Dear TLA Participants,
We would like to welcome you to the Teacher Leadership Academy . The organizing committee has worked especially hard to make this event a success.
We are pleased to be able to welcome three prominent teacher educators as our plenary speakers: Dr. Neil Anderson from Brigham Young University in the US; Dr Dudley
Reynolds, from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar and Dr Ramin Akbari from Tarbiat
Modares (Instructor Training) University in Tehran, Iran. Each will share their expertise and insights about the importance of developing leadership skills.
We would like to express our gratitude to our hosting institution, Dubai Men's College,
Higher Colleges of Technology. Thanks also go to our generous sponsors: TESOL Arabia and Dubai Men’s College. A special vote of thanks goes to our presenters who provide the important content of this conference. Without them this event would not have been possible.
Enjoy the conference!
Regards,
Christine Coombe & Konrad Cedro
Conference Chairs
Maria Brown
Program Chair
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3 rd Annual Teacher Leadership Academy, February 10, 2011
Dubai Men’s College
Room
L115
L113
(Learning
Centre)
COEE 1
8:00-9:00
Registration
DMC
Reception
Area
9:00-9:50
P l e n a r y
Leading
Educational
Change –
Who, Me?
Dudley W.
Reynolds
DMC
Auditorium
COEE 2
10:00-10:50 11:00-11:50
C o n c u r r e n t S e s s i o n s
Burnout in ELT:
Strategies for Recovery
Distributed
Leadership or Prevention
Coombe
Practice
Glen
Teacher Education:
Pre-Service Teachers’
Beliefs about Aspects of
Teaching
Dorri
Finding
Professional
Development
Opportunities in
TESOL
Wiens
Teacher
Evaluation in
ELT
Davidson
Narrative Inquiry of an American
Teachers-Leader’s
Experiences
Pronoza
PD Portfolios:
An Effective CV
Coombe
12:00-12:50
Lunch
DMC
Cafeteria
1:00-1:50 2:00-2:50
C o n c u r r e n t S e s s i o n s
Investigating
Classroom
Steps Towards
TBLT: What
Atmosphere and its
Effects on Learning
Alkire & Vogels
Managers Need to
Know
Morrow
Toastmasters
International –
The Personal
Advantages of Joining
Anderson
Occupational
Stress in
University EFL
Teachers
Aubrey
A Team Leader, or a Dictator?
El Miniawi
From English
Language Learner to Teacher to Leader
Onat
Time Management
Strategies for
Busy ELT
Professionals
Brown
CLIL:
What’s the Buzz?
Pugliese
3:00-3:50
P l e n a r y
Balancing
Personal and
Professional
Development:
Roles and
Tools
4:00 – 4:50
P l e n a r y
Teachers and
Supervisors:
Are They
Really
Different?
Neil
Anderson
DMC
Auditorium
Ramin
Akbari
DMC
Auditorium

9:00-9:50 a.m.
DMC Auditorium
Quick – name a leader who changed the field of education!
John Dewey. Maria Montessori. Paulo Freire. You?
For many of us, ‘educational change’ sounds like a political movement; a revolution that would be led by a mighty general, or a wise sage. I definitely never thought of myself as a leader of educational change. When I reflect on my career, however, I realize that I have had significant opportunities to impact the education offered to English language learners in a variety of settings and ways.
In this talk I argue that we are all presented with opportunities to lead educational change. It is important , therefore , that we recognize - and understand - the agency that we have in our everyday settings. Drawing on my experiences as a classroom teacher, a researcher, and an advocate for our profession, I share lessons learned about educational change, the forces that shape it, and our own potential to affect it.
Bio:
Dudley W. Reynolds is Teaching Professor of English and Director of Research on English
Language Learning at Carnegie Mellon University , Qatar. He also currently serves on the international TESOL association’s Board of Directors. His research focuses on second language writing teaching, development, and assessment. He is the author of One on One with
Second Language Writers: A Guide for Writing Tutors, Teachers, and Consultants
(University of Michigan Press, 2009) and Assessing Writing, Assessing Learning (University of Michigan Press, 2010).
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3:00-3:50 p.m.
DMC Auditorium
What roles do you play in the various aspects of your life?
What tools do you use to reflect on ways that you can make improvement in your roles? This session will focus on four personal and professional roles and four tools that we can use to help us maintain more effective balance in those roles. The four roles include: individual family member, colleague, teacher, and leader. The four tools include: personal development input questions, peer observation, 3-
2-1 summary, and PD reading reflection journals. Through consistent use of these four tools, we will see personal and professional growth and improvement. This growth can result in great satisfaction in both personal and professional development.
Bio:
Neil J Anderson is a Professor of Linguistics and English Language and Coordinator of the
English Language Center at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA. Professor
Anderson has taught and presented papers and workshops in over 20 countries. His research interests include second language reading, language learner strategies, learner self-assessment, motivation in language teaching and learning, and ELT leadership development. He is the author or co-editor of three teacher education texts in the area of second language reading:
Exploring Second Language Reading: Issues and Strategies (1999, Heinle/Thomson),
Practical English Language Teaching: Reading (2008, McGraw Hill) and L2 reading research and instruction: Crossing the boundaries (2009, The University of Michigan Press).
He is the co-editor with Christine Coombe, Lauren Stephenson, and Mary Lou McCloskey of
Leadership in English language teaching and learning (2008, University of Michigan Press).
In addition , he is the author of an EFL reading series A CTIVE Skills for Reading (2002/2003
Heinle/Thomson). Professor Anderson served as President of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. from 2001 to 2002. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of
The International Research Foundation (TIRF) from 2002 to 2008, serving as the President of the Board from 2004 to 2006. He has been a Fulbright Teaching and Research Scholar in
Costa Rica (2002-2003) and in Guatemala (2009-2010).
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4:00-4:50 p.m.
DMC Auditorium
Teacher supervisors in different educational settings are in charge of teacher evaluation and management .
That is, they are provided with institutional power to fire or promote teachers and define acceptable norms of practice. Surprisingly, however, not much published data is available as to how supervisors are different from the teachers they supervise. In an attempt to partly fill this gap, this study concentrated on the differences between supervisors and teachers with respect to their efficacy as teachers, reflective practice, burn out, and autonomy. Data were collected from teachers and their supervisors working in a large language institute in Tehran. This talk presents the findings of that study with respect to each variable and the performance of groups on the instruments.
Bio:
Ramin Akbari is an Assistant Professor of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) at the Iranian University of Instructor Training (Tarbiat Modares), where he teaches and supervises postgraduate ELT students. His research focus is teacher education and development, an area in which he has published in the Modern Language Journal , System ,
TESOL Quarterly , and ELT Journal . He is also the co-editor (along with Dr. Christine
Coombe) of the Middle East Handbook of Applied Linguistics , to be published by TESOL
Arabia this year.
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Concurrent Sessions
10:00-10:50 a.m.
Burnout in ELT: Strategies for Recovery or Prevention
Christine Coombe, Dubai Men’s College, UAE
Room: L115
Burnout is a serious issue in the area of education. It is of particular concern to ELT professionals who live and work in Arabian Gulf countries where frustrations like inequitable salaries and workload, long waits in traffic and increasing workplace demands besiege us all.
This presentation will focus on helping ELT professionals identify whether they are experiencing burnout and provide strategies to help them either recover from or prevent this phenomenon.
Bio:
Dr Christine Coombe is a faculty member of Dubai Men’s College and the Chair of the 3 rd
Annual Teacher Leadership Academy. She is currently on the English faculty of Dubai Men's
College and works as an Assessment Leader for the Higher Colleges of Technology. She has spent 19 years living and working in the Arabian Gulf. Christine has been very involved in
English language teaching conferences and the local professional development affiliate -
TESOL Arabia. She is a Past President of TESOL Arabia and the founder and co-chair of the
TESOL Arabia Testing, Assessment and Evaluation Special Interest Group who organize the
Current Trends in English Language Testing (CTELT) Conference. Christine is Presidentelect of TESOL (2010-2013).
Teacher Education: Pre-Service Teachers' Beliefs about Aspects of Teaching
Jafar Dorri, IAU and Zabansara Language School, Tehran, Iran
Room: L113
Over the past decade, considerable attention has been focused on exploring meaningful ways of preparing pre-service students for the teaching profession (Goodnough et al., 2009). To this end, many studies have been conducted on the improvement of the quality of pre-service teachers (Cheng et al.
, 2009, Meirink et al.
, 2009, Torf, 2005). Pajares (1992) believes that it is hard to change pre-service teachers' beliefs about language teaching unless these ideas are challenged during the implementation of the training program. Since it is of crucial importance for teacher trainers to know what beliefs pre-service teachers bring with them to their teacher training courses (TTCs), the ideas of 80 pre-service teachers about various aspects of language teaching and learning were investigated through semi-structured
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interviews. Data Analysis of 530 points revealed that some aspects of pre-service teachers' ideas are in line with theories of language learning and teaching but teacher trainers are required to work hard to change a large number of ideas which may harm the quality and efficacy in their future classes. The talk ends with some pedagogical implications and recommendations on how to help pre-service teachers remove ill-formed ideas, in the hope of opening a line of inquiry in teacher education in Iran.
Bio:
Jafar Dorri holds an MA in TEFL from the University of Tehran, Iran and is currently teaching at IAU and Zabansara Language School. He has presented work on TEFL issues in
TELLSI as well as TESOL Arabia. His articles were also presented at IATED , in Spain , in
2008 and 2009. His research interests include corrective feedback, assessment, and teacher education.
Finding Professional Development Opportunities in TESOL
Beth Wiens, Zayed University, Dubai, UAE
Room: COEE1
Are you looking for a better job? Are you a ‘fresh’ graduate? Are you a seasoned professional who has been out of the mainstream for a while? All of us need professional development for a variety of reasons, but we may not know where to find opportunities to get it. This presentation will showcase opportunities in various English language teaching organizations like TESOL, IATEFL.
Bio:
Beth Wiens teaches in the Academic Bridge Program at Zayed University in Dubai, United
Arab Emirates. She is a past president of TESOL Arabia and, currently, a member of the
TESOL Arabia Executive Council. Her interests include assessment, curriculum and materials development, and integrating technology into the classroom.
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Concurrent Sessions
11:00-11:50 a.m.
Distributed Leadership Practice
Matthew Glen, Al Ain Women’s College, Al Ain, UAE
Room: L115
This paper reports recent doctoral research which examined the concept of distributed leadership in a large public secondary school in Queensland, Australia. The case provides insights into current conceptions and practices of distributed leadership and its contribution to sustainable change and school improvement. The conceptual framework and tools of culturalhistorical activity theory were used to map and gain insights into the school’s leadership activity system. Drawing upon this research, the paper critically analyses the cross-cultural dimensions of distributed leadership, and explores the policy implications of large-scale leadership reform within selected UAE school settings.
Bio:
Dr Matthew Glen ( B Ed, M C Std., Ed D, MACE ) is an Australian with over 36 years of experience in education, including 25 years as a teacher and school principal. He has worked in senior management roles in quality assurance and review of schools, professional development and leadership training. He has led professional teams in school improvement projects in Qatar, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Currently, he is Chair of Education at Al Ain
Women’s College.
Teacher Evaluation in ELT
Peter Davidson, Zayed University, Dubai, UAE
Room: L113
Teacher evaluation is a contentious issue. Given that teaching is a multi-dimensional activity, there is a need to use multiple-measures when evaluating teachers. In this talk, I will provide a framework for teacher evaluation by discussing: Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET);
Classroom Observations; Teaching Portfolios; Course Statistics.
Bio:
Peter Davidson currently teaches English language and composition at Zayed University in
Dubai, having previously taught in New Zealand, Japan, the UK and Turkey. Peter recently
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co-edited three books: Computers in English Language Teaching (2010, TESOL Arabia);
Teaching Writing Skills in EFL (2008, TESOL Arabia); and Evaluating Teaching
Effectiveness in ESL/EFL Contexts (2007, University of Michigan Press) ; He is particularly interested in vocabulary teaching and learning, English language testing, teacher education, and faculty evaluation.
Challenges of Leadership Practices: A Narrative Inquiry of an American Expatriate
Teacher-Leader’s Experiences
Jenya Pronoza, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman
Room: COEE1
The presentation will report the findings of a small scale qualitative study on the challenges that expatriate teachers face while they occupy leadership positions in educational institutions in the Gulf. The data collected revealed a number of challenges at different levels. However, due to their wide range and the limited scope of the research, this presentation focuses on those challenges faced at the stage of strategic planning.
Bio:
Jenya Pronoza is a faculty member at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. She is an MA holder from Donetsk National University, Ukraine. She is currently working on her EdD in TESOL from the University of Exeter, UK.
Professional Development Portfolios: An Effective CV
Christine Coombe, Dubai Men’s College, Dubai, UAE
Room: COEE2
Teacher portfolio development is one of the latest trends in both teacher development and evaluation. An essential component of a teacher portfolio is an effective, up-to-date CV. In this session, the presenter will discuss the do’s and don’ts of an effective CV for an English language teacher and participants will have the opportunity to evaluate a problematic CV.
Bio:
Dr Christine Coombe is a faculty member of Dubai Men’s College and the Chair of the 3 rd
Annual Teacher Leadership Academy. She is currently on the English faculty of Dubai Men's
College and works as an Assessment Leader for the Higher Colleges of Technology. She has spent 19 years living and working in the Arabian Gulf. Christine has been very involved in
English language teaching conferences and the local professional development affiliate -
TESOL Arabia. She is a Past President of TESOL Arabia and the founder and co-chair of the
TESOL Arabia Testing, Assessment and Evaluation Special Interest Group who organize the
Current Trends in English Language Testing (CTELT) Conference. Christine is Presidentelect of TESOL (2010-2013).
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Concurrent Sessions
1:00-1:50 p.m.
Investigating Classroom Atmosphere and Its Effects on Student Learning
Andrew Alkire and John Vogels, Dubai Men’s College, Dubai, UAE
Room: L115
What is the best way to set up a classroom? Do different classroom setups/decorations improve or hinder second language learning? Can we optimize our students’ learning experience and therefore improve student learning? From our individual experiences teaching students, we have arrived at very definite and surprisingly similar ideas about how students learn: student motivation can best be improved when students are in a stimulating learning environment, which improves their acquisition of English. To substantiate our beliefs, we investigated this matter by conducting a study that involved decorating and adding objects to two classrooms and two control classrooms. Our results corroborated our hypothesis: with a stimulating learning environment student absenteeism is decreased and student learning, language acquisition and motivation is improved.
Bios:
Andrew Alkire and John Vogels are English Faculty Instructors at Dubai Men’s College.
They have been involved with curriculum development, teacher training, blended learning teaching, and assessment. They have been teaching for the past 15 years in countries such as
South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Introducing Toastmasters International: The Personal Advantages of Joining
Neil Anderson, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA
Room: L113
The goal of Toastmasters International is to help individuals become more competent speakers and leaders. Through a member driven organization, individuals follow guidelines to prepare speeches from the Competent Communicator manual. Simultaneously, members complete leadership projects from the Competent Leadership manual. Individuals proceed through advanced communicator and leadership manuals to arrive at the highest award of
Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM).
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This session will outline the Toastmasters International communication and leadership tracks and identify the personal advantages of joining the organization.
Bio:
Neil J Anderson is a Professor in the Department of Linguistics and English Language at
Brigham Young University, in Provo, USA. Professor Anderson has taught and presented papers and workshops in over 30 countries. His research interests include second language reading, language learner strategies, learner self-assessment, motivation in language teaching and learning, and ELT leadership development. He served as President of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. from 2001 to 2002. He has been a Fulbright Teaching and Research Scholar in Costa Rica (2002-2003) and in Guatemala (2009-2010). Professor
Anderson is also an active member of Toastmasters International and has earned the awards of
Advanced Communicator Bronze and Competent Leader. He currently serves as the President of Utah Valley Toastmasters.
A Team Leader, or a Dictator?
Hala El Miniawi, Al Talaa School, Sharjah, UAE
Room: COEE1
In our classes, where learners acquire their attitudes towards life and visualize goals and future plans, do we encourage the individuality that can allow the elites to produce highly intellectual works that may enrich human heritage in science and literature? Alternatively, do we nurture the spirit of team work? The main questions seem to be: what type of leader do we need? Is this leader born, or made?
Bio:
Hala has a B.A. in English Literature and an M.A. in Language Methodology. She has taught
English in Syria and the UAE.
From English Language Learner to English Language Teacher to ELT Leader
Hilal Onat, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
Room: COEE2
Throughout their educational history, we see that teachers have had different hats to wear, experienced different periods with different roles as a student, a teacher and a teacher as school leader. It is difficult to define leadership but we can identify good leaders or good leadership when we see it. We also have little difficulty stating what is missing when individuals act, or organizations struggle. Is it possible to determine good leaders from good teachers? Are they born, or made? What are the roles of teachers as good leaders?
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In this presentation, the speaker will focus on her own development as an English language learner to English language teacher to ELT leader. She will discuss what goals she set to make improvements and what mentors she has had to help her along the way. Reasons for why this path was important to her will also be presented.
Bio:
Hilal Onat graduated from Cukurova University, Faculty of Education, Department of
English Language Teaching. She holds a CEELT Certificate and RSA DOTE Diploma and
MA Diploma in ELT. She also took MA courses at Aston University, in Birmingham, UK.
She has been teaching English at Hacettepe University, School of Foreign Languages and acting as the Coordinator of Academic and Social Events, and Departmental Erasmus
Coordinator of SFL at Hacettepe University. Her other duties include coordinating the INGED
Drama Festival and the Franklin Global Spell Event. She is also the secretary of TESOL
Arabia’s Leadership and Management SIG. Her areas of professional interest include teaching academic listening, management and organization, and international relations.
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Concurrent Sessions
2:00-2:50 p.m.
Steps Towards Task-based Language Teaching: What Managers Need to Know
Chris Morrow, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, UAE
Room: L115
Task-based language teaching is a popular methodology that emphasizes purposeful, communicative, and authentic use of English in and outside the classroom (Willis & Willis,
2007). Unlike traditional methods, which start by defining the language to be taught, taskbased teaching requires teachers to identify appropriate tasks that become the core elements of the course. Students’ performance of these tasks has pedagogical and developmental functions, but it also becomes the central organizing principle of the entire curriculum.
Task-based teaching requires a dramatic reorientation of conventional notions of curriculum, instruction, and assessment (Nunn & Data, 2006). Managers need to be fully informed about the ways teachers must collaborate together in a grassroots way to successfully carry out this process-based type of teaching. In the curricular stage, teachers must work together to identify students’ needs, define suitable tasks, and identify areas of relevant content knowledge. In the instructional stage, teachers need to develop expertise as facilitators who model task performance and coach students. Finally, in the assessment stage, teachers need to develop clear guidelines and indicators of effective task performance in order to conduct helpful and reliable types of holistic assessment.
This presentation will consider different organizational models which can allow teachers to collaborate in the development of task-based systems of teaching that empower the teacher to participate in the course design process at several levels.
Bio:
Chris Morrow has been an Assistant Professor of English Language Education at UAE
University since 2008. Prior to that, he taught English for 9 years in the university’s foundations program. He has a PhD from the University of Buffalo. He can be contacted at gomorrow@gmail.com.
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Occupational Stress in University EFL Teachers
Jonathan Aubrey, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE
Room: L113
You are invited to participate in a focus group discussion regarding occupational stress in university EFL teachers. I am a postgraduate student at the University of Exeter (UK) and for my Ed.D thesis, I am investigating stress in teachers.
Bio:
Jonathan Aubrey is a faculty member in the Department of English Language and Literature in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, of the University of Sharjah.
Time Management Strategies for Busy ELT Professionals
Maria Brown, Dubai Men’s College, UAE
Room: COEE1
Google Time Management and any number of sources that explain your mortal condition and as many more resources that promise to cure you of it leap up off the screen. If only you could find the time to read them… or even some of them… you’d definitely be able to turn yourself into a better time manager! What can we do in the meantime to deal with that mound of unmarked scripts, to integrate more of those marvelous resources into our classes? In this mixture of presentation and panel discussion, Maria will synthesize some of the relevant information available and ask you and the panel what strategies to employ to be more productive.
Bio:
Maria has worked with students, teachers and educators in Tanzania, Mozambique, Romania,
Brazil, Oman and the UAE. She holds a DTEFLA and a Master’s in Education and Applied
Linguistics, from the University of Manchester. She has been a COTE and DOTE trainer as well as a CELTA trainer and local tutor for DELTA. She is an examiner for IELTS and other
English exams from the University of Cambridge. She is currently teaching English and
Academic Writing Skills as well as preparatory courses for IELTS at Dubai Men’s College.
As a busy teacher herself, dealing with the daily pressures of lesson preparation and administrative follow-up as well as feedback on students’ writing to produce, she is always looking for ways to improve her own time management!
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CLIL – What’s the Buzz?
Tanya Pugliese, Higher Colleges of Technology, Sharjah, UAE
Room: COEE2
CLIL seems to have become the latest buzz word in the world of TEFL and pedagogy in general. As a novice to CLIL, the presenter aims to demystify the concepts behind the acronym and discuss whether and how these can be applied in practice in our classrooms. The session is aimed at professionals who know little (or nothing) about CLIL and serves as a practical introduction to this latest approach.
Bio :
Tania Pugliese has over 15 years' international language training and management experience with the British Council, and is currently Chair of English at the Higher Colleges of
Technology in Sharjah (UAE), where she has been working since 2004. She holds a
DTEFLA, an MSc in ELT Management. She is also a CELTA trainer, a DELTA tutor and an
IELTS & UCLES examiner.
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