First of all, apologies as this post is not really focused solely about Korean culture, language, or travel, but is more of a post about an educational conference that I attended the previous weekend, with the Korea TESOL association. However, I shall return to posting more about Korean culture, language, and travel in the coming weeks, and if this post is of interest, then you are in the right place.

I went to give my first physical talk, for the first time in many years, at the Korea TESOL (Daejeon-Chungcheong Chapter) for the November 2023 Symposium, on Saturday 25 November, where the whole day focused on developing student cultural awareness in the classroom. I was very fortunate to have been asked to the closing remarks at my first conference since 2018, post-pandemic, as well as providing my first workshop in South Korea as closing speaker. I felt a sense of apprehension but it went as smoothly as possible. Nevertheless, there were a range of speakers who offered some personal insight including Kiwan Sung, April Palmer, Mary Abura, and Maria Mutitu. And it certainly was a wonderful event.

Just below are a selection of photos from the day and it as you can tell, it was incredibly well-organised. There were so many respectful talks with many educators sharing their experience, insight with action research, as well as practical tips for raising student cultural awareness in the classroom.

Anyhow, the presentation slides are available below to download or to view, and are in PDF format.

I am looking forward to getting more involved with KOTESOL in the coming months and I have already volunteered to help with the Annual National Conference. It would also be amazing to give future talks at other locations around Korea, as well as meet other KOTESOL members. If you would like to book me for future talks related to language teaching, teacher training, or to give an insight into Korean culture, then kindly get in touch via the form below.