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National Geographic Learning Conference 2022
The preceding two and a half years have confirmed how interconnected, complex, and volatile the world can be. The role of an educator has become more challenging -- and more critical -- than ever before.
How do we empower learners who are 'future ready'? How do we address the need for social and emotional learning? How can we create environments that drive engagement and foster positive academic outcomes in English?
National Geographic Learning invites you to imagine the future of learning and teaching at the National Geographic Learning Conference 2022, November 4-6, at the Intercontinental Long Beach Resort in Phu Quoc, Vietnam.
At the conference, you will:
Rethink how educators can best prepare learners for school, work, and life while building resilience and delivering better outcomes.
Reconnect with like-minded professionals making a difference in Vietnam to understand the latest updates and policy changes.
Revitalize by applying new concepts immediately and gaining inspiration from innovative projects of National Geographic Explorers at a beautiful venue in a relaxed location.
Speakers
Chia Suan Chong is a writer, communication skills trainer and a teacher trainer. She is the author of Successful International Communication, where she presented her ADAPT model as a framework for dealing with intercultural conflict. Delivering both online and face-to-face training to teachers and learners around the globe, Chia specializes in interactive workshops that encourage reflection for more effective international communication and improved collaboration. Currently based in York, Chia was English Teaching Professional’s award-winning resident blogger between 2012 and 2019. She developed and co-wrote the Pearson ELTD – an online teacher training course, has contributed extensively to the British Council Learn English website and holds a DELTA and a Masters in Applied Linguistics and ELT. Chia is a co-author for VOICES, an integrated series by National Geographic Learning for adult learners of English.
CHIA SUAN CHONG
Presentations
01
Speaking Up: Rethinking Learner Identity
CHIA SUAN CHONG
For many students, English is a tool for international communication. Students will need to mediate interactions with people from different cultural backgrounds, while accommodating, adapting, and accurately interpreting other people, all in a 2nd language. But how much ownership do they feel of English? How confident do they feel about speaking up in a group setting? Are they able to express their identity in a conflict situation? This talk explores the importance of helping students develop their relationship with English and considers the strategies and the practical activities we can use to help students make English their own.
02
Revisiting the National English Language Curriculum: What have we Learned?
DR. PHAM THI HONG NHUNG
The new national general education curriculum of Vietnam was introduced in 2018. Launching an innovative educational plan nationwide is challenging in itself, but the global outbreak of covid 19 made it even more difficult for all stakeholders during the very first years of implementing the new curriculum. However, it has also provided unparalleled opportunities for lessons that would not have been gained without such a large-scale, disruptive experience. This talk reviews major aspects of the new national English language curriculum of Vietnam. Using research on the teacher’s experience, this presentation addresses what teachers and stakeholders did, to cope with the curriculum and keep it alive and in use. We will see how teachers gained unique lessons and grew professionally and personally through this extended time of uncertainty. Finally, implications on what the curriculum does well and what should be included are also made.
03
The Art of Storytelling in Conservation
SANDESH KADUR
Sandesh in Hindi means 'message'. True to his name, Sandesh Kadur uses his photographic skills to narrate stories and helps propagate the message of wildlife conservation to a larger audience. A wildlife biologist by training, Kadur is a highly acclaimed filmmaker and has been bestowed with both national and international awards for his films. His first documentary, Sahyadris: Mountains of the Monsoon (2002), which was accompanied by his first book, earned critical acclaim while drawing attention to one of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots and helped convince UNESCO to name the Western Ghats a World Heritage Site in 2012. Sandesh hopes that his photographs and documentaries will reveal places and species people rarely see and will inspire new passion to protect them. “I help people connect emotionally with the beauty of the wilderness, bring conservation issues to light, and raise awareness in a way that fosters respect and concern. I also try to make powerful graphic images that expose how much we are losing.”
04
A Titanic Challenge! Building Creative Thinking Skills in the Language Classroom
SEAN BERMINGHAM AND CHRISTOPHER STREET
One of the most important skills for the future workplace will be the ability to creatively solve problems. Creative thinking has also been established as one of the essential 4C skills of 21st Century learning, with Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Communication. So what does it actually mean to be “creative”? What skills are important for creative problem-solving? And how can we incorporate those skills in an English language classroom? In this interactive session, we will examine how authentic stories and images—including real-life case-studies from National Geographic Explorers—can provide an effective stimulus for creative problem-solving. As an example scenario, we will embark together on a deep-sea journey 4,000 meters below the ocean surface, to solve a real-life challenge at the wreck of the Titanic!
05
Vietnam as a Learning Society
K DAVID HARRISON
As an educator who recently relocated to Hanoi, I have come to appreciate the ways that knowledge is structured and respected in Vietnamese society. I am continuing research that I carried out for many years as a National Geographic explorer, working with ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands to help preserve their environmental intelligence, which is passed on orally. Also, as a professor at newly-founded Vin University, I experience on a daily basis the Vietnamese cultural values that pertain to learning, and that support Vietnam's aspiration to become a "learning society" as well as a talent and technology hub. In this session, I will review why I came to Vietnam to join a new start-up university of excellence, and how the projects we are working on might shape the future of English learning in Vietnam.
Agenda
Hotel
TRAVEL INFORMATION
Accommodation
During the conference, guests will be staying at the InterContinental Phu Quoc Long Beach Resort. A two-night reservation will be made under each guest’s name at the hotel from November 4 to 6, 2022. Reservations include a single room and all meals. Learn more about the InterContinental Long Beach Resort.
Extra Services
Accommodation, group meals and travel to the hotel are all covered. Extra services such as telephone calls, consumable items from the minibar, laundry, room service, spa, prepaid movies, and beverages will be charged to guests’ personal accounts, and each guest will be responsible for payment upon checkout.
Check-In and Check-Out
Check-in time is any time after 2:00 p.m. on Friday, November 4, 2022
Check-out is at noon on Sunday, November 6, 2022. Latest by 1:00 p.m.
A National Geographic Learning representative will be at the lobby from 10:00 a.m. onward to assist you with check-in and any other inquiries about the event as well as hotel amenities.
Airport Transfer on Arrival - Friday, November 4, 2022
We have arranged for free transportation from the airport to the InterContinental Phu Quoc Long Beach Resort. Specific details will be shared with you by our local team a few weeks before the conference.