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We’re excited to report that IATEFL has partnered with other major English language organisations on a ground-breaking project to improve teaching standards in 20 countries.

PRELIM – the Partnered Remote Language Improvement Project

IATEFL, along with the British Council and English UK, who are jointly running PRELIM, have allocated £10,000 to each winning bid and contracted NILE (Norwich Institute for Language Education) as managing consultants to create a community of practice for the UK schools and facilitate the project. Funding has come via the British Council.

Each successful course provider will be working with IATEFL-associated English Teaching Associations in countries including Guinea Bissau, India, Vietnam and Argentina.

IATEFL President Harry Kuchah Kuchah said “Language proficiency is an important requirement for language teachers, and a lack of it can affect teachers’ confidence, both in their classrooms and in their communities of practice.” He hoped PRELIM would support excellent teachers within IATEFL’s associates who did not otherwise have the opportunity to improve their language skills, helping build their confidence to improve their teaching and be more active in their teaching associations.

Roy Cross, Principal Consultant, Partnerships in English for Education Systems at the British Council, added: “I believe benefits will include more confident teaching and classroom practice for association members, an enduring relationship for the school with the partner and country and a mentored experience which will make the school more confident in delivering a remote course.”

English UK’s business development director Tim Barker was excited by the opportunity provided by PRELIM for course providers to deliver international projects, often building relationships with new markets and becoming more experienced in planning and delivery in the process. “This is truly innovative and a very ambitious way of delivering this. It’s positive that we’ve ended up with 20 bespoke, innovative courses which will be delivered before the end of March for 20 different teaching associations around the world.

One unique aspect of PRELIM is the involvement of NILE as managing consultants to create a community of practice and support for all the schools taking part. Director Thom Kiddle said “we are very excited about helping the individual projects develop, to provide confidence and language skills for English teachers in their classrooms, but also about coordinating the Community of Practice among the UK-based language schools, to share ideas and solutions for working remotely in such diverse contexts.

“We have seen great enthusiasm so far from all participants, and can foresee some really important potential outcomes in teacher language competences, and also in the capacity and experience of the UK providers. We feel this collaboration between EnglishUK members, IATEFL-affiliated English Teachers Associations, and British Council English for Education Systems is unique, innovative and will lay foundations for great partnerships and programmes in the short, medium and longer term.”

IATEFL Chief Executive Jon Burton added that: “Collaboration, between UK institutions and teaching associations around the world, as well as continued collaboration between IATEFL and the British Council and English UK, both of whom we have worked closely with for many years, can only be positive and beneficial all.”

Participating English Teaching Associations are in Afghanistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Georgia, Guinea Bissau, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Palestine, Serbia, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zambia.

English UK member centres taking part are:

• Anglia Ruskin University
• Bell Educational Services Ltd
• CELT Centres for ELT Cardiff
• Celtic English Academy
• Centre for English Studies (CES)
• IH Bristol
• IH London
• Inlingua Cheltenham
• Language United Ltd
• Lewis School of English
• LILA* Liverpool
• New College Group
• Oxford International Education Group
• Peartree Language
• St Clare’s Oxford
• The University of Sheffield ELTC
• Wimbledon School of English

We‘ve all been following, with concern and dismay, the spread of COVID-19 and its effects around the world. In the United Kingdom one of the ways the pandemic has been tackled is through using convention centres as large-scale medical facilities. This was the case for Manchester Central, where the conference was supposed to be held in April this year, and it is also currently the case for the Harrogate Convention Centre, where we are planning to hold the deferred conference in 2021.

We have been informed that this medical usage will continue until the end of March next year as a government contingency, should it be required, preventing us from going ahead with our conference mid-March. After detailed discussions with the venue, we have been provided with alternate dates for the IATEFL conference further into 2021. As such, the 54th IATEFL International Conference and Exhibition will take place at the Harrogate Convention Centre from Saturday 19th June to Tuesday 22nd June 2021, with Pre-Conference Events on Friday 18th June 2021.

As was the case previously, all confirmed delegate bookings already made for the conference will be automatically deferred to the June dates, and all confirmed speakers will have their proposal automatically accepted for inclusion in the programme. Members and non-members who have not already booked their place will soon be able to do so on the IATEFL website. Look out for the announcement soon!

This is, once again, an unprecedented situation and change, which we are all aware has implications for everyone involved in the event, but we hope and believe it is the most sensible and rational choice which aims to ensure the 54th International Conference can go ahead as originally planned, and with everyone able to enjoy a safe and enjoyable experience.

The Board of Trustees
25th August 2020

Each year IATEFL offers a great range of conference scholarships to enable teachers, trainers and other ELT professionals the opportunity to attend the IATEFL Annual Conference in the UK. These scholarships are offered by IATEFL, by a range of IATEFL Special Interest Groups, and by a wide range of other scholarship sponsors: institutions, companies, groups and individuals.

A list of the scholarships available for our Harrogate 2021 Conference can be found on our Conference Scholarships page, where you can also find a handy step-by-step guide to completing your application and the answers to some frequently asked questions.

To apply you will need to log into your IATEFL Dashboard (if you don’t have an account it is quick to set up and completely free) and select the Scholarships tab. The deadline for applications is 16.00 (UK time) on Wednesday 29th July 2020. Late submissions will not be accepted.

Good luck!

The world has recently watched with sadness and shock, the brutal killing of an African American in the US, with a police officer being charged with his murder. We at IATEFL have been embittered by this inhumane action which questions the very fundamental moral values we share as a community. The killing of George Floyd is only one of many examples of the moral depravity that is still deeply entrenched in human society and which we, as educators need to combat in every way possible.

As an international organisation of English Language Teaching professionals, IATEFL is committed to being an inclusive association which welcomes diversity and respectful debate. In our own practices and policies, we act in ways that encourage this diversity and professional discussion and oppose discrimination of any kind in ELT. We celebrate the differences within our membership as a symbol of human strength in unity of purpose and condemn any practices that promote the systematic othering of people on the basis of race, gender, abilities, sexual orientation or language background.

Our world is currently grappling with the extreme challenges of a global pandemic which continues to inflict serious strain on individuals and countries. This is a time when we need love, compassion, understanding and solidarity more than anything. We cannot afford to continue living the injustices of racial or any other forms of discrimination. We therefore condemn in unequivocal terms, the brutal killing of George Floyd and the continuous violence against vulnerable people, around the world, at the hands of officers whose duty it is to protect life.

We believe that language has the potential to unite the world. As an association whose mission is to link, develop and support English Language Teaching professionals worldwide, we are aware of the importance of language education in building a new world order where social justice, mutual understanding and respect govern human actions. We continue to strive to promote these values and call on our members and Associates to do the same so that, together, we can help shape a better generation.

The Board of Trustees of IATEFL

Well, it’s certainly been a challenging time for IATEFL over the last few weeks, as we know it has for all of you, facing this awful virus and its effects. The association has battled to make the right, informed decision on whether we would be able to go ahead with the 54th IATEFL Conference and Exhibition in Manchester next month. As the days went by it became increasingly clear that going ahead with the event would run the risk of putting delegates, exhibitors, stewards and staff at risk and so, even though UK Government advice at the time was still suggesting we could go ahead, the Board of Trustees decided to postpone the event nonetheless.

So why did we defer the conference rather than just cancelling it?

So many people put so much work into making our IATEFL conferences successful. Speakers carefully propose, plan and prepare the range of plenaries, sessions, panel discussions, forums, debates, workshops and poster presentations which make up the content of the programme. Key individuals and groups including our Conference Committee, Proposals Committee, Special Interest Groups, Scholarships Committee, filming team and so many other wonderful volunteers put so much time into making the four days of the conference, as well as pre-conference events, an enjoyable and valuable experience for delegates. All of this work is so appreciated, and would have been such a shame to see lost.

With this in mind, IATEFL took the decision to preserve the agreed programme for the conference, and just change the dates of the event to a time when we hope this awful global pandemic is behind us. Once this decision had been made, it then followed that all our accepted speakers should have their sessions automatically accepted for Harrogate, and that all delegates who have already paid for their registration would have their booking honoured in March next year too.

A significant cost

This decision has, however, been a very painful and costly one for the association. We spend all year paying our full time staff, planning and marketing the event, incurring operational costs and many other expenses which are now unrecoverable. At the same time, along with the majority of similar events, our insurance policies do not cover these extraordinary circumstances. As such, we are still forced to pay in full for the conference venue and a range of other services which needed to be in place in order to run the event, although the Head Office team have been working round the clock to minimise as many of these as possible.

Coping and looking forward

We are determined, however, to get over this unprecedented challenge, continue to support our members and the wider community of English language teaching professionals, continue to provide resources, publications, online events and many other benefits to our members, and also work towards making the conference in Harrogate one of the best we have ever run.

At this time we know many of you may be struggling, but if you are in a position to support one of our charitable initiatives, or indeed help the association continue to support its members around the world by contributing to our general fund, then we would be hugely grateful of any support you can give. You can do this by visiting our website to find out more about our work and the funds you can donate to.

Thank you!

We’d like to finish by saying a huge thank you to all the wonderful people who have posted messages of support for IATEFL’s difficult decision regarding the conference, and saying they are happy to have their bookings honoured in Harrogate next March. We’ll get through these challenging times by sticking together, supporting each other, and continuing to develop ourselves, our profession and our learners.

IATEFL Board of Trustees and Head Office

Update 13 March 2020

Important: the 54th Internation IATEFL Conference and Exhibition has been deferred until March 2021.

Please click here to read an important message regarding the IATEFL International Conference and Exhibition

 

 

Update 6 March 2020

We want to assure you that IATEFL is continuously monitoring the current coronavirus situation.

At the start of this week the UK government published an action plan to deal with a more serious Coronavirus outbreak if that occurs in the coming weeks and months. There are no current plans to cancel large-scale gatherings such as sporting events and pop concerts, or smaller ones such as the IATEFL Conference. As such we currently have no plans to cancel the annual conference.

Mindful of our duty of care, we are carefully considering and consulting on what the appropriate sanitary, health and other measures should be, and can be, adopted. As a result we will be introducing practical steps to enhance the safety of the annual conference, including regular disinfecting of surfaces, as well as equipment in session rooms. Hand sanitisers will be available at all venue entrances, guidance on the use of tissues and the importance of handwashing will be posted around the venue, and we will be encouraging delegates to find original ways of greeting each other rather than hugs and kisses.

All of these measures are designed to promote a safe conference without detracting from its benefits for delegates and exhibitors.

Coronavirus is clearly presenting an unprecedented global challenge. We equally feel that it is our collective responsibility to focus on the facts and to act with common sense and sound judgement, and that containing the spread of unnecessary panic is as important as stopping the virus itself.

Helpful links:

• UK Government latest information and advice
• World Health Organisation advice

 

 

Update 23 February 2020

IATEFL is closely monitoring developments of the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19), which first emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Our thoughts and best wishes are with everyone affected.

The health and safety of our members and event delegates is always our top priority. As such we are following safety advice and precautions as recommended by the UK Government and the World Health Organisation.

What about the annual conference in Manchester?

• A small number of people in the UK have tested positive for Covid-19, mostly connected to one adult who caught it in Singapore.
• The UK government and local public health authorities say the risk to individuals remains low. UK Chief Medical Officers say anyone who has travelled to the UK from a small number of countries or areas of countries in the last 14 days and is experiencing cough or fever or shortness of breath should stay indoors and telephone (dial 111 in the UK) for medical advice.
• The Manchester Central venue has installed sanitisers at the entrances, and also have awareness messages in the washrooms as well as throughout the venue on its digital signage screens.

Advice for delegates

• Always carry tissues with you and use them to catch your cough or sneeze.
• Bin the tissue, and to kill the germs, wash your hands with soap and water, or use a sanitiser gel. Sanitiser gel will be available to delegates around the venue.
• If you do experience cough, fever or shortness of breath return to your accommodation straight away and dial 111 for advice. The chances are it’s not connected, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Helpful links:

• World Health Organisation advice
• UK Government latest information and advice

 

As many of you will know, the United Kingdom left the European Union at the start of 2020. You will also know that the annual IATEFL Conference is held in the United Kingdom.

So what does this mean for delegates wishing to attend the Manchester 2020 conference?

There is a ‘transition period’ until the end of 2020 where almost everything stays the same, whilst the future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union is worked out. As a result, we are not aware of any differences from previous years:

• delegates from outside the European Union may need to apply for a visa, depending on their nationality, as in previous years. You can check this on the UK government website.
• delegates from inside the European Union (delegates with EU passports) will be able to travel to the UK without a visa as before.

What about in 2021 and beyond?

Whilst the future relationship is still being negotiated, we are not aware of any plans to introduce a visa requirement for EU citizens in order to attend the conference.

We’re keeping an eye on it, and so can you!

Obviously we will continue to keep an eye on the situation as it progresses, and so can you. You can visit this UK government website service, enter your particular circumstances, and subscribe to receive notifications if anything changes in the future which might affect you.

We look forward to seeing many of you in Manchester in April!