International Teacher Professional Development Conference
2nd International Teacher Professional Development Conference “From chit-chat to academic fluency: Language perspectives in the classroom” at the Exupery International School on April 1, 2023.
Exupery International School cordially invites you to the Professional Development Conference “From chit-chat to academic fluency: Language perspectives in the classroom” on April 1, 2023. We are hosting the conference in association with our colleagues and friends at Roong Aroon International School (Bangkok, Thailand) and the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga. The conference will be a superb opportunity for international and public-school teachers to share their knowledge, experience and expertise with other teaching professionals.
The conference puts to the fore the complexity that teaching multilingual students represents. This challenge is the product of the appeal of an education in English, but also the constant increase in migration. Indeed, the 2022 edition of OECD’s International Migration Outlook, highlights that 2021 saw an increase of 40% in family migration, representing “more than four in ten new permanent immigrants to the OECD”. The reasons for this trend are multiple, and directly impact how educational institutions need to adapt and grow to meet the needs of students settling in new environments, coming from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
The title of the conference is a direct reference to what linguist Jim Cummins identifies as Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP), which form the basis of our endeavors as educational experts to support our students’ success in accessing curricula.
This Conference will create a platform for educational practitioners to share their professional approaches in didactics and methodology in language and content-based subjects in preschool, primary, secondary, high school levels, and from an administrative/leadership perspective.
The Conference will be enriched by expert lectures and keynotes. It will be opened by assoc. prof. Elina Bandzina’s lecture “Intelligibility—Check! What’s Next? New Directions in English Speech Teaching and Learning” (Stockholm School of Economics Riga, Latvia), and concluded with a speech titled “Developing English-Speaking Contexts” by experienced international educator in the sphere of languages Tamara James-Wyachai, Roong Aroon International School (Bangkok, Thailand).
To participate in the Conference, teachers, staff, school community members of Latvian and International, and public schools are welcome. At the Conference, speakers will share their expertise and experience in workshops or presentations (see the application form for more details).
The Conference will be conducted in a blended manner (online and on-site at the school’s premises).
All are to attend the conference for free. For on-site attendants the coffee breaks and all the handouts will be provided but the on-line attendants will receive the information electronically.
This year, organizers are planning to issue the proceedings of the conference. Please see the requirements for the submission & deadlines here.
Proposals for participation in the Conference are due by:
March 15 (incl.) if applying as speaker/presenter;
March 20 (incl) if applying as the attendee/listener.
The language of the Conference is English or other if the focus is on the methodology of the language subject.
The Conference is an opportunity for faculty, staff and community members to share their work across discipline and program and to learn more about a variety of topics. For teachers, this is a valuable opportunity to present their experience in didactics and methodology in the learning process.
NB! The Conference can only be attended by registered participants.
Teaching staff and school community members are welcome to apply as listeners as well. All participants are to receive the official certificate of participation in the seminar via email issued by the government.