Page 22 - ELG1903 Mar-Apr Issue 464
P. 22

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.

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