BC TEAL 2026 Annual Conference

Premise
 
Guided by an autonomy-oriented and learner-centered approach to teaching, the presenter aims to design activities that engage learners cognitively, emotionally, and physically to support meaningful learning outcomes. Implementing the PBLA requirement of self-reflection is no exception. Within PBLA, self-reflection is both a required component and a powerful learning tool supporting learners in taking ownership of their progress and learning needs (Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks [CCLB], 2014, 2019). However, implementing meaningful self-reflection can be particularly challenging in low-level LINC classes since adult learners may have had limited prior experience with in-class self-reflection practices (Abbott, 2019).
   
 Motivated by these challenges, the primary presenter designed a simple, structured, and engaging approach to self-reflection for lower Stage I CLB learners. Rather than treating reflection as a one-time task, the goal was to develop an ongoing process that helps learners understand both the concept of self-reflection and its importance in their learning. By breaking reflection into manageable steps and embedding it into regular classroom practice, this approach aims to make self-reflection meaningful, enjoyable, and achievable for learners at the earliest stages of language learning.
 
Outline
 
The session begins with brief interactive discussion questions to activate participants’ experiences with learner self-reflection. The primary presenter then introduces a step-by-step self-reflection model, using visuals, classroom samples, and documentation. She then shares how the model was implemented across different classes, presenting classroom evidence, learner outcomes, and adaptations from two participating LINC 2 instructors. The session continues with the second and third presenters, sharing findings with literacy/LINC 1 and LINC 1-2 classes. The final segment highlights practical digital tools and strategies for implementing the model in remote contexts.
 
Outcomes & Objectives
 
By the end of the session, participants will be able to identify practical self-reflection strategies for low-level learners, examine adaptable approaches across instructional contexts, and apply flexible tools to support learner autonomy and engagement.


 
References  
 
Abbott, M. L. (2019). Project report: Developing an interpretive argument to guide the use of portfolio-based language assessment in beginning adult English language literacy classes. P2P Canada. https://p2pcanada.ca/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2019/07/Portfolio-based-Language-Assessment-in-Beginning-Adult-English-Language-Literacy-Classes.pdf
Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks. (2014). Portfolio-
            based language assessment (PBLA): Guide for teachers and    
           programs. https://listn.tutela.ca/wp-content/uploads/PBLA_Guide_2014.pdf
Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks. (2019). PBLA practice guidelines 2019.  https://pblapg.language.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/PBLA-Practice-Guidelines-2019_978-1-897100-78-3-RA.pdf

With no funding for CLB 5 and up, there is a huge gap of services, especially for those newcomers who want to attend post-secondary institutions. Where can they practice their English, so they don’t lose the progress they made in LINC 1 to 4?  As in the past, faith communities continue to address the needs of newcomers with informal English language classes, conversation circles and social events. A sense of belonging and social connection is vital for newcomers, and ethnic faith communities have been filling that need. This interactive session will inform participants about English language services in Baha’i, Christian, Islam, Jehovah Witness and Mormon communities in metro-Vancouver.  The handout will also provide info about the free public library offerings.   
 
Some of the program facilitators have been offering newcomer language and social services for more than 30 years.  Research about Christian programs conducted in 2013 showed that 50% of the programs did not have any faith components or content (Kristjansson, 2018). Currently, a much smaller percentage of the 40+ programs in metro-Vancouver offer Bible content, which is often optional.  Preliminary survey research on the other faith groups shows a higher percentage of spiritual life content.     


Participants need not be a believer of any faith group to express the advantages and disadvantages of English classes hosted in places of worship.  The focus is on the wide variety of program structures and elements for program development. Current statistics may not be complete since programs start and close because of human resources, makeup of the newcomers in their neighborhood, etc.  However, participants will leave with a sense of the depth and width of the programs offered through places of worship. They (especially unemployed teachers) may even be inspired to start their own community-based program.  (292) words)


Reference  (41 words) 
Kristjánsson, C. (2018). Church-sponsored ESL in western Canada: Grassroots expressions of social and spiritual practice. In M. S. Wong & A. Mahboob (Eds.), Spirituality & language teaching: Religious explorations of teacher identity, pedagogy, context, and content. (pp. 172–194). Multilingual Matters.
Description for Program booklet
You need not belong to a faith community to discuss and learn how faith-based communities have served the social and linguistic needs of newcomers in metro-Vancouver.  (26 words) 

This session adult language educators will be introduced to a GenAI tool and the Government of Canada's advice on careful adoption, usage or rejection of new GenAI technologies.  Participants will walk participants through an example of story book generation Google Gemini’s storybook feature. Although the results are initially impressive, educators need to look more closely when using GenAI tools. When we are considering GenAI offerings, we should not just focusing on tool mastery. In this session, we will examine a generated story to apply the Government of Canada's FASTER principles (Fair, Accountable, Secure, Transparent, Educated, Relevant). Instructors examine cultural representation, data privacy, transparency with learners, pedagogical value and instructional fit. The session models how teachers can critically assess AI generated materials while maintaining professional judgment and learner-centered decision-making. Participants leave with a practical framework for evaluating  GenAI tools. 

The objectives of this session are to support educators in applying trauma-informed practices as collective, justice-oriented classroom strategies. By the end of the session, participants will be able to identify trauma-informed responses to common classroom challenges such as silence, disengagement, emotional regulation, and conflict, and apply concrete strategies that foster safety, belonging, and student agency across different language classroom contexts. Participants will also design level appropriate student inquiry or action activity that positions community care as a form of resistance and aligns with principles of equity and human rights.
This session is grounded in trauma-informed educational frameworks that emphasize safety, trust, choice, collaboration, and skill building (Harris & Fallot, 2001; Minahan, 2019). Trauma is understood as shaped by both individual experience and structural conditions, with significant impacts on attention, memory, emotional regulation, and learning (SAMHSA, 2014; Perry, 2006). Drawing on research in trauma-informed education and language learning, the session adopts a critical orientation that resists deficit perspectives and reframes trauma-informed practice as ethical, relational, and collective pedagogical work rather than therapeutic intervention (Carello & Butler, 2014; Boylan, 2021). Classroom strategies emphasize multimodal learning, predictability, and non-disclosure-based participation to avoid retraumatization while supporting engagement and agency
This highly interactive session engages participants in hands-on trauma-informed activities used in real classrooms, including short regulation and grounding practices, selective attention listening tasks, and multimodal expression activities. Participants analyze real classroom scenarios, practice trauma-informed teacher language, and collaboratively redesign a familiar lesson to include choice, flexibility, and community-building structures. The session concludes with participants co-creating a simple, developmentally appropriate student inquiry or action project connected to equity and justice.
Participants will leave with practical classroom activities, adaptable lesson structures, sample trauma-informed language, and a clear framework for supporting student engagement and collective action without requiring personal disclosure.
References:
Boylan, M. (2021). Trauma informed practices in education and social justice: towards a critical orientation. International Journal of School Social Work, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.4148/2161-4148.1071
Carello, J., & Butler, L. D. (2014). Potentially Perilous Pedagogies: Teaching Trauma Is Not the Same as Trauma-Informed Teaching. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 15(2), 153–168. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2014.867571
Harris, M., & Fallot, R. D. (2001). Envisioning a trauma-informed service system: A vital paradigm shift. New Directions for Mental Health Services, 2001(89), 3–22. https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.23320018903


Minahan, J. (2019). Trauma-Informed Teaching Strategies. Educational Leadership, 77

This research report examines how intensive English as a foreign language (EFL) learning may relate to student burnout and learning quality in undergraduate programs in a non-Anglophone context. The session aligns with the BC TEAL 2026 theme, “Rooted and Relevant,” by offering context-sensitive, practical options that EAL educators can adapt to local constraints.
Two lenses guide the study. Cognitive load theory suggests that high task demands, rapid pacing, and limited automatized vocabulary may overload working memory and weaken learning quality (Sweller, 2011). Burnout theory frames exhaustion, cynicism, disengagement, and academic efficacy as connected indicators of student well-being and academic functioning (Maslach & Leiter, 2016).
The study uses a mixed-methods design. Survey data (n = 213) were analyzed using a validated 17-item burnout scale that measures exhaustion, cynicism, disengagement, and academic efficacy. Open-ended responses were coded using a structured approach aligned with these dimensions. Results suggest high exhaustion and elevated disengagement. Exhaustion shows strong positive links with cynicism and disengagement. Academic efficacy shows negative links with the other burnout dimensions. Qualitative findings suggest three mechanisms that may intensify burnout in intensive EFL settings: linguistic overload during dense reading, writing, and assessment cycles; translation-driven and test-driven routines that may limit deep processing; and identity threat when capable students underperform and lose confidence in using English for academic work.
The session presents key findings and then translates them into feasible actions. These include entry diagnostics with targeted support, glossed and leveled materials, explicit teaching of academic vocabulary and discourse moves, assessment designs that reduce construct-irrelevant language load, and brief well-being check-ins to support timely referral when needed. Participants leave with ideas that can be implemented in courses, tutoring units, and program planning.

This session presents a strength‑based approach to fostering flourishing in adult ESL classrooms. It draws on theoretical insights and related scholarship on personality‑driven motivation and interpersonal strengths (Maccoby, 2018; Porter, 1976; Scudder, 2021) combined with insights from Cultural Intelligence scholarship (Livermore, 2024), to help educators understand how differing motivational tendencies, in both learners and teachers, can come to bear on classroom interaction, engagement, and the experience of safety.
The objectives of the session are to: (1) increase educators’ awareness of the diverse personality‑based strengths adult ESL learners bring; (2) explore how a teacher’s own motivational patterns and preferred strengths influence classroom dynamics, expectations, and interpretations of learner behaviour; (3) demonstrate how instructional choices can create flourishing conditions across personality types; and (4) equip participants with strategies for recognizing and responding when normal, healthy strengths may unintentionally trigger discomfort or conflict in others.
A brief theoretical synopsis highlights how individuals tend to act from core motivational patterns, including tendencies to be people‑focused, task‑focused, process‑focused, or flexibility‑focused, and how these tendencies come to bear on communication preferences, decision-making, and stress responses. In adult ESL classrooms, this awareness supports asset‑oriented pedagogy by reducing misinterpretation, enhancing relational understanding, and strengthening psychological safety to support flourishing of both learners and teachers.
Workshop activities include analyzing classroom vignettes to identify motivational value patterns and strengths being expressed, and role‑playing teacher responses that promote well-being or de‑escalate emerging tension. Participants will reflect not only on learner strengths, but also on their own natural tendencies, exploring how their “default strengths” influence pacing, feedback style, tolerance for ambiguity, and conflict response. This offers an opportunity to view their own role in the interactional system of the classroom from a strengths-informed perspective and to recognize opportunities for intentional pedagogical choices aligned with a strengths-informed perspective of learner needs.