TESOL Greece 42nd Annual International Convention
Reconciling Global Communication and National Cultures: Putting Art at the Heart of International Empathy
We shall consider how English, the 21st century global communicator, can embrace both national artistic cultures and global human issues to become truly meaningful and inclusive to those that use it primarily as a pragmatic tool.
Hania Bociek, a Londoner of Polish descent, is a teacher trainer and secondary school teacher of English in Zürich, Switzerland. Her primary area of interest and research is culture – especially art and literature – as an empowerer of communication, empathy and critical thought. Co-author of English through Art (Helbling 2011), she continues to develop her work in this area
Let Go and Soar
Human rights matter regardless of race, gender, age, ethnicity, faith or any other status. Addressing human rights in education calls for courage, authenticity and support. The impact of such actions can be powerful, unpredictable and inspirational, reaching far beyond the classroom. This talk honours educators who strive to make their lessons a learning space of kindness, creativity and sustainable change.
Originally from New Zealand, Judy Boyle has worked in numerous diverse settings as a teacher, teacher trainer and ELT author. She is the founder of The NO Project, a global campaign against human trafficking and modern slavery, and a finalist nominee for the British Council ELTONS Award, 2020 for Innovation in Teaching Resources. Judy’s background also includes professional theatre.
LINGUISTIC HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE TESOL A TESOL-Greece keynote in honour of Tove Skutnabb-Kangas and Robert Phillipson
Bessie Dendrinos, Emerita Professor and Director of the Research Centre for Language Teaching, Testing and Assessment, of the Faculty of English Language and Literature, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), and Head of the scientific committee of the newly founded Centre of Excellence for Multilingualism and Language Policy of the same university. She is also President of the Board of the KPG (the Greek multilingual examination system for the State certificate of proficiency), as well as President of the European Civil Society Platform for Multilingualism.
The theme of TESOL-Greece’s conference this year immediately brought to mind two scholars and language rights activists, whom I have the privilege to call friends, and to whom I will be dedicating my talk, inspired by a new book they are preparing, viewing “language rights as linguistic human rights so as to achieve linguistic justice for all”. Given the context, I will be focusing on the relationship between linguistic human rights and the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other languages” (TESOL), raising issues linked with language educational policies and pedagogical/social practices in EFL (English as a foreign language) on the one hand, and EMT (English Medium Instruction) on the other, in different educational environments of both affluent and underprivileged or poverty-stricken parts of the world.
It’s Not What You Do, It’s the Way That You Do It… That’s What Gets Results!
Human Rights shouldn’t only be viewed in a global context but also in our everyday interactions with people, especially when we have authority- be that as a teacher, a trainer or a manager. In this interactive plenary we’ll examine talk in these situations and how an awareness of what we say can increase mutual respect and make a big difference.
Jo Gakonga works at Warwick University on MA, BA and CELTA courses. She is a CELTA trainer, assessor, and Cambridge Joint Chief Assessor. She also co-authored IELTS Foundation, is studying for a PhD in teacher education and produces support material for English language teachers at ELT-Training.com. She likes baking.
Call for Participation
The 42nd Annual TESOL Greece
Virtual Annual International Convention
“Human Rights in Education, Literature and Art”
6 – 7 March, 2021
Deadline November 10th, 2020.
The unprecedented pandemic has emphasized the issue of human rights, in addition to a number of various crucial issues. The TESOL Greece Board has decided to make human rights our association’s major concern and point of discussion at the 42nd TESOL Greece annual international convention on 6-7 March, 2021. “Human Rights in Education, Literature and Art”, is the theme of our convention and it will be discussed by four plenary speakers, Bessie Dendrinos, Hania Bociek, Judy Boyle and Jo Gakonga. No matter what takes place in the world, as educators, we need to understand that there are always repercussions which affect the rights of our learners and of our colleagues.
The Virtual Convention aims to offer a weekend of professional development through presentations and workshops, discussing the convention’s theme, as well as other aspects of ELT.
Types of proposals
Workshop (45 minutes)
A Practice-Oriented presentation, which shows, rather than tells. The presenter helps participants solve a problem or develop a specific technique through a series of structured hands-on activities.
Talk (45 minutes)
A formal instructive talk given by (a) subject specialist(s).
Responsibilities of presenters
• All presenters will refrain from changing the content of their session once it has been approved.