Reported by Sofija LJiljak-Vukajlović

The spring Eaquals conference in 2019 was held in Madrid, Spain 11-13 April and was attended by three representatives from YALS schools: Sofija Ljiljak-Vukajlović from Tom & Emma School in Belgrade and Marija Pejatović and Jelena Spasić from Oxford School in Leskovac. We are proud to say that two representatives had the pleasure and honour to deliver their presentations for the first time at an Eaquals professional event.

Sofija Ljiljak-Vukajlović presented on behalf of YALS with the topic Aiming High With Gifted Learners, sharing strategies and activities she has used over the years in order to maintain the motivation of her gifted teenage language learners. Marija Pejatović was invited by the publishing house Pearson, as one of the Eaquals conference sponsors, to share her experience of using their online platform Global Scale of English in teaching young learners. She presented a case study, called Adopting the GSE to Improve Curricula for Young Learners. Both talks were very well received and the presenters lauded.  

The first day, as usual, was reserved for the inspectors’ training. However, at the same time, there was a series of three sessions conducted by Maureen McGarvey, who spoke about managing performance management in larger language schools, from the point of view of a line manager working in between the school principal or owner and teachers themselves.

The second and third day were also fully booked with five different sessions simultaneously taking place in eight and six consecutive slots, respectively.  This year the conference focused on five thematic strands: Language Teaching & Learning; Course Design, CEFR & Assessment; Staff Development; Leadership & Management and Business & Marketing Management. The objective was to enhance understanding for all those involved in international education and strengthen professional networks, both of which are crucial in an increasingly-competitive international educational environment.

The conference programme and resources, including all the presentations and handouts, can be found at this link:

https://www.eaquals.org/event/eaquals-international-conference-2019/