This webinar is for anyone who would like to learn more about NEAS and how its independent Quality Assurance services benefit the global ELT community. We will take you through the fundamentals of quality assurance and outline its significance in the current global landscape. The steps to applying for Quality Endorsement will be made clear along with the requirements for maintaining Endorsement through continuous improvement activities. Information about additional NEAS benefits, such as professional development opportunities as well as marketing and reputation building will also be provided.
Extending on six pre-conference presentations released in the four weeks leading up to the live workshop and panel, this workshop features keynote presenters from RMIT Vietnam and Cambridge Assessment English. They will present their experience on being proactive in professional development for online learning and teaching and providing quality online qualifications such as CELTA. The keynote presentations will be followed by a live virtual panel featuring the keynote speakers and representatives from NEAS, the Australian Embassy, the National Foreign Languages Project and the Ministry of Education and Training.
There are a series of pre-workshop presentations you are encouraged to explore before accessing the main Workshop B ‘live’ event on Friday 5 Nov 2021 | 9:00am to 11:00am ICT | 1:00pm to 3:00pm AEDT.
Audience:
English language teachers teaching at English Language Centres in Vietnam.
Presenters:
Academic managers and experienced teachers of Australian and Vietnamese English Language Centres from universities, vocational education and training, high schools and independent English language schools and key organisations supporting the ELT community in Vietnam.
Key Learning Objectives:
Participants in this workshop will:
Learn about online delivery of English language teaching and teacher professional development
Learn about different techniques being used by NEAS endorsed members to maintain student focused approaches to teaching English online
Receive course certificates and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points of six (6) points.
This activity received grant funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade under the Australia-Vietnam Enhanced Economic Engagement Grant Program 2021.
This webinar is facilitated by David Jepsen (B.Com, CAANZ) and is ideal for ELICOS and VET managers, directors and business owners seeking to understand and manage their financial pathway and success. A case study of a colleges business life cycle will be the basis of the webinar. Discussing the colleges initial set up and registration including ASQA financial viability requirements, start up, growth, maturity and sale. With a focus on the financial facets of each stage to maximise financial outcomes for shareholders.
Complementing its existing portfolio of high stakes quality English tests such as the TOEFL iBT, this new TOEFL Essentials test is an adaptive test covering both academic and general content, providing a fresh test format with a more affordable price point. This workshop will outline the new score scale, concordance tables to both the TOEFL iBT and CEFR levels, as well as findings from research conducted in 2021 of over 5,000 TOEFL Essentials test takers.
This webinar will be co-facilitated by Dr Spiros Papageorgiou – Managing Senior Research Scientist, ETS Center for Language Education and Assessment Research, and Dr Aleksandr Voninski, Associate Director, ETS Client Relations (Australasia).
In this webinar, James Hourn, Head of Enterprise Sales at ReadyTech, will interview the team from Institute of Continuing and TESOL Education (ICTE) at the University of Queensland (UQ).
The ICTE, UQ team will unpack some critical areas of discussion in the current fragile international education sector, including: 1. COVID-19’s impact and how ICTE, UQ is navigating through this period of change. 2. How ICTE aims to leverage technology and innovation in their regeneration plan for the next two years. 3. Why ICTE chose their current student management system, JR Plus (A ReadyTech brand), as their technology partner.
If you would like to read the white paper by Readytech visit this link
Have you noticed the pattern? Their decisions are based on data.
What about your institution? Are you also using your data to monitor the health of your college and make timely, informed, and strategic decisions?
In this webinar, Santiago will share how some institutions are transforming their reporting and decision-making processes using their Student Management System, their data and Microsoft Power BI as their business intelligence and analytics tool.
Building on seven pre-workshop presentations released in the weeks leading up to the live workshop and panel, keynote presenters from RMIT University Vietnam, Vietnam USA Society English Centres and ACET IDP English Centre for Education and Training will present on their personal experiences with quality assurance in online learning and teaching and embedding quality in the curriculum to improve student outcomes. The presentations will be followed by a live virtual panel featuring the keynote speakers and representatives from NEAS, the Australian Embassy, the National Foreign Languages Project and the Ministry of Education and Training.
There are a series of pre-workshop presentations you are encouraged to explore before accessing the main Workshop A ‘live’ event on Friday 1 Oct 2021 | 9:00am to 11:00am ICT | 12:00pm to 2:00pm AEST.
Audience:
Leaders, academic managers, administrators and decisionmakers involved in English Language Centres in Vietnam.
Presenters:
Senior managers and business owners of Australian and Vietnamese English Language Centres from universities, vocational education and training, high schools and independent English language schools
Key Learning Objectives:
Participants in this workshop will:
Learn about quality assurance of English language teaching at universities, high schools, vocational colleges, independent English language centres and online English language providers.
Learn about different techniques being used by NEAS endorsed members to maintain student focused approaches to quality assurance.
Receive course certificates and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points of six (6) points
This activity received grant funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade under the Australia-Vietnam Enhanced Economic Engagement Grant Program 2021.
This workshop is for school teachers from Language Institutes and universities and schools interested in professional development, continuous ongoing quality improvements and innovative teaching techniques for English language.
This workshop is delivered by Dr Patrick Pheasant, CEO of NEAS Australia – Australia’s leading expert in Independent, Non-Governmental Quality Assurance of English Language Teaching. Please note this meeting will be recorded. Full terms and conditions in the confirmation email.
Life competencies can be integrated into any subject, but they are particularly suitable for teaching English. Learning an additional language already involves many of the identified competencies such as communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. This means there is lots of scope to develop these skills further, in an integrated way, through the teaching of English. This webinar will look at how Cambridge approaches these life competencies across the learning journey.
Specifically, we will focus on what the Cambridge Language and Pedagogy Research Team have identified as life competencies and their relation to traditional models of 21st-century skills and foundational aspects of language learning. We will also explore how the understanding of the competencies translates into learning outcomes and highlight practical activities that teachers can easily integrate into secondary and adult level language lessons.
Experiential Approaches in Online Language Assessment Training
Conference 21.20
Presented by
Dr Marie Yeo
Regional Language Centre Singapore
The use of classroom-based formative assessment (CBFA) has become increasingly common, even more so now due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers may have to implement formative assessment practices such as peer-assessment, self-assessment and reflection or use e-portfolios to assess their learners, yet they themselves may never have experienced these activities. Approaches, such as Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle, have been shown to be highly effective for adult learning, especially in sustaining changes in beliefs and practices. In this presentation, I describe the experiences of teachers of English from the ASEAN region enrolled in an online language assessment course as they engage concretely in activities related to “feedback and feedforward”, Assessment as Learning, and Formative Use of Summative Test (FUST). Through these concrete first-hand experiences, the teachers were able to gain a deeper understanding of formative assessment concepts and principles, and the benefits and challenges of applying them in their specific teaching contexts. This presentation offers insights into CBFA and teacher professional development in online and face-to-face contexts and is intended to enhance both the assessment literacy of language teachers and the training delivery of teacher educators, especially those working in the ASEAN context.
Presenter Bio
Marie Yeo is a Senior Language Specialist at the SEAMEO Regional Language Center (RELC) in Singapore, where she teaches on a range of teacher education programs. For the past 30 years, she has taught English, trained teachers and trainers and managed educational projects in countries including Australia, China, Cambodia, Singapore and Vietnam. Her current areas of interest are Language Assessment, Teacher Professional Development and Blended Learning. Marie is currently Editor-in-Chief of the RELC Journal and her most recent publications include a guidebook on teacher professional development, a chapter on blended learning and a journal article on academic publishing.
Steven Forgione, Client Director, Bentleys NSW will present a workshop on understanding financial statements & financial ratio analysis.
Presenter Bio
With nearly 20 years’ professional experience in this sector, Steven specialises in providing accounting, tax and general business advice to private clients and small to medium sized businesses. Steven works with a broad spectrum of clients and individuals throughout the entire business lifecycle of planning, structuring and growth. Steven also has expertise in delivering a range of accounting and financial management training courses to help clients enhance their knowledge of financial principals.
Associate Dean for International Affairs, Mahidol University
Transformation is difficult. The education system of Thailand is in transition, and individual universities are undergoing their own organizational changes in response to an evolving economic and demographic landscape. Students embarking on their educational journeys face daunting uncertainty, particularly regarding the acquisition of marketable skills and eventual employment; however, these same students also have access to unprecedented opportunities. In this highly unsettled context, Mezirow’s (1991) framework of transformative learning is a valuable lens through which to understand the role of disorientation, dissatisfaction, and experimentation in effecting meaningful change. This presentation explores the interplay between the reform of higher education in Thailand, the internationalization of a specific government university, and the transformative journeys of students enrolled in an English-medium liberal arts program within the university, emphasizing the ways in which managing crises can enhance sustainability. The students’ experiences are discussed in relation to transformative learning theory. For teachers aiming to equip students for their journeys, understanding the transformative potential of adversity is a key to fostering student success.
Presenter Bio
Alexander Nanni is the Associate Dean for International Affairs at Mahidol University International College (MUIC), which is located in Salaya, Thailand. He began teaching English in Thailand in 2005. From 2012 to 2018, he was the director of the Preparation Center for Languages and Mathematics at MUIC. During this time, he and his team applied for quality assurance through NEAS, becoming the first program in Thailand to do so. Alexander holds an M.Ed. in Teaching English as a Second Language from Rhode Island College and an Ed.D. in Curriculum, Teaching, Learning, and Leadership from Northeastern University in Boston.
From Teaching to Leading the Learning: A Transformational Perspective
Conference 21.17
Presented by
Steven Happel
Vietnam USA Society English Centres
In this presentation, Steven weaves a personal and professional story that relates a shifting understanding of education and learning both for himself and the institution he works for – VUS. The story starts with a humble K-12 experience, moving on to university and then the ELT industry in Vietnam. Along the way, Steven touches on models of learning and an institution wrestling with traditional conceptions of education common to Vietnam. Steven ties this into a discussion of leadership, arguing for a more distributed, bottom-up model that sees teachers not just as leaders, but learners.
Presenter Bio
Steven Happel has been teaching English professionally for more than 17 years. His experience varies from tutoring foreign exchange students in the United States to the ESL classrooms of Vietnam. He has worked at VUS for the last fifteen years, first as a teacher and later becoming a senior teacher and then academic advisor. He specializes in both curriculum design and teacher training, running in-house workshops for professional development. He also works as a freelance teacher trainer for the British Council, specializing in IELTS and language assessment.
Steven received his B.A. in Philosophy with a minor in Latin from the University of Minnesota where he graduated with honors. He later obtained teaching certificates in TEFL and TESOL and is currently obtaining a Masters in Applied Educational Leadership and Management through the University of London.
Teachers of Speakers of Languages other than English – a Journey to Trust and Professionalism
Conference 21.16
Presented by
A/Prof Klaus Veil
Australian Council of Professions
Ruth Ferraro
Australian Council of Professions
Trust in and regard for teachers as professionals is high but differs across countries and cultures. As teachers of non-English speaking background students, we are privileged to join doctors and scientists as the third-most-trusted profession. Ruth Ferraro and Klaus Veil from Australian Council of Professions will reflect on how as leaders, teachers, practitioners, professionals and students our unique professional journeys nurture, maintain and merit this privileged position.
Presenter Bios
With 30 years professional experience and significant contributions, Klaus is internationally recognised as an expert educator in Health Informatics, Health Information Technology, Healthcare Systems Interoperability and eHealth Standards Development. A Adj. Associate Professor at the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics at Western Sydney University, Klaus has also taught at Sydney and LaTrobe universities as well as to industry and governments in the USA, the UK, Singapore, China, Malaysia, Germany and Bulgaria. Klaus currently serves as president of the Australian Council of Professions and led his professional association, the Australasian College of Health Informatics from 2009 to 2017.
With her early educator career in second language and ESL teaching and program management with TAFE and the NSW AMEP, Ruth’s interest in professions commenced in her two-year role as Executive Officer for the Australian Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (ATE-SOL). She furthered her enquiry into the phenomenon of professions and professionalism between 2000 – 2015 alongside her 25 years in executive roles in education in membership bodies across multiple professional environments (education, medical specialisations, accounting, law and financial planning). Ruth brings a deep insight into the transformational nature of professional life.
Welfare and Guidance for Under 18’s in the Current Landscape
Conference 21.15
Presented by
Michael Bos
The Morton Bay Colleges
Bear a thought for our international students under 18 years old. Not only are they navigating study and life in another country, they are also working through their teenage years as they mature to adulthood. And they are currently experiencing all of this during a global pandemic in another culture, far from home. For those students living in Australia, many have not been home for over a year now. As you can imagine, this is having not only an impact on the students and their families, but also on the institutions supporting them. This session explores the challenges and corresponding responses in the care and support of international students under the age of 18 years old. We examine the regulations, concessions and ways to ensure the welfare of these students.
Presenter Bio
Michael is an experienced International Director with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry. Michael is a strong business development professional skilled in Educational Technology, Instructional Design, Teaching English as a Second Language, Adult Education, and English as a Second Language (ESL).
The Role of the Education Agent as a Bridge Between Institution and Student
Conference 21.14
Presented by
Melanie Macfarlane
VETA
In this presentation, Melanie will provide an insight into the world of education agents and their impact on the ELT sector. Agents don’t simply place students and process paperwork – there’s a lot more to the job! Melanie will discuss agents as the conduit between education providers and students, highlighting their value and necessity. She will dispel several myths, discuss dispute resolution strategies and discuss the future path for agents, as international students prepare to travel post-COVID.
Presenter Bio
Melanie Macfarlane is a registered and practising Migration Agent with over 17 years’ experience securing visas for migrants to live, work and study in Australia. She has worked with individuals, families and employers from small to large-scale businesses, all with the same common goal – to explore new opportunities and create a happy world, one migrant at a time.
Melanie founded MMMigration & Recruitment and VETA Education & Migration in 2007 and has since grown the company to offices across 3 states in Australia as well as Colombia, Chile and Mexico. She’s built a passionate, like-minded team who embody her positive values, setting them apart as leaders in the migration industry. From MMMigration’s and VETA’s vibrant offices to their professional service, the team reduces the stress and confusion from the migration process, ensuring peace of mind and positive outcomes. To date, MMMigration and VETA have helped over 10,000 people with a 99% success rate in helping migrants gain visas and permanent residence in Australia.
A migrant herself, Melanie was born in Freetown, West Africa and grew up in Vanuatu and Indonesia where her diverse circle of friends gave her a good understanding around equality and opportunities to succeed. Her experience as an English language teacher in Indonesia, an education consultant and a recruiter in bringing chefs over from Peru, has created for her a solid network, particularly in her focus areas of childcare, hospitality, aged care, IT, engineering and agriculture.
Deputy Head of International Operations, John Paul College, Queensland, Australia
NEAS collaborates with community stakeholders to enhance further the interests of the ELT practitioner. David Ferguson, Deputy Head of International Operations at John Paul International College, draws on over a decade of experience in international education. Sharing his personal reflections, David recounts his journey completing a series of targeted online courses as part of the NEAS Quality ELT Professional Initiative.
The apex NEAS Endorsed ELT Professional Badge is achieved by practitioners who finish the capstone course, “Master Practitioner in ELT”. Join us to find out more about this new and growing professional development programme for ELT practitioners.
Presenter Bio
David is the Deputy Head of International Operations at John Paul College in Queensland, Australia.
David has been involved in international education in various capacities for over 10 years from teaching to leading international programmes and teams. He currently oversees all international operations at John Paul College, Queensland, Australia.
Enhancing Collaboration With Your Future Students via Transnational Education
Conference 21.12
Presented by
Jason West
University of Technology Sydney
True transformation of the self or the organisation starts first on the inside and works it’s way out. Transformation occurs when you change the way you think, because it’s the way you think, that changes the way you do! In education, simply teaching students to the test, won’t cut it. Our students need the 21st Century skills that enable them to manage complexity, ambiguity and the challenges of a changing world. In a multicultural, plurilingual world, students with the cultural and language skills, will excel as global entrepreneurs and global citizens. UTS Insearch has been on its own transformative journey, commencing with self-reflection, listening to our students and teachers, and observing the changing landscape in English language teaching. This session shares valuable insights into the transformation of our ELT Curriculum, so that we can prepare students for success now, at university, and into their working lives.
When we started our curriculum review process, we initially thought it was a case of taking our existing curriculum and refreshing the content, a new version if you like. What we’ve discovered, is that the transformation required, has influenced many parts of our organisation and has required some serious introspection; how to bring all parts of the organisation together to deliver best practice (NEAS) pedagogy, through cutting-edge curriculum design principles. We’ve also changed the way we think about our curriculum, explicitly stating the learning outcomes for students, ensuring that these outcomes are met and enhancing the student experience. Specifically, this session will share the salient steps in our transformation, some of the key lessons learned, and offer advice to other educators, on how to approach genuine transformational change, through your curriculum.
Presenter Bio
Jason West is the Director of Studies at UTS College, the college pathway provider of English language courses, for students heading to the University of Technology Sydney. He has more than 13 years’ experience, teaching and leading ESL programs and teams. Prior to joining UTS Insearch, Jason was previously the Head of English at SILC (Shanghai Institute of Language and Commerce) a JV between UTS and Shanghai University.
He has more than 10 years’ experience teaching TESOL courses to predominantly Chinese students in Shanghai, and more generally to international students in both Shanghai and Sydney. He has presented at several international conferences on ESL related topics. Jason is passionate about developing teams, to help our students build their English language skills for success at university and as global citizens.
How did I Get Here? From Back-Packer to Rewarding Career in International Education
Conference 21.11
Presented by
Dr Pamela Humphreys
Director, Macquarie University English Language Centre
Dr Pamela Humphreys has worked in international education in five countries for over 30 years. She holds a PhD, is a Senior Fellow of both the HEA and IEAA, a TEQSA Expert, and published author. She is currently the Director of Macquarie University International College and English Language Centre, where she was a 2019 finalist in the Educational Leadership category of the Vice Chancellor’s Awards. But how did she get here? Originally planning to travel the world and avoid a career, how did a back-packer end up with a rewarding career in international education? This presentation will use pivotal moments in Pamela’s professional journey to provide tips to those on their own leadership journey in the sector.
Presenter Bio
Dr Pamela Humphreys is the Director of Macquarie University International College and English Language Centre. She has worked in the English language and higher education sectors for 30 years in the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia. She was Assistant Principal Examiner for IELTS and exam item writer for many years. She has won multiple national awards for her work in post-entry language support and for educational leadership, and has published widely on academic language and learning. In 2016, her PhD thesis, on the topic of English language proficiency in higher education, was awarded the IEAA award for outstanding postgraduate thesis in international education. In 2018, she became Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and, in 2019, she became Senior Fellow of IEAA and an approved TEQSA Expert in her field. Pamela is passionate about supporting EAL students’ language and literacy needs before and during their university studies.
The Teacher I Want to Be, Should Be and Fear Becoming
Conference 21.10
Presented by
Sharon Leslie
Southern Cross University College
EAP teachers in university direct-entry programs are both language and genre specialists; they are teachers of academic and digital skills and literacies (Murray, 2018; Roche, 2017), and they are often the first point of contact for international students experiencing isolation and other emotional challenges (Ding & Bruce, 2017; Kahu & Nelson, 2018; Wilson, 2017). The rewarding but challenging, multi-faceted role played by EAP teachers in Australian university direct-entry programs can prove transformative in the lives of their students, but there is little research into how EAP teachers see their professional roles as educators. Understanding the identity of this cohort has never been more important. Their own transformative journeys as educators since March, 2020 and their ability to ‘pivot’, ‘adapt’ and be resilient in times of great turmoil in the sector may prove key to ensuring a sustainable future for ELICOS post-COVID-19.
Presented by
Sharon Leslie is the Director of English Language Program at Southern Cross University, Australia. She has worked for almost two decades in English language education and assessment in Australia. Before joining Southern Cross University in 2015, Sharon worked as an advisory visiting teacher for Education Queensland and as a teacher and manager in TAFE and ELICOS Colleges. Sharon also worked for eight years with QUT as an IELTS Examiner. She holds a Master of Education (TESOL), a Bachelor of Education (Honours) a Graduate Diploma of Education and a Bachelor of Arts (Applied Linguistics). Sharon’s research interests include language assessment, international student engagement, online learning and teacher professional development. The latter is the focus of her doctoral studies. Sharon is on the management committee of the Queensland Association of TESOL (Qatesol) and the Australian Council of TESOL Associations (ACTA).
