Page 22 - ELG1903 Mar-Apr Issue 464

IATEFL special .

The staffroom agenda

IATEFL may try to keep the agenda on what happens in the classroom, but
inside every plenary session there’s a staffroom issue, argues Melanie Butler

he plenary sessions at process and a critical appraisal of materials, English language tests One plenary speaker teachers
IATEFL set the agenda its occurrence.” and many teacher education specifically brings up staffroom
for the conference. A Without wishing to pre-empt courses continue to reproduce concerns. In the abstract of her
T great plenary can set anything she may say on the and reinforce heteronormativity talk about intergrating content
the agenda for the profession. issue, let us look one way in and this impacts on students and language Aleksandra “you
Sylvana Richardson’s 2016 which teacher empowerment who are gender and sexuality might be asking yourself: What
plenary on discrimination against may impact on the staffroom: non-conforming. Undoubtedly is there for me, an EFL/ESL
non-native speaker teachers, for teachers working hours. true. But also true of English- teacher?
example put the issue firmly into Total work time rather than speaking people of colour She is right: many English
the professional debate. total classroom contact time is a In the staffroom of language teachers in countries adopting
Richardson’s speech was real problem in many education schools, however there are CLIL worry about this. Just as
an issue that clearly impacted systems. In 2017 the England’s more teachers from the LGBTQ many subject teachers worry that
the staffroom. So what are the National Union of Teachers community than from BAMER they will have to learn English or
staffroom issues which emerge published guidelines about the backgrounds The issues are lose their job.
some from this year’s plenaries. number of hours can legally be intersectional but one os Aleksandra is putting the
We cornered Lindsay expected to do. more strongly apparent in the staffroom on her agenda. She is a
Clandsfield and we report his Here is their breakdown of the staffroom. woman after my own heart.
thoughts below .For the other average day: 4.6 contact hours,
speakers though the staffroom 2.1 hours other school work such IATEFL
issues I have chosen to outline as meetings and supervision, 1
are the ones that strike me hour time tabled preparation and
reading the abstract of their talk. planning. Outside school they
They may well come up with work another 3.5 hours a day on
others. average mostly on preparation
Paula Rebolledo, for and marking.
example, is looking at Teacher If you want to empower such
Empowerment. teachers, you need to empower
As she rightly says “the them to stop working so much.
persistent calls for the John Gray, in his plenary
empowerment of teachers on Queer Pedagogy points out How many times do staffroom issues feature on the agendas of
demand a closer study of the that English language teaching this years’ plenary speakers?

On the agenda: Lindsay Clandfi eld

indsay Clandfield spoke The plenary I’m going to more technology. Stories like to comment on what he thinks
to the Gazette about his give at this year’s IATEFL is a ‘Education is broken. Classrooms about the situation of online
plenary session at the 2019 culmination of a few years of haven’t changed in hundreds of teachers.
L IATEFL conference. “I was my own questioning of some of years. Robots are coming for our He replied that he felt the
approached to do a plenary for the directions that technology jobs. We don’t need teachers. situation needed to be addressed,
IATEFL, on the basis of some has gone in ELT, from what I’m 21st century learners are certainly as regards the lack of
other talks I had been giving seeing as a teacher, trainer and different to other learners. Adapt specialist training available and
about education technology. especially a materials writer. or die.’ the isolation of the individual
These were slightly critical talks, I want to explore some of In a way, some of these feel teachers. It is a situation he
and I think that IATEFL wanted the stories we’ve been told like modern bedtime stories for himself has tried to address as a
to look critically at some of the (and to be honest, that I’ve teachers. But whereas fifteen trainer.
things we do and what it might repeated without thinking), years ago the stories would give It is an area that IATEFL
look like going forward. often with a goal of incorporating me wonderful dreams of a digital needs to consider, perhaps
utopia, lately they are taking a reaching out to on line teachers,
darker turn. In this plenary, I’d but that encouraging them to
like to critically examine some simply form a SIG, for example,
of words and narratives we use might simply be a way of doing
to talk about technology and something and then forgetting
methodology. I’d also like to about it.
look at these stories next to older “Online teaching” Lindsay told
ones we’ve been telling ourselves us, “is the new Wild West and we
in ELT, and what conflict, if any, need to put it on the agenda!
there might be.”
We also asked Lindsay to tell For more from Lindsay turn to
us, in the context of his plenary, page 24.

22 March/April 2019