We are pleased to launch the new Green IATEFL website, which we hope will provide members and everyone else with ideas and information on how they might contribute to making the English language teaching profession. On the website you will find toolkits with ideas for different sectors of our profession, and there is also a section of the site with links to resources and webinar recordings which IATEFL has undertaken on topics around sustainability.
This website is a collaborative project, working with ELT professionals, organisation, companies and institutions, and is open to all. Visitors are encouraged to use any ideas and resources they feel might be appropriate to them and their organisation, and also share their own ideas, feedback and knowledge with us. As an association, IATEFL certainly does not have all the answers, and continues to learn and reduce its own impact, but it’s only together, as a profession, that we can make a real impact.
If you haven’t taken part in an IATEFL International Conference before, then this video should give you an idea of what it’s like. You can also visit our conference website for more information on the event and how to book your place: www.iateflconference.org
In the past few weeks Chris Graham, IATEFL President, Aleksandra Popovski Golubovikj, IATEFL Vice President, and Jon Burton, IATEFL Chief Executive, have been attending events run by IATEFL Associate teaching associations and partners in Asia.
AzETA International Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan
Christopher Graham, IATEFL President, and Aleksandra Popovski Golubovikj, IATEFL Past President and Vice President, kindly sponsored by the British Council, were warmly welcomed by AzETA at their 15th International Conference in Baku. The event was a special one, celebrating 20 years of meaningful collaboration between the two associations. More than 150 English teachers from across the country came together to share ideas, reconnect with colleagues, and reflect on two decades of professional partnership.
As part of the celebrations, AzETA also brought a smaller version of the conference to Ganja, the second-largest city in Azerbaijan. Aleksandra Popovski Golubovikj joined this historic occasion, which marked the first ELT event of international nature held in this beautiful city. It offered local educators a unique opportunity to connect with the wider ELT community.
Global English Education China Assembly in Beijing, China
Report from Christopher Graham, IATEFL President:
“At the end of July this year, our Chief Executive Jon Burton and I attended the the Global English Education China Assembly in Beijing during which IATEFL signed a memorandum of understanding with the organisers, 21st Century English Education Media. This allows us to explore options for cooperation around support for EFL teachers in China, IATEFL membership opportunities and CPD delivery. The conference itself showed the huge significance of English language teaching in China, and specifically the technological innovations that are happening around language teaching and learning.
While the conference had a number of international speakers and delegates, the vast majority were from China and it was fascinating for me to learn more about the Chinese ELT context with teachers from primary up to tertiary, and to understand more about their challenges and the opportunities they have. The conference was very wide-ranging both across the plenary talks and the parallel sessions, and it was complemented by a series of panels one of which Jon and I were glad to sit on. In addition, I delivered some short opening remarks and a plenary around sustainability and ELT, and Jon delivered some closing remarks.
The great thing about ELT conferences is the always great level of enthusiasm and excitement amongst teachers not just about what they hear in the sessions, but around their opportunities to exchange ideas, learn from each other and provide mutual support. This conference was no exception to this. I hope to see some Chinese colleagues at our international conference in Brighton next year, and both Jon and I encouraged Chinese teachers to become members of IATEFL, and also once they do to consider volunteering either on one of our committees or through a SIG. We’d like to thank the organisers for inviting us, the British Council China for providing support, and above all to the teachers for their enthusiasm and energy.”
The poster presentations at the IATEFL Conference are a great way for ELT professionals to present their research and ideas. Each poster is on display for the duration of the event and presenters are available during break times to answer questions from delegates. Plus, we are able to upload the posters to our website after the event, so anyone unable to get to the conference can have a chance to browse them.
And if you are interested in presenting a poster at the 59th IATEFL International Conference in Brighton in 2026, proposal submissions for IATEFL members will open in July 2025.
Over the last few years, the importance of emotional and mental well-being in education for teachers and learners has become more widely acknowledged (Sulis et al., 2023). As the emphasis on becoming more aware of our teaching practices and self-care has heightened, two concepts have been growing in interest: reflection and mindfulness. Although they belong to different schools of thought, they share an important similarity, namely to observe and thoughtfully act upon teaching and learning moments both while and after they take place. What distinguishes them lies in their focus and application. Reflection focuses on deliberately and systematically increasing teachers’ awareness, not only as professionals but also as individuals, throughout their teaching journey (Farrell, 2019; 2024). Mindfulness, particularly in its sociocognitive dimension, encourages us to critically engage with situations, explore them through different lenses and develop a flexible mindset (Langer, 2016).
Although activities to promote mindfulness and reflection are abundant, they are rarely applied in practice, particularly in demanding contexts such as exam preparation courses. Such courses are often marked by high stakes, tight schedules, and a strong focus on outcomes which often implies less emphasis on the different stages of students’ learning progress. This mounting pressure affects both teachers and learners with the former struggling to fulfil multiple roles and the latter often experiencing a lack of ownership over their learning journey (Burgess and Head, 2005).
Is there room for mindfulness and reflective tasks in such highly demanding contexts? As a teacher specialising in exam preparation, I have seen firsthand how challenging it is for my learners to reflect on their progress, celebrate achievements and embrace mistakes as part of learning. Still, by taking small, consistent steps to introduce mindfulness and reflective tasks in my lessons, I have noticed that my learners have gradually grown more conscious and in control of their learning progress.
Here are six practical activities I have used with my exam prep learners to help them become more aware of their progress in their learning journey:
1. Take Five and KWL (what a student knows (K), wants to know (W), and has learned (L) about a topic) charts – Moments of Reflection: Introducing extensive reflective activities to learners, such as reflective journals, can be intimidating, especially if students are unfamiliar with reflective practices. Instead of using journals, I have found that it is more practical to begin with a simple “Take Five” activity, where students spend the last five minutes of class reflecting on three prompts: one key takeaway, one challenge/point of confusion, and one question they still have. Once comfortable with this task, I introduce KWL charts adapted for reflection where I ask learners to identify threepoints for each of the following categories: what went well, what could be improved, and one small step they’ll take next. These are ideal after pair or group work as they encourage learners to reflect on their academic performance and progress in developing skills such as collaboration and problem-solving.
2. Short-term Goal Setting: Goal setting often feels daunting for my students as they find it hard to envision what they would like to have achieved by the end of the academic year. Instead of focusing on long-term goal setting, I ask my learners to write down two to three goals they’d like to achieve by the end of the term, along with action steps. We then revisit these goals and reset learning priorities. For younger learners, I use a “What’s in my backpack?” activity where students draw or write about an imaginary “backpack” they carry throughout their exam prep journey. They list what “items” they feel they already possess (e.g. knowledge, determination etc.) and which extra “items” they would like to add (e.g. confidence in speaking/writing, more listening practice etc.).
3. Achieving Goals and Self-kindness Walls: Most exam prep learners struggle to appreciate their progress and detach their self-worth from immediate outcomes. One way to build self-awareness and help learners acknowledge their worth is through paper or digital vision boards using tools such as Padlet or Wakelet. We usually create two boards with my learners. In the first one called “Achieving Our Goals” learners envision how they will feel after reaching their goals, strategies
they intend to use in the process and future steps for improvement. The second is a “Self-Kindness” wall featuring positive affirmations learners write about themselves, revisiting and adding to these throughout the year.
4. Mindful Mistakes 1: Taking Action: For most learners, errors represent learning blocks rather than learning opportunities. One way to shift this perspective and help learners embrace the importance of mistakes is to invite them to engage more actively in the assessment and feedback process. Apart from using student-led forms of assessment such as self and peer-questionnaires, I also like to integrate “Thinking Boxes” in learners’ feedback because they allow students to comment on which feedback points they found most useful and suggest 1-2 actionable steps for improvement. This process makes feedback a two-way conversation and helps students take ownership of their learning.
5. Mindful Mistakes 2- Things Within My Control: Overthinking is a major source of stress, especially in high-pressure environments such as exam prep courses. As part of the visualisation tasks I use with my learners, we also create Venn diagrams to group things they can control, things in a grey zone and things beyond their control. We then brainstorm practical ways to handle the situations in the grey zone (e.g. an unexpected test) focusing on what learners can actively influence.
6. My Stress Management Toolkit: Learners often find it difficult to process stressful situations, especially in social contexts where they prioritise positive emotions over managing challenges. To help my students manage the pressures of the exam course, we can create a “Stress Management” toolkit. Each student brainstorms techniques they find effective for managing stress, such as breathing exercises, positive affirmations, stretching, or even listening to calming music. We either keep the same checklist for their exam day or create separate ones to help them with their exams.
References:
Burgess, S. and Head, K., 2005. How to teach for exams. Malaysia: Longman.
Farrell, T. S. C., 2019. Reflective practice in ELT. Sheffield, South Yorkshire: Equinox Publishing Ltd.
Farrell, T. S. C., 2024. Reflective practice for language teachers. British Council.
Langer, E.J., 2016. The power of mindful learning. Boston, MA: Da Capo Lifelong Books.
Sulis, G. et al. 2023. ELT teachers’ Agency for Wellbeing, ELT Journal, 78(2), pp.198–206.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccad050 [Accessed 28 th December 2024]
About Maria Theologidou
Maria Theologidou is an EFL teacher, teacher trainer, translator/subtitler and oral examiner. She has contributed to publications, written articles for ELT journals, presented workshops at local and minternational conventions and is currently running her teaching, teacher training and academic support services business at https://mariatheologidou.com/. She’s passionate about creating learning spaces in which her students can enhance their creativity and critical thinking skills. When not teaching, she can be found singing, cooking or blogging!
Sustainability has been one of IATEFL’s main strategic focuses for quite a few years now, and each year we share what we are doing on our website with the aim of being open, accountable and hoping to promote shared best practice. With this in mind we also actively study other membership associations and event organisers to see how else we can improve, as well as seeking ideas and input from our members. We include environmental impacts in all areas of decision-making and planning within the association, and this results in clear, tangible steps as outlined below:
Practical initiatives IATEFL has taken as an association
All members of IATEFL receive the association’s bi-monthly magazine ‘IATEFL Voices’ digitally. This has a considerable impact on paper and ink usage, as well as the carbon impact of not sending thousands of magazines around the world each year.
New this year! Each edition of IATEFL Voices has a section dedicated to sustainability. In addition, the 300th edition of Voices was entirely dedicated to the topic of sustainability with articles and featrues from across the world and acorss the profession.
The IATEFL Membership Card is now sent to all members in digital format. Not only does it contain more useful information, but more importantly it has removed the use of plastic cards and the carbon impact of postage.
We have significantly reduced the amount of paperwork, forms and letters we print and post to members. This includes member registration and renewal, membership renewal reminders, invoices and receipts.
All committee meetings are run online, or face-to-face at the annual conference. This reduced the amount of IATEFL-related travel, as well as making the most of the opportunity presented by the annual international conference.
We have very significantly increased the ratio between our online events and our face-to-face events throughout the year.
Delegates and exhibitors register for all IATEFL events online.
The limited printing we still do is on forestry commission assured sustainable paper and using natural (as opposed to synthetic) inks.
We have a programme of regularly reviewing our online and digital footprint, and removing from the internet and archiving content and files wherever and whenever possible.
Practical initiatives at IATEFL’s annual international conference
One of our international conference’s headline plenary sessions in Edinburgh is dedicated to the topic of sustainability.
Our delegate badges are printed on hard-wearing paper cards, without needing plastic badge holders.
We have recycle bins for delegate badges and programmes, as well as around the venue for all other waste.
We use recycled cardboard signage for delegate information. This is also reused for future events wherever possible.
Delegates are invited to bring their own water bottle and refill it from the free water fountains around the venue.
Our printed conference programme is printed using a company in the same town/city as the conference venue to reduce unnecessary transportation.
We promote the use of public transport (negotiating discounts for delegates wherever possible) and car shares as ways for delegates to travel to and from the conference. The equally applies to IATEFL staff travelling to work at the conference.
We encourage speakers to share their handouts and PowerPoints online, rather than printing out lots of copies in order to give to delegates.
We encourage exhibitors to think and be more environmentally aware, celebrate the steps they have taken, and share our environmental objectives with them.
Our delegate bags are sourced with environmental credentials, and reusability, in mind to avoid them being single-use items.
Delegates are sent a digital certificate of attendance for the conference, which they can choose to print out if they wish, or store digitally.
We engage with the venue to identify their sustainability credentials, making clear this is part of our decision-making process. We share and celebrate where significant steps have been taken.
We request that the catering provider offers a range of options for delegates, including white meat, fish, vegetarian and vegan options, but avoiding red meat due to its higher carbon impact.
Practical initiatives taken at IATEFL Head Office
We have a Sustainability Champion as part of our Head Office team, and sustainability is a key agenda point on every staff meeting.
Head Office staff have moved to partial working from home. This has substantially reduced the carbon impact of travelling to work, as well as energy usage at Head Office.
We use one communal printer/photocopier at our Head Office for the limited printing we do, rather than powering individual printers, each with their own consumables.
We have an ongoing strategy of digitising information and data wherever possible, to avoid printing and unnecessary use of paper.
Old computer equipment is donated to relevant charities. In this we prioritise charities which use such equipment for training and reuse, rather than recycling by default.
We recycle paper, boxes, containers and soft plastics, with our shredded organisational paperwork being used locally as beddings for animals.
We use tea towels, Tupperware pots and plates, cups, glasses and cutlery to avoid disposable and throw-away alternatives.
Our heating is set on timers to ensure no energy is wasted overnight, on working from home days, at weekends, and in areas of the building and times of the year when heating is not required.
Our staff car share and use public transport for work travel where and whenever possible.
If you have an idea or suggestion for how IATEFL can further reduce its carbon footprint please email your idea to: [email protected]
As you may know, the Simon Greenall Award celebrates the life and work of Simon Greenall OBE, teacher, trainer, materials writer, President of IATEFL, trustee of International House. The Award offers mentoring, promotional visibility and a grant to projects dedicated to building communities through learning English. It is sponsored by Macmillan Education, International House London and International House World Organisation.
The previous Simon Greenall Award winner was the Dau Dau Project run by Sirhajwan Idek and Nurazilah Othman of Keningau College in Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia. Their work uses folk tales, such as storytelling, dance and puppetry, to bring together the different peoples of Malaysia and to help them understand each other better.
This year’s winner is the Happy Teachers’ Mentorship Programme which has originated and is coordinated by Venice Irving. This programme offers six months coaching to help new teachers who lack developmental opportunities to improve their teaching and develop their careers. Annie Thompson, a DELTA trainer at International House London, will work as mentor with Venice at The Happy Teachers’ Mentorship Programme to develop and expand her own programme.
Annie states that “This is a very interesting project and I am really excited about it!”
Venice mentions that “Mentoring with Annie is progressing well. I have learned how to match participants, set clear communication channels and schedules, encourage reflection and feedback, and evaluate program outcomes with the mentees and mentors in the programme”
Although there is a main winner, here are a few highly commended projects that have also been featured in this years Simon Greenall Award as well
Meet the Street is a programme based in Nice and coordinated by Clare Catchpole, enabling English learners and local entrepreneurs to meet and engage in English. Clare is also having mentoring from Lucy Horsefield, Simon Greenall Award committee member.
Malaysia & Japan Collaboration: Education Beyond Borders originated and is coordinated by Emi Nakamura (Japan) and Ann Michelle (Malaysia); a partnership that links a class in Konosu City, Japan, with a class in Sabah, North Borneo, Malaysia, strengthening ties through ideas exchange, technology, teamwork and understanding.
UQ Voices Choir originated from Vicki Bos at the University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia. Through choral rehearsal and performance this thriving choir builds a lasting community as well as English language development for overseas students. This choir is open to anyone for the duration of their studies in Brisbane.
Rob, it is nice to have you here. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
To give a little background, I grew up in the United States where I worked in different businesses. I spent many years in retail management and as an executive sales manager training people for better sales results through communication – part of what led me to teach and specialise in business English. Over 20 years ago, I moved to Brazil where I started my English teaching and quickly realised that there was not a lot of material available for business English. This is what initially attracted me to the IATEFL BESIG which I later got involved with. I was online years before COVID – teaching, presenting and putting on webinars with my EFLtalks.
What would you consider your greatest success so far?
In English teaching, I would have to say that my greatest success has been improving as a teaching professional, consistently providing my students and clients with exactly what they needed to reach their objectives and successes. For me, the greatest success for a teacher, a coach, a facilitator, or a mentor, is knowing that you have been able to make a difference in the lives of your students because of the dedication and work that you have put into yourself as a professional.
What is more important in teaching business English: acquiring a relevant teaching certification or experience?
Well on this question, I’m a little biased because although I minored in secondary education, I didn’t go through the traditional route of getting teacher certification first but was able to use my experience from business and from training my staff to build a clientele, materials quickly, and to develop my style and methodology for teaching business English. Since then, of course, I have continued to get more training and certification just to help fill in the gaps of what I might have missed and what is new. Relevant certification is good and can be important for your development as a business English professional, but there is nothing like having experience in a market, in doing business, and in teaching for multiple years. I have known many people with impeccable
credentials who, due to a lack of experience, have failed. On the other hand, I know many experienced professionals without a teaching background or understanding of the basics of methodologies and pedagogies who have failed because they couldn’t deliver on the experience they had. If I had to choose, I would say the experience and being able to relate and build a rapport with their students is much more important than some of the quote “teaching certifications” available on the market today.
What is the difference between a good trainer and a great trainer in business English?
For me the difference between a good trainer and a great trainer is huge. A good trainer is well-versed in general English and can teach all the basics of vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, structure, etc. A good trainer possesses a basic idea of business English concepts and terminology. Most good trainers tend to use a one-size-fits-all approach to training, which isn’t necessarily what the client needs, but they achieve good results. A great trainer is someone who can do all that and also relate to the needs of
today’s business professionals and supply exactly what they need to help them succeed. This means understanding proper communication skills, such as negotiation, conflict resolution, presentation skills, etc. Great trainers have expertise in the business world and can work with real-life content in context, in their teaching. They stay up-to-date with the trends and integrate this content into their lessons and can adapt to the specific needs and learning objectives of their students and use case studies, simulations, and role-playing to augment the students’ learning. Great teachers also work hard to build autonomous learners because the business world is always changing, and part of our job is to give our clients the tools to grow and succeed outside of the classroom.
How should you adjust your training style to suit a group of executives, a group of factory workers, and a one-to-one client?
Adjusting your training style to suit different clients again comes from experience. For example, working with executives usually requires high-level vocabulary and skills such as negotiation and presentation. Making sure that the content is relevant to these executives is key and having a strong understanding of business practices is important. Remember these executives understand business already. It’s our job to help them take their existing skills and knowledge and translate that into English in a way that will help them communicate globally. Training factory workers requires more emphasis on practical language skills. This might entail a hands-on approach with skills which the student can relate directly to their daily tasks, such as using operations manuals, understanding oral instructions, etc. Here the need for simplified language and concentrating more on clear, straightforward terms that are easy for everyone to understand is important. Demand for business English is growing and is expected to grow more.
What would you advise future business English teachers? First, I recommend that you gain a thorough understanding of the marketplace and its needs. Depending on the sector or niche you choose to enter, it’s essential to recognize the different vocabularies, communication styles, and skills required. To achieve this, educators must develop their expertise, for example grasping the concepts behind business terminology and practices. You must learn to understand the nuances specific to your client’s business. You also need to stay informed about new methodologies, resources, and changes in the business environment. Ultimately, this requires a commitment to continuous professional development. Joining a professional network, such as IATEFL BESIG or ESPSIG, can provide valuable resources. Networking with other like-minded professionals and sharing support while keeping up with best practices will elevate your skills to the next level.
About Rob Howard
Rob Howard is the Online Language Center and Business Language Training Institute owner, EFLtalks founder, a teacher, trainer, coach, writer on business English, entrepreneurship, one-to-one, online teaching, tech, and CPD. He is IATEFL Poland President, past IATEFL BESIG Joint Coordinator, Gallery Teachers Masterclass presenter, iTDi TOEFL trainer, and Independent Authors & Publishers founder.
On August 3, I presented a webinar on using games as a powerful tool in teaching vocabulary. In this webinar, we explored practical and creative strategies for teaching vocabulary to young learners, specifically those between the ages of seven and eight, to make the process more fun and memorable. Finding ways to make vocabulary teaching engaging and effective can be quite challenging for educators. This webinar was designed to address these challenges and assist educators in overcoming them by providing a range of techniques, practical tools, and digital resources to enhance their teaching methods.
The webinar discussed the theoretical background and the importance of keeping young learners active and engaged. It highlighted the need to avoid sedentary learning as it forces learners to ‘zone out’ and remain passive in the process of learning. Play and movement should not be considered as a break from learning. Adding movement and play to our lessons does not mean we have to set learning aside. On the contrary, they are a fundamental aspect of teaching since they enhance learners’ interest and attention. Movement is the key to an enjoyable learning experience while games not only motivate students but also improve their retention of new words. They provide a meaningful context for language use and interaction.
We also delved into neuroscience and explored how our teaching practices affect how our students behave. Traditional practices of vocabulary teaching (in the form of endless bilingual lists, memorization, or rote learning) create barriers to learning and can lead to disengagement and therefore unsettled behaviour. When students are not engaged, they get bored and choose to opt-out, which means that not only will they cease listening but also that it is quite likely to start misbehaving out of boredom.
In the second part of the webinar, some lively and multisensory activities and techniques were introduced. Young learners have a strong need for multisensory input and that is why they benefit greatly from activities that engage multiple senses, such as TPR games (i.e. games that associate words with physical actions). The games presented in the webinar were mainly flashcard games that combine visual, auditory, and kinesthetic elements. This way educators manage to cater to the diverse learning styles and needs of their students. The flashcard games presented focused on alternatives to choral repetition to introduce and practise new vocabulary. The games focused not only on listening and speaking but also on practising spelling. Some extra games were also shared which aimed to combine vocabulary with grammar and help students practise new vocabulary in context.
The webinar also introduced digital tools and resources to enhance vocabulary teaching. These digital tools were: Kahoot, Quizlet, Quizzziz and Worldwall.
Kahoot: A game-based learning platform where teachers can create quizzes and games that make vocabulary practice fun and competitive.
Quizlet: A tool for creating flashcards and study sets that students can use to review and test their vocabulary knowledge (in class or at home)
Quizizz: Similar to Kahoot, this platform allows teachers to create and share quizzes that can be played on the interactive board or using devices (eg. mobile phones or tablets)
Wordwall: A tool that lets teachers create interactive games and activities to practise vocabulary, such as matching exercises, spinning wheels, etc.
These tools can provide opportunities for additional vocabulary practice and also provide instant feedback to learners. They offer interactive and engaging ways for children to practise and reinforce vocabulary either in the classroom or at home. This webinar was aimed at educators who seek creative and engaging ways to spice up their teaching methods. Whether you are a new teacher looking for teaching practices or digital resources to enhance your teaching, or an experienced educator seeking new ideas and inspiration, this webinar provided practical tools to support your teaching and create dynamic lessons. By the end of the webinar, participants had a toolkit of activities and techniques that they could use to support their vocabulary teaching and create engaging vocabulary lessons.
In conclusion, using games as a powerful tool to assist your teaching methods can transform your vocabulary lessons as well as an enjoyable experience for your young learners. By incorporating movement, play, and games into their lessons, educators can create a dynamic learning environment where every single student participates. This webinar provided techniques and tools to inspire and assist you.
IATEFL members can watch the original webinar again by logging into their account and going to this link
About Angeliki Daviti
Angeliki Daviti holds a BA in English Language and Literature and an MA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language, both from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. With over 15 years of experience as an EFL teacher, she has been a school owner since 2014. Her school received two silver awards for Creativity and Excellence in Language Teaching at the 2021 ELT Excellence Awards in Greece. In 2022, she was honored with the ELT Excellence Award for Excellence in School Facilities and presented her award-winning teaching approach at the Foreign Languages Forum and Book Exhibition, Thessaloniki, Greece. In 2023, Angeliki began contributing articles to Project Parenting (https://www.projectparenting.gr/), aiming to share her expertise and insights to help parents make informed decisions about the best educational systems for their children. In May 2024, she participated as a speaker at the ELTA Conference in Serbia, where she conducted a workshop on vocabulary teaching to young learners.
Learning through volunteering is one great reward. It is nothing less, in fact, than all the 21st-century skills we can gain as volunteers which we would otherwise need to pay for in a corporate environment. Besides the most obvious benefits, i.e. professional development in ELTAs and working with exceptional colleagues, skills development should also be mentioned. Because most ELTAs are volunteer-driven learning communities, there are no paid positions to execute the jobs, therefore teachers who volunteer have to learn and do everything. In these volunteer positions, we know very quickly how to create a budget, run meetings, negotiate with others (often with external stakeholders), keep the books, edit journals, and the list is endless. Apart from these, volunteers also benefit from developing academic skills, how to write, and how to get published, depending upon the stage of one’s career.
Soft skills are a crucial area, too. For instance, being responsible, being dependable, delegating, sharing work, overseeing, making sure that things are done and being tactful are all important soft skills. Therefore, people skills or interpersonal skills can be the main facet and, just as well as networking, social connections and the career opportunities that come along are also honoured. Interpersonal skills refer to the ability to effectively communicate, interact, and collaborate with others. These skills include active listening, verbal communication, nonverbal communication, empathy, teamwork, negotiation, conflict resolution, and leadership.
On the other hand, intrapersonal skills relate to one’s ability to understand and manage oneself. These skills involve self-awareness, emotional intelligence, self-regulation, motivation, resilience, and introspection. Intrapersonal skills are crucial for personal development, self-improvement, and maintaining mental and emotional well-being. Both sets of skills are essential for success in various aspects of life, including personal relationships, professional environments, and individual growth. Another asset is the natural process of leadership development which comes along inadvertently, often supported by mentoring or coaching, or at turning points in educators’ careers, from learning to teaching; from teacher to teacher trainer, from journal editor to materials writer, and so on, on the teacher career ladder. If we look deep and hard into ourselves and remember our very first attempts to present, to guide others, we recognise how much we have progressed over the years. This gives us the confidence and encouragement to mentor or coach younger colleagues and help them become the best possible selves of themselves.
The development of effective management and leadership prowess refers to the process of acquiring and honing the skills, knowledge, and qualities necessary to excel in managerial and leadership roles. It involves cultivating a range of competencies that enable individuals to effectively lead teams, drive organizational success, and inspire others to perform at their best.
Some key components of developing effective management and leadership prowess could be strategic thinking, communication skills, decision-making, emotional intelligence, team building and motivation, adaptability and change management, problem-solving, ethical leadership, delegation and empowerment, and continuous learning and development. Developing effective management and leadership prowess is an ongoing journey that requires self-reflection, learning from experiences, seeking mentorship, and actively working on improving oneself as a leader and manager.
In a learning organization, intrinsic benefits refer to the internal rewards and motivations that individuals experience as a result of engaging in learning and personal growth within the organizational context. These benefits contribute to employees’ sense of fulfilment, satisfaction, and well-being, ultimately fostering a positive organizational culture. Some intrinsic benefits in a learning organization include a sense of purpose, personal growth, increased motivation, autonomy, a sense of achievement, innovation and creativity, collaboration and teamwork, adaptability and resilience, a positive work environment, employee engagement and retention. Overall, intrinsic benefits in a learning organization contribute to higher employee satisfaction, engagement, and performance, ultimately driving organizational success and competitiveness in the long run.
Volunteering in learning organizations comes with various responsibilities, as individuals contribute their time, skills, and efforts to support the organization’s mission of promoting learning and development. Some accompanying responsibilities of volunteering in learning organizations include commitment, professionalism, reliability, collaboration, adherence to policies and procedures, flexibility, feedback and reflection, respect for diversity and inclusion, etc. By fulfilling these responsibilities, volunteers play a vital role in supporting the learning organization’s mission and making a positive impact on the individuals and communities it serves.
About Beatrix Price
Beatrix works as a teacher and a teacher trainer at the Language Pedagogy Department, School of English and American Studies, ELTE university, Budapest. She has extensive experience in teaching both children and adult learners. Her current PhD explored EFL teachers’ continuing professional development supported by teachers’ associations.
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Sustainability has been one of IATEFL’s main strategic focuses for quite a few years now, and each year we share what we are doing on our website with the aim of being open, accountable and hoping to promote shared best practice. With this in mind we also actively study other membership associations and event organisers to see how else we can improve, as well as seeking ideas and input from our members. We include environmental impacts in all areas of decision-making and planning within the association, and this results in clear, tangible steps as outlined below:
