It wasn’t my intention to write a Part 2 to my conference review, but I’ve just finished reading through a twenty thousand word document which I felt needed a comment. When you think about it, that’s the length of a reasonable degree thesis, so you’ll forgive me (or possibly inform me) if I missed a couple of the finer points. The document consists of an article about an unnamed conference (ISTEK ELT 2010, in Istanbul) and the discussion that followed it. Although the original poster claimed that the name of the conference was not important, I feel it is important to name it. The comments in the article, and indeed in this article pertain directly to this conference, and no amount of playing with words should allow the impression that any other conference is being discussed here.
You can read the article, if you haven’t already, here. There are a lot of claims made, but for those who aren’t inclined to read the article and comments, I will list the points with which I take issue. (Unfortunately, the author completely deleted the article and comments after receiving more criticism regarding an initial attempt to edit them. I’m sure that copies of the original post and comments, and the edited version are available somewhere though.)
- The author’s faith in PLNs has been shaken
- There was “appalling elitism and favoritism” at the ISTEK ELT Conference
- Foreign presenters were treated differently to local presenters
- Staff from the schools organising the conference were forced to work there
- People are scared to speak out
- Turkish teachers get paid less than native speakers
- Because of Twitter, friends at conferences “are being separated from each other.”
- The author’s PLN often didn’t offer support
This is quite a hefty list, and the article elicited some considerable response, and inevitably, some criticism. I didn’t see the article when it was posted, and by the time I read it the author had chosen to close the comments “in the interests of promoting harmony.” There is also a remark, that the content will be edited to remove all references “to specific events or people.”
The problem is that this article was not general in nature and the convoluted attempt not to name ISTEK was reminiscent of a ham-fisted attempt at satire. I attended this conference, as a foreign delegate. I was neither invited, nor paid, nor sponsored. I paid my own way, and wrote about the experience in a previous post. Continue reading »
So, having blogged in my last post about recalcitrant teachers and their attitude to working in the holidays, it stands to reason that I should give some feedback on the conference I attended this which caused the debate. I had thought about whether the atmosphere at the ISTEK ELT conference might be a bit too national for it to be of any lasting use to me because although it was billed as an international conference, it was clear that the prime focus was on home grown teachers. Having said that, the plenary speakers were all well-known international practitioners and I also knew quite a lot of the people offering workshops through Twitter so I was confident that the the standard would be high. I was wrong.
The standard was not high, it was stratospheric. At the opening, we were asked to think during the weekend about the one thing we would take away from the event, but as time went on it became increasingly clear that one thing would not be enough. But I’m getting ahead of myself…
I arrived early the day before the conference, having taken an overnight flight (I hearby swear that I will spend the extra money and book a flight at a sensible time in future!) The cheapskate in me also said that I would get from the airport to the venue by bus – cheaper than a taxi and more opportunity to see some of the real Istanbul. Now I pride myself in being able to get by in a handful of languages including one or two exotic ones, but in trying to get on the bus I realised that I have no knowledge whatsoever of Turkish, not a single word. OK, so adopting the Churchill principle (which co-incidentally, Andrew Wright referred to in his opening address) I spoke loud slow English and was promptly directed to another bus. From that bus, I was sent back to the original bus which had by then departed. With the next one I sent off into Istanbul. Given my sleep-deprived state, I was very pleased that the organisers at Yeditepe University had a room immediately available. A couple of hours’ sleep did the trick. Continue reading »
(c) Wesley Fryer, via Flickr
So, I’m sitting in a train on my way to the airport to catch a flight to Istanbul. The ISTEK ELT Conference is taking place there this weekend. I’ve been looking forward to going for several weeks, but now I’m angry. The train’s on time, and I haven’t forgotten my passport, but travelling by train gives me time to make plans or brood (depending on whether the planning is finished or not). No, the reason I’m fuming mad is because of my colleagues.
Let’s go back a few days… On the last day of term the conversation in the staff room turned quite naturally to the holidays. The activities varied from doing nothing to moving house to going away somewhere – all quite normal, until I said I was going on a training course and then attending a conference in Istanbul. Actually, the reaction didn’t surprise me too much. Some people were surprised that I was going given that I was not being sponsored, others couldn’t see the point (without even asking what the conference was focused on), and a sizeable group stated flatly that they would never do such a thing in the holidays. Even the professional conference attender on the staff wasn’t prepared to give up time during his holidays for such an event. No-one expressed any interest in getting feedback after I returned, though many wanted a report from a colleague who was going to Mallorca. As I said, I wasn’t particularly surprised by this, and I got on with more important things in my life. Until this train journey. No planning to do. Time to brood… Continue reading »
(c) Gary Hayes, via Flickr
If you’re a Twitter user and you’re looking for great, thought-provoking ideas on education then a good place to start is @spedteacher. His blog, Education On The Plate is a must-read for anyone looking for stimulating input on the subject of education. I saw through Twitter that he’d blogged on the subject of running schools like a business – something which I feel has great advantages. One thing that Deven did was to identify that this is not only controversial, it is also not simple. Teachers are almost naturally resistant to the factory model for a school, recognising that students are individuals in their formative years and have differing needs and skills. I’ve even heard a teacher use Pink Floyd’s, The Wall as an example of how school can be too focused on creating drones. Sadly when it comes to this piece of music, I can’t forgive the band for the first line – We don’t need no education. Countless kids know this line without understanding or even having heard the rest of the piece. Continue reading »
(c) gcbb via Flickr
Personal Learning Networks are all the rage at the moment. As with a lot of “modern” things, they’re existed for a long time but have now got a snappy new name. It used to be called “advice from friends and colleagues”. But in the era of social media the word friend has taken on a new meaning. Social media has provided me with a lot of friends who I’ve never met and never spoken to. I’ve exchanged a few tweets with them, commented on or received comments on a blog article, or maybe read a few forum posts, and as a result these people are, in Web 2.0-speak, friends.
A PLN can take advantage of lots of different services – Facebook is perhaps the best-known, Ning is also very popular and offers The Educator’s PLN, but there are lots of others, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Of all the available services, the one I find the most fascinating (and the most useful) is Twitter. One of the most interesting things I learned about Twitter before I even tried it was that it is like Marmite. It polarises.
I’m constantly amazed at how many people feel the need to criticise Twitter - it’s superficial, it’s useless, it’s boring, you can’t say anything useful in 140 characters, and so on… Never one to be influenced by the crowd, I signed up. Continue reading »
I’ve just finished a presentation to a group of publishers in Stuttgart about Moodle. When I was invited to talk to them it was out of the question to refuse – after all, I’m a self-confessed technology freak. So what’s the problem, you might well ask?
What's New In The World?
Who’s been talking…