a newsletter and have lively online discussion groups on specific interests within ELT. Webinars and online courses complement their busy programme of symposiums and conferences (though the time-difference makes webinars slightly problematic for those living in Europe!). See here for the full programme: http://www.tesol.org/attend-and-learn/online-courses-seminars and http://www.tesol.org/attend-and-learn/symposiums-academies )
If you visit their website you will see that the homepage is very ‘busy’ and not always easy to navigate, but I think this simply reflects the variety of services and activities TESOL International Association offer and are involved in. If you have the time to click through, you will definitely find something that is relevant for you – whether you are a student, teacher, teacher-trainer, materials writer, etc. Definitely a thumbs up from me!
Teaching English – British Council
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/ 
This is slightly different from the other associations listed here as it is mainly an online community. That makes it especially interesting to those who cannot travel to conferences, etc, and/or don’t have much spare cash to spend on memberships and travel costs. Why register with TE? They say: “Registration on this site is totally free and allows you to interact with other users as well as add comments and download certain material. You can:
- build your own profile in an international online community;
- access our tools for teachers;
- join monthly online workshops;
- watch our teaching tips videos;
- sign up for a variety of teacher training courses;
- join in discussions with teachers around the world.”
They offer free webinars and instructional videos and articles, as well as training courses and workshops, both as self-study and with a trainer (see: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/teacher-training ). There is also free access to a number of journals and research publications via the site (see: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/publications ). Again, double thumbs-up!
Local Organisations
Wherever you live, there might be a smaller professional organisation you can join. This would of course have the benefit that the workshops, conferences, etc. provided would not be as far away from you, and may be more relevant to your specific teaching context. This kind of national or local networking can be particularly rewarding, as it can be easier to really get involved than within large international organisations. Their conferences are naturally smaller than those of the international associations mentioned above, but that also means that the costs are lower, and the events are less overwhelming for new teachers / students. I’m sure a quick Google search would find most such national/local organisations for teachers nowadays, but specifically for ELT teachers you might want to take a look here at this list of more organisations (all of which are affiliated with IATEFL) in your country, here: http://www.iatefl.org/associates/list-of-associate-members
A couple that I know of and have heard good things about are:
TEA (Teachers of English in Austria): http://www.tea4teachers.org/joomla/
German Association for Teachers of English (GATE): http://englisch-und-mehr.de/wp/
MELTA (Munich English Language Teachers Association): http://www.melta.de/
Most of my inspiration for CPD and my search for innovation, ideas and impulse for reeflection has come from being a member of IATEFL and other professional organisations; and indeed, most of the people in my PLN I met through this membership. So I would highly recommend joining such a professional organisation as a big boost for your CPD!!
Please share your experiences and further relevant links below!
If you liked what you read here, please tell others! If you didn’t, please tell me! 🙂
Clare's ELT Compendium 