Recently I took part in the NZALT conference, along with several hundred other language teachers, in crisp and mostly sunny Dunedin. It was a bit of a rough start getting out of bed on the first Sunday morning of the holidays to ‘mix and mingle’ at 7.40am before keynotes began at eight - teaching online affords one the luxury of a somewhat relaxed start to the day - but nonetheless, I got into the routine and was better for it.

The conference was held at John McGlashan College and mainly attended by secondary school language teachers who spoke another language fluently. There was an international buzz throughout the conference, interwoven with tikanga and te reo Māori. Each day we attended keynotes in the morning, followed by four breakout sessions where we opted into workshops or presentations suited to our needs and interests. As the Curriculum Lead for VLN Primary I presented on creating interactive language lessons online.

I drew several parallels between attending the conference as a participant and students attending school. When thinking about what to include in this article, these parallels seem equally if not more important to what I garnered from workshops.

1. Interaction and activities

Being a ‘learner’ from 8am-4pm each day was exhausting. It made me realise how important it is for classes to allow time to practise and have fun with new ideas so they have time to sink in in a less ‘high stakes’ environment. Workshops that were interactive (at one stage I was doing yoga!) were far more memorable in comparison to listening to talks. They allowed you to apply your learning, or at least discuss your understanding, context or experience with others.

We want kids to have time to play with new learning - it lifts engagement, provides opportunity for a range of learning styles and models ways to apply or practise independently.

As an online teacher I try to ensure that every session with my students is interactive. We want kids to have time to play with new learning - whether it be act out, discuss, share, draw, annotate - it lifts engagement, provides opportunity for a range of learning styles and models ways to apply or practise independently.

2. Relevant learning

There were several elements of the conference which highlighted the difference it makes to engagement when you have influence over what you’re learning. First, during the conference participants opted in workshops - there was a range to choose from and you could usually select a session that related to your context, interest or area of expertise. As a presenter, you knew that the people in the room were interested in what you had to offer! Second, I’m currently learning Spanish, and having a reason and opportunity to use what I was learning in a social space with native speakers highlighted what I wanted to learn and drove my motivation to do so.

Having agency, authentic audience and relevance with projects has led to some of my most memorable teaching experiences, and no doubt it's the same for students.

Communicating why and how learning is relevant can often be overlooked in the classroom, especially if the purpose of learning gets misdirected into achieving credits. Having agency, authentic audience and relevance with projects has led to some of my most memorable teaching experiences, and no doubt it's the same for students. In fact, I caught up with a student who I taught in year 7, who just finished his Otago degree. We reminisced over what stood out from school with his flatmates, projects they were proud of - textbooks, photocopied activities and whiteboards didn’t make the cut.

Importance of belonging and connection

As one of the few primary teachers, and possibly the only person who didn’t speak a second language fluently, I felt slightly set apart. I’m usually confident in social situations, but this put me on the back foot. What helped ease this was presenters who actively encouraged collaboration with people you didn’t know, and provided a space where you could ask questions. Having time to socialise with people outside of workshops also made a big difference - NZALT did this well by putting on a meet and greet evening to begin the conference, facilitating ‘language dinners’ at various restaurants around Dunedin, and having a band where regardless of your language ability (or dancing) you could get involved and loosen up.

Our students have their emotions at the forefront, learning only occurs once they feel like they belong.

In terms of my Zoom classes, my students have suggested similar things - to have times where they can interact in breakout rooms without my watchful eye, but also to provide prompts to avoid the awkward silence that can come from being in a Zoom with people you’re yet to know. To be honest, once I felt like I belonged at the conference, it was much easier to take on new learning. And this was the core message from the final keynote speaker - our students have their emotions at the forefront, learning only occurs once they feel like they belong.

Final reflections

I picked up lots of new ideas at the 2022 NZALT conference, but I feel these are better discussed once I put them into practice and adapt them for my own context. The activities, key points and information I came across at the conference, most likely, I could have found online. And if we’re drawing parallels to attending school, it begs the question, what can my students get from me that YouTube, Google or a book can’t provide?

It’s about making sense of it, being encouraged to engage, providing tailored feedback to enable the next step, asking questions of students that lead to new connections, and supporting the skills to create their own knowledge. 

Funnily enough, I was asked a similar question by the father sitting next to me on my flight home. In response I replied that learning is more than access to information. It’s about making sense of it, being encouraged to engage, providing tailored feedback to enable the next step, asking questions of students that lead to new connections, and supporting the skills to create their own knowledge. In a way, this is what the conference also provided - in the workshops, in the panel discussion, in the keynotes, but it also at lunch, over a beer, or chatting as you move around campus. I came away from the NZALT conference with professional connections, ideas for my teaching, and new friends - I’ll let you draw your own parallels for what you hope your students come away with after school.