A TALE of TEN CITIES
A TALE of TEN CITIES
It was the busiest of times, it was the most inspiring of times, it was a season of ceaseless speaking, it was a season of unceasing listening, it was the epoch of online illumination, it was the epoch of face-to-face communion, it was the spring of professional blossoming, it was the summer of shared understanding. In short, the period stretching from the first winds of March to this late hour in May has been marked by an uncommon flurry of exertion and enterprise on my part. I have journeyed through lecture halls and conference rooms, traversed the invisible highways of the internet, and stood—sometimes behind a podium, sometimes before a screen—as both messenger and listener in the ever-turning wheel of education.
To speak before an assembly of teachers is no ordinary matter. It is to pour one’s thoughts into the minds of those who themselves pour daily into the minds of others—it is, in a sense, to whisper to the future. In this regard, my labors have been most heartening, for I have had the high honor of representing IATEFL Poland, both as a long-standing member and, in these present days, as its appointed president—a station I regard not with pride, but with profound gratitude and duty. It is a post not of ornament, but of service, and I have embraced it as such.
With voice raised and heart open, I have shared my musings, my methods, and my modest insights on the noble craft of teaching English. Ten times have I addressed the assembled minds of our profession in the last ten weeks and a half—ten occasions of communion, ten opportunities to cast a stone upon the waters of learning and watch, with hope, the ripples extend.
What follows, dear reader, is not a boast, but a ledger: a plain recounting of those ten talks, each, a chapter in this recent season of tireless engagement, reflection, and joy.
Ok, enough Dickensian flourish.
TESOL Greece
March started appropriately in Athens, the birthplace of the classroom, at the 46th TESOL Greece Annual Conference. The 2-day event was exciting as not only did I get to visit and catch up with old friends, but I got to encounter new friends with new ideas to share. One such person, Alistair Daniel, did an incredible plenary on storytelling. Alistair, an educator from the UK, really opened my eyes as to how effective educational storytelling can be. Maria Diakou, the current coordinator for the IATEFL Learning Technology SIG, did a very interesting plenary about using technology for multicultural language learning. This was wrapped up by my good friend Terry Small’s final plenary about engaging the brain using neuroscience. I also attended many other talks including my friend Lonny Gold, who gave a lively session on Suggestopedia. The conference had around 100 attendees. Unfortunately, due to the airline strike in Germany, I was forced to spend an extra sunny day in Athens.
TESOL Spain
Next was chisel Spain which was held in the beautiful city of Burgos. This three-day conference was showcased by plenaries from Rose Aylett and Mina Patel. Keynote speakers included Katherine Bilsborough, Chris Roland, Phil Dexter and me. The conference had around 200 attendees. It was great to catch up with Kate, Chris and Phil along with Charles Goodger, Jen Dobson, Lonny Gold, Boelo van der Pool, to name a few. It was also nice to get to know new friends like Anthony Green, Lilika Couri, Daniel Martin, and more. Next year, the event will take place in Seville.
HUPE Online
It was a pleasure to take part in our fellow associate’s online conference, HUPE Day 2025. Over 100 members took part in this full day event with talks from other associates in our network. This was a precursor to my upcoming Plenary in Croatia this fall. Hope to see you there.
University of Opole
Along with IATEFL Poland’s frequent contributor and friend Russell Stannard, I gave a plenary at the University of Opole’s 6th Methodological Conference on Technology and AI in Language Teaching and Learning English. The event welcomed 100 educators in a full day of plenaries from Russell and I along with Jackek Pyzalski and Lynn Zimmerman along with afternoon talks from other educators. It was nice to finally present here after having to turn down the invitation due to other conferences.
IATEFL Edinburgh
April kicked off with my trip to IATEFL Edinburgh 2025 for the annual 4-plus day event. With around 2000 delegates and 500 talks, it was a whirlwind week. For me, I was wearing many hats. As IATEFL Poland president, I took part and presented for the Associates Day event where representatives from the global associate network presented some of their highs and lows. The same day, I ran downstairs to the LTSIG Preconference Event where I gave a talk on AI. Later in the week, I presented at the BESIG Showcase Day. As the coordinator of the INDEPENDENT AUTHORS & PUBLISHERS, I also had the exhibition booth to take care of. All this and I still managed to do an interview with IATEFL LIVE, which can be seen on their YouTube channel. The event gave me an opportunity to meet face-to-face with potential speakers and exhibitors for our own conference in September in Lodz. I am proud to say that many big names in the ELT world have taken notice at how IATEFL Poland has been making it’s mark in the CPD world, and many have asked to take part in this coming event. Stay tuned for the names. Another reason to submit your own talk and register early.
International House Torun Training Day
For the 6th year, I took part in the International House Torun Training Day, something I look forward to every year. This event gave me an opportunity to take part in a friendly one-day conference with about 100 professionals, many of them International House teachers. It’s an opportunity to learn from our good friend Glenn Standish, DOS at IH Torun and other speakers like Christopher Walker from IH Bielsko-Biala and Emma Wooding from IH Bydgoszcz. I was also pleased to see the return this year of Chris Roland, who we hope to see at IATEFL Poland in September.
EdYOUfest
As part of the Academic Team at EdYOUfest, I delivered my online talk on Teaching Speaking as part of the 4-session series on the four skills. It was nice to be home and back online for a change, but I did miss the interaction with the viewers.
ELTAM Montenegro
Again this year, I was invited to give two talks at the ELTAM Montenegro Conference in Niksic. This 2-day conference of about 150 teachers from area associations is always interesting. This year, I had the pleasure of meeting Neil Anderson, a U.S. English Language Specialist and Grant Kempton from Pearson, whom many of you might remember from IATEFL Poland years ago. The highlights for me were the sessions we had with committee representatives from all over Eastern and Central Europe to discuss some of our challenges as Teacher Associations. As a result, Sanja Čonjagić from SOL and ELTA Serbia will put together some meet-ups for us online to continue the discussions and help and share solutions together. I have been invited to talk about the business end of maintaining a Teacher Association which has become more and more challenging since COVID.
WinWin Kyiv
While in Montenegro, I delivered my 5th talk for WinWin as part of their online conference. It is always a pleasure to speak with our Ukrainian colleagues, and it was an honor to invite them to our conference in September. We are proud to be putting together a special training session Friday morning, September 19th in Lodz with the British Council specifically for Ukrainians and people teaching Ukrainians outside of their country. We hope to welcome many and support them during these troubled times.
Sitges Spain
After a visit to the venue in Lodz, I was off to the 9th NeuroLanguage Conference in Sitges, Spain run by Rachel Paling, who will be with us along with many of her coaches again this year. The good news is, I have managed to invite a few more big name speakers to join us in September. Stay tuned for the line-up.
After these months of travel and talks, it will be nice to finish soon after TESOL Arabia and PASE and have a bit of a rest. I’ll have a nice slow summer to continue planning our conference in September.
To end, back to Dickens. “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”
By Rob Howard
