At JALT2021, we’ll be holding our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and forum on Saturday November 13, from 2:05 to 3:35 PM.

This year, our meeting and forum will be combined into one session. Officers of the SIG will first report on the recent activities of the group, as well as share information and news about the SIG’s events, membership, publications, and other related matters. This will be followed by a forum which addresses both the challenges and opportunities for teacher development during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Our session, along with the rest if the conference, will take place online. We look forward to your participation!

We are happy to announce that the call for proposals for Teacher Journeys 2021 is now open! Please find it at the conference website.

Over the past ten years, the Teacher Journeys conference has traveled around Japan to highlight teacher narratives. This year, following the model of Teacher Journeys 2020, in place of a face-to-face conference the Teacher Development SIG will curate a collection of videos sharing reflections on teaching in these new circumstances.

These videos will be shared on the conference site from late summer to early fall. We would also like to include a written version of all accepted presentations in a special issue of the TD SIG journal, Explorations in Teacher Development, to appear in 2022.

The Teacher Development SIG and JALT CUE SIG will be co-facilitating a forum on “Reflections on Remote Teaching” at the JALT2021 International Conference. 

The past year and a half has forced many innovations in teaching. The tendency has been to focus on technological adjustments; however, deeper changes involving the purpose of education and the role of the educator have also taken place. We invite presenters to share their own reflections on these fundamental issues which were stimulated by recent circumstances.

In the forum, a series of members of each SIG will use tablets, laptops or paper, to share experiences of creating communities through PechaKucha-like sessions. Presenters will give 5 minute presentations, followed by short Q&A periods. Each presentation will be given several times to multiple audiences so that attendees are provided a range of topics. This is in accordance with our goal of ensuring all of those in attendance at least one valuable takeaway from their experience teaching during the pandemic.

The deadline for proposals is April 28th. Click here for the proposal submission form.

JALT PanSIG 2021 will take place from Friday 14th May to Sunday 16th May. Originally planned for Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, the conference will be held online due to ongoing concerns over the COVID-19 situation. The conference website is pansig2021.eventzil.la

The TD SIG is delighted to be facilitating a forum with the Intercultural Communication in Language Education (ICLE) SIG, titled ‘Developing an Intercultural Understanding as Teachers’.

This will be held on Friday May 14th from 19:00-20:30.

The following invited three speakers will be presenting on the following:

• (Presentation 1) Prof. Yoko Munezane (Rikkyo University) – From Friendship to the Interconnected World: Theory & Application of the New Model of Intercultural Communication
• (Presentation 2) Prof. Stephen M. Ryan (Sanyo Gakuen University) – Things I Wish I’d Known about Culture When I Started Teaching
• (Presentation 3) Prof. Helen Spencer-Oatey (University of Warwick) – Building an Interconnected World through Fostering Global Fitness

The following is a description of the forum: 

Language teaching involves a commitment to, and interest in, intercultural communication. In providing language learning instruction, practitioners are not merely sharing linguistic knowledge and skills in a one-directional manner, but are continuously negotiating and learning from their students’ dynamic experiences, repertoires, and identities. As English is a lingua franca, which facilitates communication across cultures, a sensitivity to the intricacies of interaction between groups from different speech backgrounds is essential. In an era characterised by division and remoteness, language educators’ roles have become even more paramount in upholding and promoting intercultural mindsets. However, these skills may be overlooked or complicated to build
and hone.

This forum is a collaboration between the Teacher Development (TD) and Intercultural Communication in Language Education (ICLE) SIGs. Featuring a panel of invited speakers from the SIGs, each presenter will explore a different element of what developing intercultural practice, understanding, and principles as a foreign language educator entails. Following the presentations, the panellists will interact about points of interest and resonance, and there will be an opportunity for audience participants to share their reflections and contribute to the dialogue. It is hoped that this session will provide guidance for developing intercultural teaching approaches and language learning environments.

Click here to register for the conference.

PanSIG 2021 will take place on May 15-16 in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture. The event is currently planned as a hybrid event (partially online), but will be moved entirely online if needed depending on the situation.

For PanSIG 2021, the TD SIG is delighted to be facilitating a forum with the Intercultural Communication in Language Education (ICLE) SIG, titled ‘Developing an Intercultural Understanding as Teachers’.

Over the next couple of months, we’ll be finalising the details, including the invited speakers, the session format, and the date/time. Please watch this space for information!

Join us as we reflect on this year’s online conference, Teacher Journeys 2020: Experiences in Emergency Remote Teaching. Due to Covid-19, this year’s conference was unique with respect to both content and format. The organizers have invited four presenters to hold a discussion on the virtual sharing of their and others’ journeys through the pandemic as educators. We will discuss topics such as the process of creating their videos and lessons learned from others’, and also consider ways that this experience might inform professional teacher development post-coronavirus.

Date: Sunday, November 8
Time: 2 to 3pm (Japan Standard Time)
Hosted on Zoom

Learn more about the participants and access the meeting from the conference site.

In this annual general meeting, members of the Teacher Development SIG will report on the recent activities of the group. Officers will share information and news about the SIG‘s events, membership, publications, and other related matters. As well as discussing previous work, ideas about the SIG‘s future will be shared, and the results of this year’s officer elections will be announced. Current and potential SIG members are encouraged to come along to this session. 

Date: Tuesday, November 17th
Time: 5:00 PM – 5:45 PM  

This session will be taking place live on Zoom. Registered participants of JALT2020 should follow information during the conference period for details about how to access and join the session. 

Teacher Journeys 2020 Conference website

Unfortunately, our ‘Teacher Emotions in the Japanese Context’ forum scheduled for March 19 has had to be cancelled. We’re very sorry about this. We hope to arrange a similar event soon. Thank you for your understanding.

March 19, 2020: Teacher Emotions in the Japanese Context @ Toyo University (Hakusan campus) Tokyo. 14:00-16:30. Click here to register.