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After two years of successful, well-attended virtual conferences, this year at the March TESOL International Association 2022 conference in Pittsburg, the ANPC had the opportunity to work with affiliates from around the world in a hybrid format to share experiences about their organizations during and after the pandemic. In addition to several live presentations at the annual conference on the topic, “New Paradigms in a Post-Pandemic Environment,” the ANPC was invited to share stories and perspectives on April 23rd at BC TEAL and on April 30th at TESOL Saskatchewan.
During the live portion of the TESOL conference at the Leadership Workshop, TESOL Affiliate Leaders Georgios-Vlasios Kormpas from TESOL Greece and Susan Gear from CATESOL; presenters from the U.S. State Department, Gena Rhoades and Jennifer Uhler; a representative from Nile TESOL, Natasha Agrawal; and IATEFL President, Dr. Gabriel Diaz Maggioli, spoke about such topics as the future of global educators, the benefits of change, TESOL Communities of Practice, and connecting with members. In our Communications Workshop, Monica Baker, President of NYS TESOL, and Jorge Torres Almazan from MEXTESOL described the struggles and beneficial outcomes of the pandemic.
At our ANPC Colloquium, which was pre-recorded and available to all who had registered for the TESOL conference, our panel, Tracy Piada from ETAI (Israel); Mohsin Tejani from SPELT (Pakistan); and Samir Omara from NILE TESOL (Egypt), not only shared their organizations’ experiences during the pandemic but also discussed how they kept operating, what they learned from their struggles, how they benefitted from the experiences, and what their plans are for the post-pandemic future.
Tracy Piada began the conversation by discussing what the aim of ETAI (Israel) was during the pandemic. She emphasized that the main goal was to keep on going even if that meant a loss of income since fees could not be charged for online events. Mohsin Tejani pointed out that SPELT’s goal in Pakistan was to try to reach everyone since they were faced with serving under-resourced areas and individuals who lacked knowledge of technology. Samir Omara explained that NILE TESOL’s goal was to ensure they kept members valued, recognized, and supported personally and professionally.
Even though 2020-2022 was a difficult time for all, our panel of TESOL leaders expressed that they were pleasantly surprised by the positive outcomes that resulted from the many challenges in their organizations. For example, ETAI found that more individuals were able to attend presentations and conferences than ever before, and they had a wider, more global audience. In addition, they created special programs where teachers could receive credit from the Board of Education for taking courses. They also improved their website with a “Members Only” area and updated their non-profit status so that they could receive donations. SPELT was able to improve its delivery and reach by covering a wider group of teachers – not ESL only. They also found other ways to deliver information, such as on What’s APP. In addition, they collaborated with other organizations, such as IATEFL. Traditionally they have held a traveling conference, which they were able to offer virtually and attract more international presenters. Finally, NILE TESOL was able to offer online scholarships funded by the American University in Cairo and create teacher-training webinars. They were able to reach more instructors in remote areas and also upgrade how they communicated via social media, increasing the number of FACEBOOK members to 33,000. In 2022, they increased the number of international plenary speakers to 90 in comparison to 12 the previous year.
The “New Normal” was a topic of great importance addressed by many of our affiliates. Our ANPC colloquium panel unanimously agreed that they anticipate that their future presentations and conferences will be hybrid accompanied by some face-to-face events. The conversation continued after the TESOL annual conference when the ANPC was invited by two organizations in Canada to share stories and views. At BC TEAL we addressed the topic of “Global Perspectives with TESOL Affiliates: Uncertainty and Transformation,” where we not only shared stories about struggles and changes within our affiliate networks but also those of our own. At TESOL Saskatchewan, we addressed the topic “Embracing the New Normal, Lessons Learnt,” where ANPC board members discussed interesting information they had learned from other affiliates during the year, collaborations and/or joint initiatives that impressed them, and what they hope to see from the ANPC or affiliates this coming year.
The Affiliate Network Professional Council’s (ANPC) goal is to “support TESOL International Association by helping to ensure a strong and robust Affiliate Network.” We not only connect with our affiliates and assist, but we also help affiliates connect with each other. We look forward to having you present at our conferences and year-round webinars, and we encourage you to share your accomplishments in our newsletter. If you would like the ANPC to give a presentation about our council to your organization, please contact me at bessie.lazaris@gmail.com. With your collaboration, we can strengthen the Affiliate Network and help continue to build our global bond. |
