Alumni as Leaders, 2007-08

Alumni are expected to lead their professions. That’s true for any graduate school. And as with our sister institutions around the world, SIT is proud when that leadership is demonstrated. This year, there are several SIT alums demonstrating their leadership.

The International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) features Radmila Popovic (above right) as a plenary speaker in Exeter, England, April 7 - 11, 2008.

The Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) has announced that Ryuko Kubota (left) is to be a featured speaker in Tokyo, Japan, November 22 - 25, 2007.

Meanwhile over at TESOL, the world’s largest professional association of English language teachers, Eileen Whalen Ariza has been chosen as the new editor of their flagship publication, Essential Teacher (below right). She joins columnist Dorothy Zemach and the association’s executive director Charles Amorosino, both alumni of SIT.

An interesting trend among association conferences, I have noticed, is that they are turning away from theory- and research-oriented presenters and have begun to include more practitioner-oriented presenters. This trend bodes well for teachers in general, who attend conferences looking not for theory but for development. They ask, “How can I teach more effectively?”

This trend is worthy of our applause, don’t you think? I look forward to telling you more about alumni at work, but wanted to mention these, in particular, today.

Tags: Marshall Brewer, World Learning