Conference Pet Peeves
There is a lot we need to change regarding ELT conferences.
I have a lot of pet peeves - see this list. But here, I’d like to mention a few related to conferences.
Over the years, I’ve traveled A LOT. 5 continents, attending all kinds of conferences as a speaker, an entrepreneur and just as a regular Joe teacher.
Overall, my biggest concern is that so many think of teacher professional development as “attending a conference”. It isn’t and conferences are just a small part of teacher CPD which ranges from teacher goal setting, in-school sharing and workshops to reflective teaching practices. Even what we are informally doing here, participating in a personal learning network.
That said, here are some pet peeves I have about English Language Teaching conferences.
1. Disrespecting the attendees. I wish attendees would be provided with enough time to discuss with our group/partner when asked. Happens so often. Presenter says, “Discuss these 3 things in your group”. Even if a time frame is given, it is never adhered to. We just get started doing/saying something and then it’s the presenter jumping in and saying, “Ok, we got to move on.” Presenters so often disrespect their audience and play lip service to really giving attendees time to dig into topics.
2. Powerpoint diarrhea. This is just disgusting but is still endemic. I got so dizzy last conference, presentation slides just full of text, really full. Can’t we read this at home? Provide a link if you will. We didn’t come to hear the presenter read the slides and speed through “stuff”. Plus, even if the presenter doesn’t actually read off the slide, it’s impossible to process this text while at the same time listening to them speak. A presenter needs to create a common setting, common ground where attendees can share/participate in the idea related through the emotion of the presenter’s narrative. As one member of my PLN on twitter said …..
Here’s an example from a recent conference. By no means the worst.
3. No professional development in teacher L1. I’m perplexed by this. Conferences are not a time for teachers to learn English. It should be done in their L1 where possible and appropriate. Conferences are about “ideas” and language is only a vehicle by which to communicate them.
Why not label some sessions as English or the conference L1? I think there should be a balance in favor of conference presentation in the L1.
4. Parachuted in presenters. I won’t belabor the point but just having many Brits, Americans flying in, does not a good conference make. Plus, most just go through the motions, regurgitate and repeat the same presentation given at X,Y or Z conference. Plus, most are not practicing teachers – too many academics, too many applied linguistics pontificating on interesting but not topics specific to teaching practice. Let’s keep conferences real and make the stars the local teachers!
5. No or few sessions that are open discussion, Ed-Camp style. Attend a session on a topic that interests you and meet others with a similar interest and just discuss the topic, share with each other! None of this stand and deliver, usually boring and pretentious B.S. (of which I’m so guilty of in my own career).
Imagine this usual style of conference session
turned into this …
The cost. Unless your school or organization is paying, it’s exorbitant! Robbery in my opinion. Here is an example and it’s on the low end. Add in airfare, hotel, food and more, and you are looking at $1,000s of dollars out of pocket.
Let’s all start working towards and imagining better conferences, more participatory and more tied to our actual teaching practices than what exists right now. What’s your ELT conference Pet Peeve?
