We Hear You! Conference Feedback
by Shirene Salamatian & Nanda Warren
 
Thank you to everyone who attended the May 2026 BC TEAL Conference! We truly appreciate that you showed up to connect and collaborate with your colleagues during a time when our sector is at risk. The collective optimism and recommitment to our work is the perfect resistance to the challenges we are all facing. Thank you, as well, for completing the conference surveys. Not only does your feedback help us plan for the upcoming year, but it offers insight into what is important to you and what will help sustain your work moving forward.
 
As always, community building was one of the most valuable outcomes of the conference. We heard that you want to continue building connections with your professional peers with more opportunities to connect in-person and online in the form of ongoing professional development workshops, webinars, and networking events. This commitment to community will get us through the challenges and pressures we are all experiencing. As our keynote speaker, Dr. Rekiyat Siyaka, stated, this is the time to stay close and in community, since “sticks in a bundle are stronger together.” You can trust that BC TEAL will work to strengthen this community.
 
Innovation is still a priority for many of you, and you continue to look for teaching materials and tools to adapt for your learners in a changing education system both locally and globally. We are glad that the keynote speakers and presenters were able to provide you with meaningful and useful approaches. LINC educators, we acknowledge that you would like more representation at the conference, particularly more Stage 1, literacy, and foundational language teaching content. We will work to offer a broader range of topics in our sessions, including practical teaching strategies, the impact of learner wellbeing and the complex realities educators navigate in their classrooms. There was also a notable ask for management and leadership development, topics that are not often covered at BC TEAL conferences. Supporting EAL leadership is significant for the sustainability of our work and BC TEAL will commit to a plan that focuses on this.
 
Of course, sustainability requires that teachers continue to be employed. We heard from those of you who want to learn about pathways to move from one sector of language education to another and to get help connecting with employers. The need for skilled and experienced EAL professionals is not going away, and it makes sense for BC TEAL to focus our efforts on job search support and training opportunities to ensure that educators’ talent and expertise continue to be utilized.
 
Finally, your feedback included a call to action! Many of you want BC TEAL to increase our advocacy work, including more engagement with all levels of government to push for sustainable funding for EAL programs, and also, as one participant said, “pushing back against the negative rhetoric surrounding newcomers.” BC TEAL can play an important role highlighting  the strengths and contributions of newcomers, and in promoting a more welcoming, informed, and inclusive public conversation. It is our goal to leverage our unique role to engage and pressure government bodies to account for the decisions made for our field.
 
Please continue giving us feedback on how BC TEAL can best serve you. Reach out through our website BC TEAL or email at admin@bcteal.org.