, , , , , , , ,

LWA, ESL Reads, and LMERC at the 2023 Symposium

LWA, ESL Reads, and LMERC 

VicTESOL Symposium 2023.
Friday 13th October, 2023, The Academy of Teaching and Leadership

Alfredo Landeros, Lauren Piovesan, and Ruth Woolven

LWA

Summary to Come

ESL Reads

It was a delight to participate in the Symposium and to engage with so many passionate EAL educators. I thoroughly enjoyed speaking to many EAL educators about the challenges of sourcing age-appropriate texts for their secondary and adult EAL learners, and being able to share our resources with teachers. Learning about the different EAL settings across Victoria and attending the interesting sessions was a highlight!

ESL Reads is a Digital Resource Library for EAL Teachers, providing relatable reading material in both digital and printable formats, accompanied by teacher notes, worksheets and EAL curriculum mapping.

If you are seeking new resources for your classroom, please see our website eslreads.com or feel free to get in touch at admin@eslreads.com.

Languages & Multicultural Education Resource Centre (LMERC)

LMERC is a specialist resource centre for educators across all sectors with both digital and physical resources to support EAL teaching and learning. This includes academic and practical teacher resources; culturally inclusive fiction and non-fiction; games and storytelling kits and realia (puppets, masks, clothes and toys).

We regularly provide bi-lingual dictionaries and picture books, readers and other resources to support your students in schools across Victoria. If you need any resources, you can visit us in Carlton, email for suggestions or look through our catalogue and request items. We have a growing collection of ebooks and audio books that you can access through the catalogue.

We send a newsletter once a term with information about our new resources, professional learning opportunities and relevant articles. Please email if you would like to receive the newsletter.

Telephone: (03) 9349 1418
Catalogue: lmerc.softlinkhosting.com.au
Opening hours: weekdays 9am-5pm, including school holidays

How to Join LMERC and select Register in the top right-hand corner

How to get to LMERC

, , , , , , , , ,

2023 VicTESOL Symposium Unpacking of Keynote and panel sessions

2023 VicTESOL Symposium
Unpacking of Keynote and panel sessions

Facilitated by various VicTESOL Committee Members

Summary

Following the keynote video presentation and panel discussion, symposium participants broke into groups to unpack the ideas and concepts presented. This acted a teacher-sharing and networking session, facilitated by VicTESOL committee members, where participants worked in small, multi-sectorial groups to discuss their learnings and how this applied to their context.

Groups captured their discussion using a shared Padlet page, guided by the following questions:
1) Reflect on your own learning-to-teach experiences – what was the most memorable experience and why?
2) What do you see as the relationship between theory and practice?
3) Consider a memorable student you have taught in the past – describe what his/her learning ‘looked and felt’ like, and why?
4) How do you think professional learning has shaped or continues to shape your knowledge and practice?
5) How prepared were you for the classroom? What did you learn once you were a practicing teacher that you didn’t in your ITE?
6) How important are mentors and experienced colleagues to the development of you as a teacher?
7) What does a dialogic approach mean for you in your practice? Within/between schools/ different institutional settings/sectors?
8) Is the transition between ITE and the classroom different for different sectors – eg schools vs adult?

After the Padlet activity, the small groups then reported back to the facilitator and larger group, which enabled a rich discussion that drew on a wealth of experience and knowledge. It was a valuable opportunity to explore the formative experiences of everyone’s early teaching careers. VicTESOL extends their gratitude to the participants for sharing their expertise and experience and their contributions to this resource.

Resources

Download (PDF, 357KB)

, , , , , , , , ,

NGV at the VicTESOL AGM

NGV at the VicTESOL AGM
Monday 4th December, 2023 from 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm, Virtual Event

Summary

Leah Santilli from the NGV took attendees of the 2023 VicTESOL AGM on a virtual tour of some the NGV’s collection. She showcased the strong relationship between VicTESOL and the NGV by talking about some of the wonderful events we have been involved in together this year. She also gave attendees the opportunity to be students, and try out some activities analysing different artworks.

Many thanks to Leah and her team for all their work putting this together, and we look forward to working with you again in the future!

Recording

Resources

Download (PDF, 2.72MB)

, , , , , , , , , ,

Online LMERC Resourcing Event

Online LMERC Resourcing Event

September 6 from 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Virtual Event

Summary

Participants had the opportunity to learn about Languages and Multicultural Education Resource Centre (LMERC) and the resources and assistance available.

Recording

Resources

Resources to Come

 

, , , , , , , ,

LMERC Resourcing Event 

LMERC Resourcing Event

Thursday, 11 May 2023 from 4:30pm – 6:00pm,
Languages and Multicultural Education Resource Centre (LMERC) library, Level 1, 189 Faraday Street, Carlton

This presentation was delivered by Ruth Woolven at the LMERC Resourcing and Networking Event on 11 May 2023. The library holds an extensive collection of over 25,000 resources in all formats for educators across all sectors and at all levels, early childhood to adult. At the session, the attendees were able to browse the resources, sign up for membership to borrow the resources and network with the other participants!

Download (PDF, 5.9MB)

, , , , , , , , , , ,

LWA and LMERC at the 2022 Symposium

2022 VicTESOL Symposium
LWA and LMERC at the 2022 Symposium

Alfredo Landeros and Ruth Woolven

LWA

LWA were pleased to share a table with LMERC (Languages and Multicultural Education Resource Centre) at the VicTESOL Symposium on Friday 11th November 2022. It was great to showcase with LMERC resources that related to second language acquisition and language teaching methodology for all levels, from early years to adults.

The AMEP 3 new resources: the English Ready Booklets, AMEPOnline, and the Digital Literacies Framework, Guide, and companion Teaching Resources were of great interest to symposium participants and the participants are looking forward to their publication on the Australian Department of Home Affairs website (Adult Migrant English Program page).

Languages & Multicultural Education Resource Centre (LMERC)

The Symposium provided me with a wonderful opportunity to meet so many EAL educators and the sessions were very informative. Being new to LMERC, I enjoyed chatting about what we provide and what is important to you. We appreciate any suggestions/recommendations for resources.

LMERC is a specialist resource centre for educators across all sectors with both digital and physical resources to support EAL teaching and learning. This includes academic and practical teacher resources; culturally inclusive fiction and non-fiction; games and storytelling kits and realia (puppets, masks, clothes and toys).

We regularly provide bi-lingual dictionaries and picture books, readers and other resources to support your students in schools across Victoria. If you need any resources, you can visit us in Carlton, email for suggestions or look through our catalogue and request items. We have a growing collection of ebooks and audio books that you can access through the catalogue.

We send a newsletter once a term with information about our new resources, professional learning opportunities and relevant articles. Please email if you would like to receive the newsletter.

Telephone: (03) 9349 1418
Catalogue: lmerc.softlinkhosting.com.au
Opening hours: weekdays 9am-5pm, including school holidays

How to Join LMERC and select Register in the top right-hand corner

How to get to LMERC

, , , , , , , , , ,

Unpacking of Keynote and panel sessions

2022 VicTESOL Symposium
Unpacking of Keynote and panel sessions

Facilitated by various VicTESOL Committee Members

Summary

Following the keynote video presentation and panel discussion, symposium participants broke into four groups to unpack the ideas and concepts presented. This acted a teacher-sharing and networking session, facilitated by VicTESOL committee members, where participants worked in small, multi-sectorial groups to discuss their learnings and how this applied to their context.

Groups captured their discussion using a shared Padlet page, guided by the following questions:
1) What’s the role of EAL teachers in your setting?
2) What is specific to your sector and what do you share with other sectors?
3) Was there anything that surprised you about what is happening in other sectors?
4) How can knowledge about other sectors
• help us support students who are transitioning to or from our sector?
• inspire us?
• inform our broad knowledge of TESOL?
• understand ourselves and our own sector?

After the Padlet activity, the small groups then reported back to the facilitator and larger group, which enabled a rich discussion that drew on a wealth of experience and knowledge. It was a valuable opportunity to explore and celebrate the similarities and differences across early childhood, primary, secondary and adult sectors, within local, state, national and international contexts. The aim is that this session will lead to the development of a shared resource, which will be published on the VicTESOL website. VicTESOL extends their gratitude to the participants for sharing their expertise and experience and their contributions to this resource.

Resources

, , , , , , , , ,

Panel of Experts: Finding the Common Ground

2022 VicTESOL Symposium
Panel of Experts: Finding the Common Ground

Chair:
Assoc. Prof. Russell Cross (Melbourne Graduate School of Education)

Panelists:
Rebecca Paic (Catholic Education Commission Victoria), Angela DiSciascio (Gordon Institute of TAFE), Mairead Hannan (Collingwood English Language School), Peter James (Richmond West Primary)

Discussants:
Prof. Ben Rampton (Kings College London), Dr Mel Cooke (Kings College London)

Summary

The symposium kicked off with an engaging panel discussion facilitated by Assoc Prof Russel Cross in response to the keynote presentation by Prof Ben Rampton and Dr Mel Cooke. Panel members from the primary, secondary, Catholic and adult sectors shared their insights on the role of EAL teachers in their setting, how much EAL teachers have in common across settings, how policy and curriculum shape the work of EAL teachers and what the important aspects are of an EAL teachers’ role in different settings. The discussion illuminated a shared passion across all sectors for the holistic needs of EAL learners and the unique and privileged role that EAL teachers play in the lives of learners that goes far beyond curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. The panel ended with thematic conclusions from Ben and Mel, who had watched the discussion via zoom from the UK.

Recording

 

 

 

 

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Impacts of Traumatic Refugee Experiences on Learning and Behaviour

2022 VicTESOL Symposium
Impacts of Traumatic Refugee Experiences on Learning and Behaviour

Allison Green and Matt Roger (Foundation House)

Summary

In their session “Impacts of Trauma on Learning and Behaviour”, Allison Greene and Matt Roger from Foundation House presented insight into the practical strategies and theories to support students impacted by refugee experiences. Allison and Matt began by providing some of the theory around refugee trauma and then invited participants to investigate 2 fictional case studies of students from refugee backgrounds. In small groups, teachers discussed some of the concerns that were evident relating to the students’ learning, engagement and behaviour and then shared some possible strategies to support them in their transition to Australian schooling.
The provision of knowledge and practical examples provided by Allison and Matt, along with the reflective discussion, assisted educators to develop their trauma informed lens. The session allowed for participants to explore connections between trauma reactions and supportive responses, and consider how our various educational settings can be a restorative space for students and families from refugee backgrounds. Participants in the session were given some excellent resources to take away which included further strategies and support for teachers when dealing with students’ trauma reactions and disclosures. For further information, resources and professional learning educators can visit the Foundation House website at https://foundationhouse.org.au/.

Presentation and other Resources

Download (PDF, 1.98MB)

Download (PDF, 1.6MB)

Download (PDF, 1.81MB)