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It was an honour to be asked to present the opening session at
the Affiliate Workshop at the 50th TESOL International Convention in
Baltimore. My co-presenter Scott Douglas and I spent many long hours
pondering how we could best use our experiences with our affiliate (BC
TEAL) to inspire and motivate other affiliates to better connect with
membership, without presuming that we have all of the answers.
The result was an interactive session that presented BC TEAL as
an example of one affiliate, in one geographical area, at one moment in
time. BC TEAL was used as a catalyst for discussion and sharing between
affiliates. The goal for this article is to provide a summary of that
session. The reader’s task is to think of ways that your organization is
connecting members and decide if there are gaps that could be filled,
initiatives that could be brought forward, or existing activities that
could be enhanced or modified.
We used the theoretical framework of Paulo Freire’s notion that
“hope + action = hopefulness” to encourage affiliates to move towards
enacting some of the ideas they would encounter during the session
(Freire & Freire, 1994). We also presented the rhizome as a
metaphor for the interconnectedness that we can create between members
and our organization.
Background on British Columbia and BC TEAL
BC TEAL is located in British Columbia (BC), the westernmost
province in Canada. Although BC has a large geographical area, the
majority of the 4.4 million people are located in the Vancouver area.
Sixteen percent of all newcomers to Canada settle in BC and about 31% of
the households in the Vancouver area speak a language other than
English (Statistics Canada, 2015). BC is also home to over 60,000
international students (Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada,
2013).
BC TEAL was founded in 1967 and is Canada’s oldest EAL
professional organization. BC TEAL represents the needs and interests of
EAL professionals in the private, public, and settlement sectors
throughout the province. The organization is operated by a Board of
volunteers and one part-time paid administrator. Currently, there are
approximately 1,000 members.
There are four key areas that provide connections between BC
TEAL and the membership: support, communication, outreach, and
celebration.
Support
The main ways that BC TEAL supports members is through
professional development, regional activities, and affiliations. BC TEAL
holds a conference every spring in the Vancouver area. The conference
attracts an average of 400 attendees and provides an opportunity to hear
current developments in the field from international speakers, as well
as regional and national colleagues. The Professional Development
Committee also holds several workshops throughout the year on specific
topics that have been identified as meaningful to the
membership.
In addition, BC TEAL has Regional Representatives in six areas
around the province who report to a Regional Coordinator who sits on the
Board. There are two regional conferences held each year, one on
Vancouver Island and one in the interior of the province. Each region
also has a budget to provide professional development activities on a
smaller scale that meet the needs of the specific region.
Professional development for BC TEAL is a responsive process
where members are asked about their interests and needs rather than
providing a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
The third way that BC TEAL supports members is through
affiliations with other organizations such as TESOL, IATEFL, and
Tri-TESOL. These international affiliations provide opportunities for
members to connect beyond borders and experience the profession on a
global scale.
Communicate
BC TEAL has become active in the social media arena through
Facebook and Twitter and a website that provides access to message
boards, discussion threads, and interest group membership. Members also
receive emails related to all of the activities of the organization
including professional development information and job opportunities.
A quarterly newsletter is also available to members, which is
full of theoretical, practice-based, and experiential articles (www.bcteal.org/publications).
The inaugural volume of the BC TEAL Journal was
recently published (http://ejournals.ok.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ)
with the mandate to support emerging researchers in the field, as well
as highlighting the research that is relevant to our region.
Outreach
In recent years, BC TEAL has worked to connect with those
outside of the profession to raise the profile of EAL teachers and
learners. The Board has created and promoted position statements related
to language teachers and learners and has met with various levels of
government to discuss issues that affect learners, such as funding for
language classes for new Canadians.
BC TEAL celebrates EAL Week across the province every November,
which involves procuring proclamations from municipal and provincial
leaders, thus highlighting the work we all do and the important needs of
language learners in the province. BC TEAL also cooperates with
BCTESOL, which is the organization that represents the K–12 teachers in
the province.
Recently, with the arrival of a large number of Syrian refugees
to Canada, BC TEAL has set up a volunteer tutoring project to connect
experienced EAL professionals with those in need of language support.
Through these outreach initiatives, BC TEAL connects our
members and our work with those outside of the profession and responds
to current issues and global demands for our expertise.
Celebrate
Celebration has become a significant theme to those involved in
BC TEAL, and for anyone who attends a BC TEAL conference, this is
evident. From the wine and cheese social events that give members an
opportunity to reconnect, to the awarding of scholarships, travel
awards, and bursaries that give us opportunities to recognize the work
of our peers, the annual conference is a time of celebration. BC TEAL
also recognizes the work of members through celebrating and
acknowledging Lifetime Contributors.
BC TEAL has a charitable foundation that provides the funding
for awards and bursaries. The charitable foundation holds regular
fundraising events that bring members together such as “Climb for the
Cause,” a gruelling climb up Grouse Mountain in Vancouver to raise money
for a new refugee scholarship. While some of us prefer wine and cheese
fundraising events to strenuous physical activity, all of the charitable
foundation events provide opportunities for members to celebrate the
work we do.
Moving towards action
Bringing new initiatives forward can be difficult and met with
roadblocks. During the session, we encouraged affiliates to engage in
transformative discourse, which involves asking questions and solving
problems. The affiliates responded enthusiastically by sharing ideas and
helping each other discover ways to bring new ideas forward. The
resulting discussions and sharing made it clear that the group of
affiliates in Baltimore were ready to jump into action and expand the
connectivity with members in new and innovative ways.
During the session, the energy was palpable as affiliate
leaders shared many additional ideas about how to connect with members.
As presenters, we picked up some great ideas from affiliates, which
reinforced the interactive power of the session. Hopefully you are
feeling motivated to move the ideas that are percolating from the
dialogical interaction with this text towards a dialogue with others in
your organization. Returning to Paulo Freire’s “Hope + Action =
Hopefulness,” our goal for the session was that affiliates would feel
motivated to take action and make changes that will connect members in
hopeful and meaningful ways.
I will leave you as we left the group on that wonderful day in
Baltimore, with an image of the rhizome we created that day—one last
memory of the interconnectedness of all of us working in
TESOL!
The Grand Rhizome, Affiliates Workshop, TESOL 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA
References
Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada. (2013). Economic
impact of international education in Canada—an update. Retrieved from http://www.international.gc.ca/education/report-rapport/economic-impact-economique/sec_4.aspx.
Freire, P., & Freire, A. M. A. (1994). Pedagogy of hope: Reliving pedagogy of the oppressed.
New York: Continuum.
Statistics Canada. (2015). Immigration and ethnocultural
diversity in Canada. Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/as-sa/99-010-x/99-010-x2011001-eng.cfm.
Karen Densky is a
Senior Lecturer at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British
Columbia, Canada. She teaches in EAP and TESL programs and is currently
the Regional Coordinator for BC TEAL and has previously held the 1st
Vice President position. | 
