plenary speakers
marie delaney
Marie is a teacher, educational psychotherapist, trainer and writer based in Crosshaven, Cork.
She has extensive experience of working with students (and staff) who have been affected by traumatic experiences and who display challenging behaviour, having worked in non-formal education, mainstream, language schools and special school settings internationally.
For Worth Publishing, she is the author of ‘Teaching the Unteachable’ (2008), ‘What can I do with the kid who.. (2010,). ‘Attachment for Teachers’ (2017) and for Oxford University Press, ‘Into the Classroom : Special Educational Needs ‘(2016) .
Marie´s Plenary Talk
We are living through traumatic times – the global COVID19 pandemic, wars, natural disasters, climate change and economic crises around the world. As teachers we cannot underestimate the impact of these traumas on ourselves and our students.
We also have students in our classrooms who have experienced other traumas, such as loss, migration, physical and mental illness, abuse, racism. Trauma affects our brains and our bodies, it can make it impossible for some students to settle to learn. It may show up as challenging or withdrawn behaviour, anxiety, apathy and disengagement. Teachers often do not feel equipped to recognize and deal with this.
In this plenary and follow up workshop I will explain how trauma impacts the brains and bodies of ourselves and our learners, linking the latest developments in neuroscience with classroom practice, and present some practical activities for teachers and learners to help with self-regulation and settling to learn.
dave spencer
After studying at Oxford, Dave trained to be a Secondary School teacher.
He then moved to Spain where he has taught teenagers for over 35 years. He is the author of the best-selling ‘Gateway’ series, the latest edition of which is ‘Gateway to the World’.
Dave has given talks in over 30 countries, and this will be his sixth trip to Slovakia. He is active on social media at https://www.facebook.com/teachwithdave.
Dave´s Plenary Talk
Recently there has been a lot of attention paid to student wellbeing. And, fortunately, this has also led to us thinking much more about teacher wellbeing too. In this light-hearted but uplifting session my aim will be to remind you all of just how important our profession is, and to remind you of the many unique strengths and superpowers English teachers possess, but that we (and others) sometimes forget, or take for granted.
My ultimate aim? For you to walk out of the session feeling great to be an English teacher!
alex warren
Alex is a DELTA trained teacher trainer with over 20 years’ experience of working in ELT as a teacher, teacher trainer and academic director.
He has presented in over 50 countries throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australasia and Latin America.
Alex is currently the Academic Training and Development Manager for National Geographic Learning EMEA.
Alex´s Plenary Talk
Nowadays, helping to develop and nurture global citizens is the responsibility of all educators, including English language teachers, and at the heart of that is the topic of sustainability. In this presentation I’ll start by defining what is meant by education for sustainable development and why we should be incorporating it into English language curricula.
Then, using examples from National Geographic Learning series, I’ll show how teachers can integrate sustainability into their classroom without having to make huge changes to their teaching or syllabi.
