JALT2019

Teacher Efficacy, Learner Agency
45th Annual International Conference on Language Teaching and Learning & Educational Materials Exhibition
WINC AICHI, Nagoya City, Aichi, JapanFriday, November 1, to Monday, November 4, 2019
Call for presentation proposals
Deadline: Sunday, February 3, 2019 11:59 pm, JST
Watch a discussion with the conference chairs of the JALT2019 conference theme.
Coming of Age
Every day we meet, work with, teach, and learn from people who are potential change agents. Just think about your favorite teacher, and the impact that teacher had on your learning, or an attentive and innovative student in your classroom, and how that student took ownership of their learning. As teachers and as learners, our beliefs play a key role in the kinds of action we take. JALT2019 offers an ideal opportunity for meaningful discussions and lively debates about better ways to have a positive impact on learning and teaching. Herein lies the core of the theme for this year – Teacher Efficacy, Learner Agency.
Teacher Efficacy
Emerging from the work of Albert Bandura on self-efficacy (I believe I can have an impact on my future), teacher efficacy focuses on how much teachers believe that they can have an impact on students’ learning. Recently, research has emerged leading to a new concept called collective teacher efficacy. John Hattie explains, “Teachers’ Collective Efficacy means teachers working together, building mindsets that all students can make appreciable progress, and then reinforcing these efficacy beliefs with evidence that students do indeed learn by these teachers causing learning.” Whether you’re working with young learners, elementary, or high school students, educating university students, or assisting adults with business English, efficacy beliefs have a major impact on learning. Ultimately, our job as teachers is more rewarding as we explore how we can help our learners be the best they can be.
Learner Agency
Described as learners “having ownership over their learning” or “having the power to act”, the concept of learner agency addresses the increasing need for learners to be able to do more than simply receive instruction. The explosion of information that the Internet continues to make available means that today’s learners will need to develop the ability to constantly learn throughout their lives; they need to know when they require new learning, when to unlearn something, and when they need to relearn something to be successful.
Teachers working to increase learner agency are promoting a range of skills and strategies for independent learning: personalizing one’s learning, being proactive, learning to choose appropriate resources for one’s learning, reflecting on one’s learning choices, setting “smart” goals, and ultimately being responsible for creating their own learning for a successful and meaningful life.
Teacher Efficacy and Learner Agency: A Winning Combination
Current research advocates that teachers have an impact well beyond the classroom: think back to some of those influential teachers in your life. Imagine the power of combining collective teacher efficacy and learner agency.
Collective teacher efficacy is argued to have the highest overall effect on student achievement. When students get the same messages from a collaborating team of teachers, learning improves dramatically. The second highest impact on learning is a student’s own expectations for themselves, a direct result of improving learner agency. Many approaches we currently promote such as active learning, project-based learning, CLIL, CALL, communicative approaches, and balanced 4-skills programs encourage students to take ownership of their learning.
Join us at JALT2019
Encouraging teacher efficacy and increasing learner agency is clearly a winning combination, and winning combinations are what we hope to deliver in 2019 when the Japan Association for Language Teaching brings the 45th Annual International Conference and Education Materials Exhibition to the WINC in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture. We look forward to you joining us as we work together to explore the best possible environment for our teachers and learners to grow and thrive.
Steven Herder and Catherine Littlehale OkiJALT2019 Conference Co-Chairs
JALT is proud to announce we have been recognized with an EVE (Equal Voices in ELT) Platinum Award for JALT2019.