Tag Archives: interview

Spotlight — Kurt Strachan


Written by - An interview with Kurt Strachan

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Kurt, thank you for taking the time to tell us more about the multi-faceted work you do. But to start, who would you say Kurt Strachan is?

Well first, I want to thank you again Nicola for reaching out and inviting me to join you in this discussion. I really appreciate this opportunity to share a bit of my journey and hope that its helpful to others.

Who is Kurt Strachan? I’d say I’m someone who thinks of others, enjoys finding solutions or at least providing options that help. Being a Program Officer for the last two years has been a good fit for me because it has allowed me to collaborate, contribute to, problem solve,  Continue Reading →

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Spotlight
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Spotlight — Jagrati Chauhan


Written by - An interview with Jagrati Chauhan

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Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Jagrati! For those that don’t have the pleasure of knowing you, tell them a little about yourself. 

Thank you for this wonderful opportunity, Nicola.

I bring over 14 years of experience teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) at York University English Language Institute, School of Continuing Studies, along with more than 27 years in English Language Teaching (ELT) and teacher training/mentoring. I hold a PhD in English and a Masters in Linguistics and ELT. Some of my teaching and research interests include content-based and skill-based academic English instruction, pragmatics, experiential learning, and evidence-based writing in EAP programs. I have presented on these topics at conferences and webinars both locally and internationally,  Continue Reading →

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Interview, Spotlight
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Spotlight — Rabia Khokhar


Written by - An interview with Rabia Khokhar

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The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) presented you with the 2021 Anti-Racist and Equity Activism Award. Talk to us about this special moment in your life.

This was such an incredible and humbling moment in my life! I have always been incredibly passionate about equitable education and to receive this award from ETFO; fellow educators was really affirming. I have always been interested in bringing equity theory to practice in tangible, relevant, contextual and accessible ways for students, educators, families and other stakeholders and so to be recognized for doing this work and some of its impact was really exciting and an honour.

One of the things this award recognized was the newsletter I had created around equity topics and book recommendations.  Continue Reading →

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Interview, Spotlight
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Spotlight — Anna Bartosik


Written by - An interview with Anna Bartosik

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Who is Anna Bartosik?
Hahahaha!

Let’s start with how I introduce myself now. I’ve been saying my name in Polish since December and my identity is tied to my name. It has taken me a long time to stop making it easier for English speakers to say my name.

If you look at my email signature, you’ll know how to pronounce my name, my pronouns in the order of languages I am comfortable speaking (she/ona/elle), and my degrees.

I don’t know which identity I should highlight; I suppose language teacher because of the content of this interview. We can add professional details as well, such as: instructional designer, facilitator, researcher. These details don’t often help,  Continue Reading →

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Interview, Spotlight
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An interview with Sheila Nicholas


Written by - Jane Carwana, Conestoga College

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TESL Ontario honoured Sheila Nicholas with a Distinguished Contribution Award in November 2017. This award “is designed to recognize and honour the significant long-term achievements and contributions to the advancement of English Language educators, the English Language training sector and/or TESL Ontario.”

Nicholas, Program Manager of Adult ESL and LINC at St. George’s Centre for ESL in Guelph Ontario, has certainly contributed leadership and expertise to the ESL community. In addition to her role as Program Manager, she has chaired the Boards of Directors with both TESL Ontario and the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks and served in various other committees and boards.

I recently had the honour of chatting with Sheila in her office in Guelph.  Continue Reading →

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The language of success: An interview with Diane Ramanathan, 2017 Sparks of Excellence Award Recipient


Written by - Amira Elkhateeb, Algonquin College

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She packed her bag and followed her dreams across the globe, holding nothing but her aspirations and persistence to learn. She embraced life with a bold smile, open heart, and determined soul, learned psychology, and served in the military. Things weren’t easy but her memory, as she mentioned, “is very selective” and able to edit all the negative feelings out and keep those memories which will sustain her throughout her journey of education. She is the inspirational Diane Ramanathan who was recently awarded the 2017 Sparks of Excellence Award, given every year by TESL Ontario to members who have gone above and beyond in their role as language instructors in Ontario. Diane took some time from her busy schedule to do the following interview.  Continue Reading →

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OCELT Advances ESL teaching standards in Ontario


Written by - Samantha Serles and Arielle Townsend

Serles-Townsend-OCELT

If you are a TESL Ontario member, you have a new designation to add to your name. The Ontario Certified English Language Teacher (OCELT) designation has been awarded to all TESL Ontario accredited members in good standing. It is intended to be a symbol of professionalism in adult language education. But what exactly does this mean for ESL teachers and their careers?

Professional licensure and any accompanying professional designations have two main purposes: first, those within the profession may be able to use them to extract economic rents (payment in excess of the minimum required to provide the service) by limiting the competition and increasing their perceived quality,1 and second, employers and consumers may be able to reduce search costs and risk.  Continue Reading →

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Professional Development, Training, Uncategorised
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Suma Balagopal: The spark that keeps on shining


Written by - Monique Melbourne, Humber College

(If you would like to publish a profile of or interview with a teacher, please contact the editor.)

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A lot of the good things that have happened in Suma Balagopal’s life happened by chance. Becoming an ESL teacher was no exception. The marketing professional was working in the corporate world for many years but found that she missed meeting and interacting with people without a financial agenda. So when she immigrated to Canada, she wanted a career that married her love of working with people with her interest in English (she completed her Bachelor’s in English Language and Literature). She tried ESL “for fun” and found that it was a natural fit for her.  Continue Reading →

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An interview with Wajiha Naqvi and Brett Reynolds: What we can learn from a blind ESL student


Written by - Pankaj (PB) Bhattacharjee and Wajiha Naqvi, Humber College

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Learning English as a Second Language comes with its usual predicaments and involves a lot of effort, systematic study, mentoring, and use of technology. It just adds another layer of complexity when a learner has vision impairment or any other learning difficulty or limitations. In Canada, it is not unusual that people with visual impairment are learning English in schools specially equipped for them where they are provided with a set of arrangements catering their needs. In most of the cases, the learners use braille and get help from specially trained instructors. But learning English in a mainstream program like English for Academic Purposes is not that common in public colleges where there is little or no special infrastructure for a blind student.  Continue Reading →

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Professional Development, Teaching, Technology
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