A Teacher's Worth: conference Opening Words from Our Chair

SCELT forum 2025 - ENvision. 13:15. Saturday

Dear colleagues, welcome to SCELT forum 2025!

When we were restarting the Chamber more than 2 years ago, Lyn Steyne, the founder and a former chair of SCELT, told me one important piece of advice: you can’t do it alone. And she was right. Let me introduce my team, which is bigger and more stable than last year:

Natalie –our vice-pres. my right hand woman, who not only helps me make all the decisions, but also does website, selects speakers, creates the beautifully crafted program. You might have noticed her among  the Global teacher prize Slovakia finalists. 

Zuzka Lehotai – who’s been with us a sa member of the Executive board for 1 year now – helping with grants, coordinating exhibitors, and hotels…striving to create an easter-Slovak SCELT HUB – If there are colleagues from KE and PO county – please connect

There are 2 more executive board members who can’t be with us this year, but who’ve been working on this until the very last moment

Ivana Jurikova – our promo boss, facebook magician and my compassionate advisor

Monika Antalova – Innovate ELT and membership coordinator, who processed each one of your registrations.

Then there’s Zuzka Pallova – our newsletter coordinator – those beautifully prepared newsletters are done by her, Žofka Kopálová – who helped with merch, but also many many other tasks, lots of proofreading, revisions, idea generating. And our 3 new members – 1st year teachers, who’ve been through incredibly hard 1st year of teaching.. Miška Dacejová – our volunteer coordinator, Terka Brezíková  our facebook helper and international coordinator, Kika Grosshappelová – main coordinator of the Thanksgiving event and a huge support during the conference prep.

And of course, I want to thank our families, our wonderful tolerant husbands – Martin, who’s on his way to Krakow airport to pick up our plenary speaker, Lukas, whom you can see around handling the technical support for the whole conference.

And last but not least, volunteers – please give us a big round of applause to these people in darkblue Tshirts– without any of these people there would be no conference.

This conference would have taken place in a shed without a generous support of: SLIDE SPONSORS

The Embassy of the United States of America in Bratislava, Regional English Language Office Belgrade, who supported us generously with another grant this year.

Then we have plenary sponsors Oxford University Press, National Geographic Learning, and Macmillan, our coffee break sponsor mm publication, or grant sponsors Nadacia EX Labore Gloria and Asociacia jazykovych skol, mm and SOL     ...and all other sponsors. Please visit their tables during the conference, they have a lot to offer.

[SLIDE  ENVISION]

ENvision BEYOND

The main theme of this conference can mean many things. Envision change, envision possibilities, envision the future with IA. Beyond the traditional methods, beyond the limits, etc. I’m pretty sure we’ll have plenty of opportunities to analyze all these aspects during our conference.

But I’d like to talk about a slightly different issue: How do you Envision YOURSELF as a teacher?!

If you were here at SCELT forum last year, you probably know that teaching was not my first profession. I worked as an analyst and a project manager in a holding company.  And this job was very prestigious, and because money means appreciation in our society, it also was highly esteemed.

I had lots of ideals when I was beginning my teaching career. Most freshmen teachers have them. I saw myself being able to see through things, into the minds of those kids, being able to engage every one of them. Something like this [PHOTO]

But the reality hit me with a brick …and too soon I realized that my teaching job is more like this: [PHOTO]

I earned 600 Eur gross, which required some serious planning trying to survive in Bratislava. Getting an occasional punch from the bosses, students, parents or even colleagues…

And then there was this silent disagreement(?) ...disapproval, or even contempt of my friends from that prestigious management school. I would often get something like “Oh, it’s a good job for a woman: short days, summer holidays, etc.“

You might remember Hugh Dellar’s closing plenary last year, with his friends asking him: "Are you still doing that teacher thing?" as if it wasn’t a real job. You would never ask a doctor or a lawyer: "Are you still doing that doctor thing?"

Money means power and respect and prestige. So before I was able to notice, I started envisioning myself as not-so-capable and not very powerful - like in that boiling frog metaphor. It had slowly crawled into my mind.

When people asked:  "What do you do?" I would go from: "I’m a teacher" …to: "I teach“ …and later to: “I just teach“, thinking: "Leave me alone...don’t ask. I know what you think!" Because the reactions were not as glamorous as when I was a manager (although the job is way more meaningful).  And I think that the perception of the teaching profession has improved a bit since then, but 15 years back, it really was quite negative in Slovak society.

Then after my first year in the summer we took a road trip to Finland with a couple of friends. We had a dinner with some Finns, and there it went: “What do you do for a living?” There was a researcher, an interpreter, and an art curator sitting at the table. Suddenly, it was my turn, so I stammered “I just teach (leave-me-alone-thing)“.  And suddenly, their jaws dropped and they all went “Waw! A Teacher? Really?!“  They didn’t move on politely or change the topic — they actually started asking relevant questions about teaching. They were genuinely curious and full of respect.

I wish YOU could experience that  moment with me. You tell a random person, you are a teacher and you get the reaction as if you were a film star. And then I realized. This is not about me. This is about the society. And I can be whoever I want.

And I don’t want to push any toxic positivity attitude here about what you should see yourself like. I’m just trying to say that it is impossible not to envision yourself. It’s like breathing — even if you're not consciously doing it, it’s still happening. And we often see ourselves tired, overwhelmed, undervalued - without even realizing it. It makes us weaker.

I want to tell you who you really are. 'Just a teacher’ is banned from this room!

You are wonderfully capable professionals.  Any one of you would be able to make a career in business, I can tell. We need to know so many things in our jobs: subject-related, technological,  psychological, even legislative. We are multi-professionals with amazing organizing skills. You are role models, lifelong learners, skilled communicators, conductors of knowledge and feelings. You juggle 30 personalities before your second cup of coffee and you can fix photocopiers better than anyone else. You’re amazing—and hilarious. Probably unintentionally. But still.

You design experiences , you shape futures. You are a guide, a mentor, a safe space. You listen when no one else does. You believe when others doubt. You inspire when the world feels heavy. You are compassionate. You are brilliant. Own it.

Jana Ftáčnik Pastorková - SCELT chair