The TESOL International Convention is always an enormous event with thousands of participants and presenters from all over the world. While at times overwhelming, it can be a thrilling and invigorating few days surrounded by some of the biggest names in our profession. The convention was held in Toronto a few years ago and it gave many the opportunity to go the conference for the first time. This year, the conference was held in Seattle, Washington from March 21st to 24th, and I was lucky enough to attend. The conference serves as an excellent way to discover some of the most current research, teaching ideas, and new resources in the field, but also, discuss and reflect on the most pressing issues in our field.
Without a doubt, one dominating theme throughout the conference was the current political situation both in the United States and around the world, and how this impacts us as (English) language teachers. In a world of increasing isolationism, xenophobia, and even racism (both implicit and at times explicit), the question of how we as English language teachers (re)affirm our values of inclusiveness, multiculturalism, multilingualism and diversity was consistently posed. For many of the plenary speakers, this was part of, or the dominating element, of their talks. The past U.S. election, BREXIT, and the recent U.S. travel ban served to push these issues to the forefront.
There was a sombre acknowledgement that some people simply could not attend the conference because of the travel ban. By show of hands in one plenary talk, some teachers working in the U.S. noted a feeling of unease as the political situation in their own country left them in a potentially perilous position where the travel ban, and also the general climate, will likely affect how many students go to the United States to study. If there are no students, who will they teach?
The presidential keynote, given by Dudley Reynolds, truly drove the message home. He noted that his initial plan for the keynote address had drastically changed over the past year as he saw the need for both the TESOL organization, and all (English) language teachers, to reaffirm our values. We need to ‘profess our profession’ as he eloquently put it. In times of intolerance and heightened xenophobia, it is now more important than ever to reaffirm what it means to be an (English) language teacher. Our profession embraces diversity, difference, multilingualism and multiculturalism. This brings the political and the professional together, and while perhaps discomforting, it is how it must be. As professionals, we have our professional values, and we must stand for these. Now, more than ever.
It was a whirlwind few days, but as always, I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you were at the convention, feel free to add your own impressions/experiences below. I’d love hear about them.
Michael Karas
Hello, my name is Michael, and I am the Blog Administrator for Guest Bloggers. I am currently working on my PhD in the Faculty of Education at Western University. My thesis is focused on language teacher education and teacher preparedness, but I take a general interest in many topics related to TESL, including teacher efficacy, learner silence, and others! I live and teach in Toronto, but I also make the journey to London on a weekly basis to teach at Western while I complete my degree. Before coming home to Canada in 2014, I taught EAP in China for two years. Prior to China, I worked on my Master of Education in TESOL at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. I have also taught in Korea and lived in France. I miss living and teaching abroad, but it’s great to be back home! I enjoy my two roles as a novice researcher and an English teacher and I hope to add my unique perspective to the TESL Ontario Blog.
I also attended the conference this year. The experience of being with 6,000 other teachers was invigorating! I agree that we need to “profess our profession” and be proud of the work that we do. Dudley Reynolds also stressed the importance our of work when he said “we contribute to multi-linguals”. He also asked “How do we our profession a force in the world? How do we create a presence in the world”? Our voices are needed more now than ever.
Great! Thanks.