Festival

The International Festival of Mentoring Teacher-Research in ELT (2024–25)

Organized by MenTRnet and supported by  British Council,  Pilgrims Teacher Training Journal and IATEFL Research SIG
​

Free online events and recordings during 2024–25 showcasing teacher-research mentoring initiatives around the world.

The festival’s aim is to map and draw lessons from these initiatives and to inspire others to engage in mentoring teacher-research and/or to organize teacher-research mentoring support schemes themselves. With this new emphasis on mentoring, the festival builds on two previous international festivals showcasing teacher-researchers’ own experiences, in 2017 and 2021, respectively.

Upcoming events

14 December, 1.00–2.30pm (UTC): (UTC) ‘Mentoring teacher-research as a local educational authority initiative’ – webinar on the SCERT Delhi action research mentoring project, led by Professor Rama Mathew. Register here

18 January 2025, 1.00–2.30pm (UTC): (UTC): Panel discussion on ‘Integrating teacher-research into pre-service teacher education’. Register here

22 February 2025, 1.00–2.30pm (UTC): : ‘Using AI to help mentor teacher inquiry’ – webinar led by Elena Oncevska-Ager, Matthew Ager and Sirin Soyoz. Register here

29–30 March 2025: Teachers Research! Online 2025 conference. Details to come.

Previous events

16 November, 1.00–2.30pm (UTC): ‘Teacher-researchers becoming mentors’ – panel discussion with Regina Corona (Mexico), Patcharin Kunna (Thailand), Maria Marta Mora (Argentina), Sidney Martin (Spain) and Silvia Severino (Argentina), chaired by Richard Smith. Video recording

19 October – 13:00–14:30 UK time – School improvement through mentoring Exploratory Action Research – Webinar showcasing work in the British Council’s Partner Schools programme, led by Sirin Soyoz, Ghazala Sajjad and Fareeha Bashir. Video recording.

14 September – Mentoring teacher-research in a Teacher Association Community of Practice: Experience from Rwanda – Webinar about work within ATER (Association of Teachers of English in Rwanda), led by James Mbonyuburo, Laurent Ahishakiye and Jean Damascène Uwamahoro. Video recording

31 August – ‘Mentoring teachers new to research in the Electronic Village Online‘ – Webinar showcasing work by mentors, arising from past Teacher-Research for Professional Development Electronic Village Online (EVO)  (EVO) sessions, led by Ruben Mazzei and Mariana Serra. Video recording.

20 July  – ‘EAR-Thailand #2024 project – Successful practices in a teacher-research mentoring programme’ – Webinar about work within the EAR-Thailand #2024 project  (fomerly, MDEAR (Mentor Development for Exploratory Acton Research) (King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi / British Council Thailand / RELO Thailand / ThaiTESOL). Video recording.

8 June – ‘The work and impact of NETRUZ (Network of English Teacher Researchers In Uzbekistan)’ – webinar led by Elyanora Menglieva and Ella Maksakova. Video-recording and Booklet of Success Stories created for the event.

4 May – IATEFL ReSIG webinar – ‘Challenges in mentoring teacher-research, and how to overcome them’ – showcasing the work of mentors of research at the Teachers Research! Online 2024 conference. Video-recording and full programme with links to posters.

9 April – British Council Teacher Educator Community webinar on ‘Teacher education and practitioner research – how can one support the other?’ by Richard Smith. Video-recording and associated handout.

16 March – ‘Best of EVO’ – TESOL CALL Interest Section – 30-minute presentation about the Mentoring Teacher-Research Electronic Village Online. Video-recording.

9–10 March 2024 – IATEFL ReSIG Teachers Research! Online 2024 conference – launch event for the festival. Video record in preparation

The Festival is chaired by Professor Richard Smith and is being organized with the support of a grant from the University of Warwick and the Economic and Social Research Council (grant reference ES/X004635/1)