
Lavette Coney
|

Sara Keyes Ray
|
Welcome to the postconvention issue, SRIS members!
We have a socially responsible issue for you this month
following the convention! February 2013 was the last time we published
our newsletter and we are so excited to revive it; therefore, your
participation and contributions are needed and encouraged.
We are proud to deliver this very special issue full of
opportunities to relive the TESOL 2015 International Convention if you
attended and to learn about what you missed if you were unable to join
us. We will bring you more in our fall issue, which will include
articles from members; tweet survey results from Eman, our community
manager; and a spotlight on the history of SRIS from two of our esteemed
founders and longest-standing members, Kip Cates and Rob Clement. Our
winter issue will prepare needed information before the next convention,
including a list of socially responsible sessions and times for us to
bond as a group over dinner in Baltimore.
I, Lavette Coney, bring passion and dedication to this new
editor's post. Being a person of African descent, my sense of social
responsibility and equity was evident early on and still weighs heavily
upon me. I, Sara Keyes Ray, am excited to serve SRIS in this capacity
and to expand our reach as we share tools and resources for promoting
social responsibility through our professions.
SRIS is one of the only obvious places to address diversity and
inclusion within TESOL at this time. We are committed to the truth that
learning cannot occur without personal connections, which necessitates
us recognizing our social responsibility as educators. James Comer said
that "no significant learning can occur without a significant
relationship." To ignore what shapes our identities, communities, and
society in the classroom is to do a disservice to the diverse learners
for whom we teach, facilitate, and advocate.
We have a heavy burden to carry, but it can be lighter if we
all contribute to emphasizing the vital importance of being active and
socially responsible professionals. We look forward to your enthusiastic
involvement in our collective SRIS objectives and goals.
Your editors,
Lavette Coney and Sara Keyes Ray |