English Language Teaching Conference
Wednesday 21 - Thursday 22 April 2021 | online
English UK's 2021 ELT Conference is an event of two halves: Wednesday's programme is for ELT managers working at English UK member centres, and Thursday's programme is for ELT teachers, free of charge and open to all.
Managers day | Wednesday 21 April
Day one is for managers and leaders working at English UK member ELT centres. Connect with the ELT management community to help navigate the return to face-to-face classroom teaching, discuss staff and student wellbeing and share the challenges of ELT management in a Covid-19 world. In the evening you can test your lockdown knowledge in a fun online quiz event.
Pay what you can: we are offering 'pay what you can' pricing for this event to support our members. Suggested contribution is £85 per delegate. Please contact the team if you have any questions.
Register for the managers day
Managers day programme
| 09:15 - 10:15 |
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Conference welcome with English UK
Opening plenary: The second customer revolution plenary with George Pickering
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| 10:30 - 11:15 |
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Recruiting staff safely in ELT with Barbara Lewin |
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Bouncebackability and resilience with Andy Hockley |
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Challenging BAME under-representation in EFL with Jameela Mohamed |
| 11:15 - 11:45 |
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Break |
| 11:45 - 12:30 |
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Human resources updates with Best Start HR |
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Taking the lead toward educator wellbeing with Tammy Gregersen |
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Project-based approaches in staff and organisation development with Martyn Clarke |
| 12:45 - 13:15 |
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British Council inspections 2021 with Liz McLaren |
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Transformational management with Sarah Mount |
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Online learning: moving out of crisis mode and into the new normal with Andy Johnson |
| 13:15 - 14:00 |
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Lunch break |
| 14:00 - 15:30 |
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Open space sessions - delegates will decide topics
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| 15:30 - 16:15 |
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Break |
| 16:15 - 17:00 |
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Closing plenary: Spoon, fork, hand, chopsticks. English language and culture in a post-colonial world with Noreen Caplen-Spence |
| 17:15 - 18:45 |
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Social quiz |
Teachers day | Thursday 22 April
Day two is open to all ELT practitioners - teachers, directors of studies, managers, leaders, and members and non-members. Connect with fellow ELT professionals learn about new teaching methodology, how sustainability can be built into ELT teaching practice to discuss new teaching methodology, the future of the ELT classroom, and as the event falls on Earth Day 2021 we'll be talking about how sustainability can be built into ELT teaching practice.
Free of charge and open to all.
Teachers day programme
| 09:00 - 09:45 |
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Approaches to inclusive, global materials for learning at all levels with Adam Scott |
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The classroom in 2021: considering hybrid, blending and socially distancing with Chris Farrell |
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Practical ways of including sustainability in your language classroom with Milica Vukadin, Ben Crompton and Owain Llewellyn |
| 10:00 - 10:30 |
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IELTS writing made easy with Anastasia Gorlova |
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Investigating the impact of online teacher development courses with Johanna Stirling |
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Helping neurodiverse students prepare for exams with Dr. Anne Margaret Smith |
| 10:30 - 11:00 |
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Break |
| 11:00 - 11:45 |
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Paperless teaching – good for your students, good for the environment! with Jo Kroussaniotakis |
| 11:00 - 11:20 |
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Latest assessment solutions from LanguageCert: the perfect fit with Marios Molfetas and Janet Golding |
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From Syntax to syringes: how to get started teaching English for healthcare with Rebecca Bush |
| 12:00 - 13:00 |
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Plenary: The native factor and the last five years with Silvana Richardson and Chia Suan Chong |
| 13:00 - 13:30 |
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Lunch break |
| 13:30 - 14:15 |
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Virtual Reality: gimmick or effective learning tool? with David Byrne and Gillian Davidson |
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Creating more inclusive learning experiences with Laura Patsko |
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"Oh crumbs, how do I deal with that?!" Diversity and inclusion in an ever-changing world with Charlotte Williams |
| 14:30 - 15:00 |
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How to integrate soft skills into exam classes with Melih Duman |
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What does it mean to teach culture in the English classroom? with Chia Suan Chong |
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The landscape of Green ELT with Chris Etchells |
| 15:00 - 15:30 |
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Break |
| 15:30 - 16:30 |
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Climate action in language education: Impactful ways to integrate environmental issues in English language teaching with Colm Downes, Christopher Graham and Dianna Torosyan |
Event sponsors
The ELT Conference 2021 is sponsored by:
2020 ELT Conference feedback
In January 2020 the event focused on the needs of teachers and their managers, with one day aimed at each group and strands on best practice, performance management and well-being.
"It's the most important event in the EFL calendar!"
- Susanna Wright, Stafford House London, ELT conference 2020 delegate
The ELT Conference 2020 received excellent feedback. Around 90% of respondants said they left feeling more knowledgable, inspired and with ideas to implement back at their ELT centre. The event was rated 8.5/10, and two of three delegates felt more confident after attending.
Regular attendee Debbie Collins of ELC Brighton said: "I really enjoy it. I like that you meet up with lots of people, the presentations are really good and the food is really nice. It's also really welcoming – this year I am on my own but I don't feel it.
"Reflecting the conference's wide appeal for ELT professionals, the other plenary sessions focused on how to meet your professional aspirations, language teaching in the age of the multilingual turn and recognising, avoiding and dealing with burnout in yourself and your team.
"It should be the first thing on the to-do list for next year - two days of inspiring, enthusiastic, knowledgeable speakers that can only enhance the individual teachers, the management, the language schools and most importantly the students themselves"
– Duncan Cotton, Kent School of English
