FbT Post #5: Conferences & Events

Professional Events as a Fulbright Fellow

Feelings felt: connected & inspired

A highlight of any Fulbright grant is the chance to learn broadly across topics, with time to dive deeply into those of particular value. Prior to heading out on assignment, IREX and Stateside advisors repeatedly advised my cohort to “say yes to everything” early on in our placements.

The US-UK Fulbright Commission puts a tremendous amount of trust in grantees to pursue leads and opportunities as we see fit! In fact, their vision statement is: A world where there are no obstacles to learning, understanding and collaboration. Along with building professional elements, they encourage us to soak in the culture of local communities throughout the UK. Because of this ethos, I’ve had the chance to take advantage of some really interesting lectures & conferences, often tying-in overnight stays in new (to me) parts of the country. Honestly, it feels like going on custom-made field trips for grown-ups!

In this post, I want to give you another taste of Fulbrighter life by highlighting a few:

BrewED x WomenEd

BrewED is an intermittent event with a fun backstory – a few years ago, a group of teachers had attended a PD seminar and afterward found themselves in a nearby pub. One of them remarked that the “after-PD” time, talking shop with other teachers over a pint, usually turned out to be more valuable than training sessions… and BrewEd was born! During these casual events, teachers meet at breweries around England, interact with short presentations, and mostly just eat, drink, chat, and connect. This particular session highlighted women in UK education. So while the event wasn’t geared toward my project focus of teaching language-learners, per se, it provided me an opportunity to meet other teachers and network a bit in a lively setting!

Language Conferences: Oxford University Education Deanery and IATEFL International

I cherry-picked these events, as both were focused around helping students learn new languages. My initial project proposal focused on English learners, and I still intend to create tools to put newcomers at ease as they settle into classrooms. But lately, my mindset has shifted toward creating opportunities for all students to develop cross-language skills.

The Oxford event presenters demonstrated ways to do just that. I learned about making etymological connections to foster curiosity about “other” languages, ideas for playing with language through songs & games, and ways to support translanguaging (which has been of interest to me all spring).

The IATEFL conference had literally hundreds of sessions from which to choose! In today’s world, literacy means much more than just reading/writing text, so I opted to learn about using digital/virtual media in tandem with print. LitSig's "From Text to Tech: Rethinking Literature in the Digital Age" session prompted so many ideas to support my plans to design interactive classroom tools!

(As a bonus, I was able to stay in the venerable Rhodes Scholar House at Oxford and a Victorian-era beachfront inn at Brighton, which made for incredible mini-getaways! It felt like carrying-on a line of history… in cool towns, to boot.)

Forum

Fulbright Forum provided a chance for all current UK-based fellows to come together. While the award I received, a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching Research grant, is presented to a small cohort of practicing educators (typically 2-3 each year in the UK), Fulbright actually offers a much larger suite of awards across several categories. So about 60 of us gathered for a four-day event, to meet one another and sponsors.

What an affirming & inspiring week it was! The US-UK Fulbright Commission treated Distinguished Teacher, Scholar, & Postgrad fellows to an array of cultural and scholarly events across London, leading to open dialogue around relevant international topics: at LAMDA (London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art), Victoria and Albert Museum, Duchess Theatre, The British Library, and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was fascinating to hear about other Fulbrighters' current research foci, too. Bravo to hosts & presenters!

UCL-IOE: Courses, Lectures, & Conversations

Prior to arriving in the UK, Fulbright connected me with a host, University College London’s Institute of Education, and mentor, Dr. Dina Mehmedbegovic-Smith. Both have proven to be lovely and invaluable resources during my journey.

Dina has invited me to sit in on class sessions with her master’s & PhD students, most of whom are multilingual and went through the process of learning English as an additional language themselves. She’s also invited me to present at an upcoming University of Zadar symposium, in Croatia.

A number of other UCL professors have been gracious enough to sit down 1:1 with me and share their expertise related to my study, or have invited me to sit in on lectures by special renowned guests across the fields of linguistics, translanguaging, and heritage language education. The dean at IOE is meeting with me next month to discuss his lived experience and extensive research into multilingualism.

UCL continues to impress me with their commitment to enhancing international understanding and connections!

US Embassy Invitation

Scholarly events aren't the only opportunities Fulbrighters receive. I was recently invited to spend an afternoon at the United States Embassy, for a presentation and open house. Speakers shared tips and support for US citizens living in the UK and provided time to mingle. It was surreal to be in spaces that so many dignitaries and world leaders have shared – and in the very room that opens the scene for Season 5 of The Diplomat tv series, as our first speaker proudly joked! ;)

Final Thoughts

I selected these events to demonstrate that, as a Fulbrighter, you will have such incredibly-varied opportunities! I also encourage you to sometimes take advantage of events that may not seem like they quite “fit” with your ideas. Some of my best notes and connections came from sessions that I didn’t anticipate being so relevant.

The official Fulbright Program tagline is: Connecting People. Connecting Nations. Knowing that these statements hold true is invigorating, and I look forward to living them out during the second half of my placement!