TexTESOL IV received its charter in 1978, 13 years after TESOL’s establishment, and exists within the convex of the five organizations that gave birth to TESOL the association:

• The Center for Applied Linguistics, focusing on applied linguistics

• The Modern Language Association of America, focusing on native English speakers, foreign language instruction, and literary scholarship

• The National Association of Foreign Student Affairs, focusing on foreign student problems

• The National Council of Teachers of English, focusing on English pedagogy

• The Speech Association of America, focusing on speech and communication (TESOL, n.d.)

The associations identified the following three needs, which were not being met within their five organizations:

1. a professional organization devoted to teaching English as a second language,

2. a professional pedagogical journal, and

3. a register of English language education specialists serving foundations, government agencies, and universities (TESOL, n.d.).

The TexTESOL IV Board of Directors positions are intended consider and meet the multifaceted instructional needs of education providers. Four directors focus on conferencing, one director focuses on publications, a Membership Coordinator establishes the region’s register of ESOL specialists, and an Advocacy Chair informs and collaborates with foundations, government agencies, and educational institutions concerning current ESOL needs. The TexTESOL IV membership coordinator establishes the region’s register of ESOL specialists, while the advocacy chair seeks to inform and help with collaboration among foundations, government agencies, and universities concerning current ESOL needs. Other positions function to create a shared vision and facilitate collaboration (president); ensure fiscal responsibility (treasurer); oversee operations (president-elect); ensure engaged, apt candidates gain office, maintain TESOL communications, and facilitate awards (past-president); collect and organize the history (historian); and ensure a prominent public profile (web master). Two additional seats are designated for members-at-large who carry out such duties as delegated by the board.

Having an association, with broad goals and loose terms for achieving those goals cannot successfully achieve its mission without a structured preparatory approach: there needs to be a variety of access and engagement levels, a time and place where the organization is defined, vision is given, and officers are empowered, along with the continued meetings and a system of accountability to fiduciary responsibilities.

Preparation & Service Levels

TexTESOL IV marketed the Leadership Workshop to school districts, adult education programs, and university ESOL faculty. The committee limited the number of attendees and vetted applicants by the following values:

• Inclusion: incorporate the widest possible geographical scope

• Diversity: incorporate diversity within the scope of educational practice

• Vision: include individuals who had a vision and desire to build the work of TexTESOL

• Experience: seek leaders who have experience in the area they wanted to lead

Applicants applied to a variety of position types that enabled them to grow their leadership skills and association knowledge. This was to enable individuals to move from lower to greater responsibility, ensure continuity, grant greater access to knowledge and resources, and enable a more dynamic and vibrant organization.

Leadership Workshop Organization

The LWC crafted a seven-level workshop focusing on visioning; the committee situated TexTESOL IV within federal and state legal confines and recognized effective, orderly communication styles that facilitated discussion and equitable decision-making processes. From this foundation, the LWC grouped workshop participants by committees wherein participants brainstormed intraboard and community stakeholder connections, then established committee goals and strategic plans for the upcoming year; the workshop closed with a brief charge to empower leaders—several key areas were visioning, governance and structure, communication and order, and connecting and planning.

Visioning

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Prov. 29:18, King James Version)

A quick Google search of “Failure, due to the lack of vision” has no loss of examples; 104 million results are provided in .59 seconds. The TexTESOL IV LWC recognized a clear vision was fundamental to progress, growth, and renewal. If leaders understand the mission, the values, and the direction the association is headed, a clear path of action can be taken, those steps and progress measured, and victory obtained. However, without a clear, decisive voice pointing to a mark, progress must cease.

The past president briefly discussed history and development, and the incoming president offered direction regarding several key board capacities (advocacy and social policy, membership engagement, online presence, professional development conferences, and publications) by addressing what these offices should accomplish in the upcoming year. In this manner, each office could have a direction to pursue unified under a president’s overarching agenda for the year. Though each director may build on and accomplish that mission differently, such a foundation creates a unified vision.

Governance and Structure

“In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the constitution.” –Thomas Jefferson (Jefferson, 1978)

Mark Goyder, director of Tomorrow’s Company, states, “Governance and leadership are the yin and the yang of successful organisations. If you have leadership without governance, you risk tyranny, fraud, and personal fiefdoms. If you have governance without leadership you risk atrophy, bureaucracy, and indifference” (Rock, 2013). These concepts cannot be understated. The TexTESOL IV LWC acknowledged that leaders (directors, committee chairs, as well as committee members) and members must realize that the organization is a legal entity, governed by federal and state laws, operating under a set of bylaws governing operation and procedures, membership, conduct, meetings, officers, and duties.

This session defined a nonprofit corporation, reviewed TexTESOL IV’s tax status, introduced the bylaws, and facilitated a cursory bylaws examination and discussion. Because this is a dense and complex area of concern, many organizations offer multiple sessions on governance and structure. TexTESOL IV hoped to formalize leadership training, to signify the bylaws’ juridical importance as the undergirding structure enabling the association to perform its duties, and to remind leaders of their responsibility to the bylaws as a fiduciary responsibility, which carries adverse consequences for the organization and individual leaders when not adhered to.

Communication and Order

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” –Unknown (Smithsonian.com)

With the foundation laid, the TexTESOL IV LWC wanted to focus on meetings; meetings’ legal implications; and the need for those meetings to be conducted in a fashion that dispels power dynamics, equalizes voices, and facilitates effective discussion. With respect to the legal aspects of board and committee meetings, leaders were made to understand that each meeting must be recorded; these records must be made available to members, and meetings must follow Robert’s Rules of Order. Perhaps, most important, this session reminded leaders of their responsibility and function as a deliberating body, free from censure and focused on the topic. To facilitate this, each leader was provided with a Robert’s Rules of Order cheat sheet and procedure flow; these were briefly discussed, and then leaders were divided into small groups to deliberate a topic. Each group then reported their deliberations.

Connecting and Planning

“If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it” (Lincoln, 1858). –Abraham Lincoln

Following the Communication and Order session, the TexTESOL IV LWC focused on setting the agenda and action planning. Leaders were grouped into committees with a director; where applicable, past directors sat in to facilitate knowledge and procedural transfer to incoming directors and committee members. First, the committees were asked to discuss the organization’s mission and values in relation to their positions. To do this, the committee members utilized the bylaws to inform their discussion. Second, committees brainstormed how other association committees aided their work and which specific stakeholders they could connect with to help them accomplish their duties.

Building from the committee members’ understanding of their place and duties within the organization and the stakeholders they could count on, committees were then asked to craft two to three action plans using Committee Activity Management Plans (CAMPs). CAMPS delineate

1. an objective,
2. activities,
3. timeline,
4. person responsible,
5. stakeholders,
6. person to inform, and
7. resources needed.
   
   

Additionally, CAMPS are strategically aligned to the organizational goals, mission, and values. Lastly, directors were offered a report form to help them measure and report progress. The report form has two important tables:

1. The first table identifies
1. opportunities,
2. issues,
3. strengths,
4. challenges,
5. actions or discussion requests, and
6. support or resource requests.

2. The second table is for the Action Plan Update, which lists, specifically derived from the CAMP,
1. the activity completed,
2. by whom,
3. where, and
4. when.
   
   

The form’s power is twofold: 1) It offers the board critical information to assist directors and committees in tracking the completion of tasks and agenda items, and 2) it allows the director to succinctly review and assess committee accomplishments. These reports assist in keeping reporting concise and minutes accurate and detailed.

Conclusion

I’m sure that next year many things will be different, that we will have greater involvement, and that these points will be refined. Overall, I appreciated hearing that most of the leaders, both those leaving and incoming, appreciated the opportunity to explore the association in greater depth before their first board meeting and being handed tools to complete their task. The event was successful in securing and training 26 leaders to help with TexTESOL IV’s work, 15 more than previously utilized.

Currently, TexTESOL IV has about 284 members. If the old adage is true, that 20% do 80% of the work, we operate with a much lower percentage involvement rate: 13% (38 leaders, counting the publication committee) rather than 20% (which would be 56 members). There is a place for those additional members. In the coming months, TexTESOL IV will be focusing on several issues that will need member support; some of these include governance and financial issues, member engagement, advocacy and social policy, the website and online presence, and publications.

Note: A version of this article appeared in the TexTESOL IV’s Fourth Estate, Winter Issue 32(4). Adapted with permission.

Reference

Jefferson, T. (1798, November 10). Resolutions Adopted by the Kentucky General Assembly. Retrieved from The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 30: 1 January 1798 to 31 January 1799 (550-56): https://jeffersonpapers.princeton.edu/selected-documents/resolutions-adopted-kentucky-general-assembly

Lincoln, A. (1858, June 16). Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume 2. Retrieved from Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/lincoln2/1:508?rgn=div1;view=fulltext

Rock, S. (2013). Manager's Guide to Navigating Change: The Secrete Weapon: Governance, Chapter. McGraw-Hill Professional. AccessEngineering.

Smithsonian.com. (2015 January). The illustrious history of misquoting Winston Churchill. Retrieved from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/illustrious-history-misquoting-winston-churchill-180953634/

TESOL International Association. (n.d.). The early history of TESOL. Retrieved from http://www.tesol.org/about-tesol/association-governance/tesol's-history/the-early-history-of-tesol

Alex Monceaux sits on the TexTESOL IV Board of Directors as editor for the Fourth Estate and JATELL Learners, and chaired the Leadership Workshop Committee.