Alessandra Jastes, winner of our cultural contest “Moving ELT Forward with Digital Resources”, shares her experiences from the Better Learning Conference 2017.
A teacher might ask him/herself a lot of questions: How do I catch and maintain students’ attention and trust? How do I transmit knowledge in a clear and, most of all, effective way? How do I innovate in language teaching and how do I use this great variety of new resources – made available almost on a daily basis?
In spite of asking several questions, we don’t always have answers to all of them. For this reason, events such as the Better Learning Conference provide us with moments where educators become apprentices. They make us question, reflect, rethink and, above all, exchange ideas and share educational issues and findings among ourselves.
The opportunity to participate in an event in Cambridge was an experience that brought more inspiration to my life – not just professionally, but also personally. Sharing knowledge and experiences with different people from all over the world motivated me to step out of my comfort zone and search for new opportunities to learn and, subsequently, better equip my students for learning.
The Better Learning Conference in Cambridge
A blend of learning, new friendships, different experiences and, above all, inspiration and motivation to the ones who chose Education/Teaching. Regardless of which country you become an educator, I realized during this conference that all fields in this profession converge to a single point, where teachers set out to pass knowledge on for facing challenges in and out of the classroom. Challenges such as digital & technological tools for the teaching & learning process, building students’ autonomy, developing speaking activities in an effective way – all this with awareness that every student, be it young children, teens or adults, has their own way of learning.
Sharing experiences during the event has enabled me to bond with people from different regions in Brazil. Having had the opportunity to lead a group discussion on the English teaching and learning process in Brazil (in a group formed by different nations), I was taken to a stage of complete personal and professional fulfillment. Being chosen to participate in this conference in Cambridge was a lot more than I could have ever imagined possible in my career. The organization of the event was outstanding – warm, dynamic and, above all, it showed us all the time that teaching with quality is possible when we keep our minds open in order to keep up with all advances in language teaching and learning.
Day 1: Introductions and Bilingual Education
The first day in Cambridge was dynamic and full of strong emotions. In the morning, we had the conference opening hosted by the charismatic Rupert Daniels (Global Marketing Director at Cambridge University Press). I was extremely surprised when he paid a tribute to the Cultural Contest Winners: my picture and the picture of the winner from Mexico were on a big screen and the whole audience applauded – it was terribly hard to control my emotions.
Then the series of talks started, six speakers altogether. All presentations focused on pedagogical situations. Topics were very up-to-date, on subjects such as leadership and speaking environments. I also had the opportunity to talk a little bit about the reason why I joined the contest that led me to the conference.
As soon as the sessions were over, we had dinner – with welcome drinks included. The organizers were quite concerned about every guest’s food restrictions: I did appreciate all this attention and care! The first day could not have been better!
My favorite talk was “Putting language at the Centre: CLIL is more than teaching in a foreign language”, presented by Ana Halbach. I liked it because the idea of bilingual schools that I had and how they worked with the English language was completely mistaken; it was something that made me reflect and want to research further in the future.
“Once you step in to a University like Cambridge, everything changes: the local energy is indescribable. Inspiration to learn more naturally emerges.” – Alessandra Jastes
Day 2: Intense sharing and virtual reality
A higher number of speakers and hectic group activities marked the second day, where more than fifteen countries together had the opportunity to discuss about teaching practices, share experiences and work on things that could actually be developed in institutions and classrooms. Alongside Caroline Thiriau (Associate Business Unit Director in the English Language Teaching division at Cambridge University Press), I had the chance to lead a group discussion on the use of technology in the classroom, which was quite gratifying.
I did like the idea of working with virtual reality. “A Virtual Trip around Cambridge” was very interesting – the video was recorded in 360º, with virtual binoculars (offered by Cambridge) and a smartphone. I will develop this idea further: recording videos in 360º or looking for videos in such format, in order to use them in my teaching. Once all presentations were over, the night was free to all delegates to get to know Cambridge. My favorite talk on day 2 was “A New perspective: Virtual Reality and Transmedia Spherical Video in Teacher Training and Professional Development”, by Paul Driver. I think it is always interesting to find out more on the virtual world and its advantages for English language teaching, in spite of being aware that some of these technological resources presented at the conference are still far away from my reality. Nevertheless, it is important to know what is coming next and have time to research more on the subject.
Day 3: Closing and the Culture of Success
The third and last day was marked by talks in the morning and final considerations by Rupert Daniels. The last talk, ‘Establishing a culture of success’, presented by Deborah Eyre, was very relevant in the sense of not focusing only on academic success for our students, but in realizing that success surpasses academic life. I became aware that the success of our students goes beyond motivation and preparation for an academic life. Consequently, it made me reflect on the concept “motivate” and how to achieve success using the best teaching practices. After the talks and lunchtime, delegations were invited to go punting, a moment of leisure and relaxation for all participants in the conference. My farewell to Cambridge with the Brazilian delegation strengthened our Networking, developed during this remarkable event in the life of every participant.
What I learned at the conference
The opportunity of participating in an event like this and yet, in the best University in the world: this alone can be considered a great lesson of inspiration and motivation, especially to someone who values education as a great tool to change the world. Still, I can name three things I will always keep in mind:
- Desire to learn more, for the more you learn, the more we feel the need to keep up with evolving ways of learning and teaching.
- Keep up with the digital world and use it in your favor, beating our “technophobia” when we insert technology in our teaching.
- Determination will make anything possible when we set out to be best in what we chose to do in our lives.
I believe that any event that innovates, challenges teachers and motivates the use of the best teaching practices, can be seen as distinctive and special by educators, who face daily challenges, in and out of the school environment. The Better Learning Conference inspires the English language teacher to be part of this story of dedication and concern for quality teaching.