This is an updated and shortened version of a previous blog - Behind the scenes at the IATEFL blog, posted on 28 October 2017 by Sandy Millin
After three years, the IATEFL blog has been renamed, and changed its appearance together with the whole IATEFL website. Still, its aims remain the same. Views is a space where IATEFL members can share their impressions and thoughts, report on events that strike a chord, give information on something in our profession that is worth exploring and disseminating. It’s a mosaic of pieces of news that show the diversity and international nature of our Association. A young teacher eagerly discovering teaching may have as much to say here as ELT veterans who may want to question some of the practices they have used in their long careers. A member of a teachers’ association may want to share what their organisation does particularly well, or to challenge some stereotypes about their country. Perhaps someone from a Special Interest Group could explain their volunteering practices, or why they chose to volunteer for that particular SIG. How did our conference, for example, lead to changes in the lives of first-time attendees? Scholarship winners could write about their impressions of the conference, and what changes it brought to their teaching. Making Views varied and international will help members see what it is like to share the same profession but work in a completely different way in another part of the world. IATEFL can only make our Views varied and all-inclusive if we publish contributions from a wide range of our members.
The guidelines are fairly simple and straightforward:
- Posts should not be longer than 1,000 words.
- They should include the contributor’s photo and a short bio; just like the current blog posts.
- Instead of including images in the text, please send them separately, but don’t forget to label them clearly, e.g. Image 1, Image 2, etc. State clearly in your text where you would like the images to appear, e.g. “Image 1 here”. Don’t forget to quote the source of your images, so that they can be credited appropriately. Bear in mind that posts with images tend to be shared more.
- If possible, each post should include a link to a resource with more information. For example, here’s a link to guidelines and further ideas.
What happens when you submit your contribution?
Three IATEFL committees are involved in running Views, each represented by one volunteer: Syke Annamma Kumaran of the Digital Committee: [email protected], Rakesh Bhanot of the Publications Committee and Mojca Belak of Membership and Marketing Committee: [email protected]. All three of us are always on the lookout for contributors and encourage fellow members to write for Views.
When we receive a contribution at one of the email addresses above, we cooperate with author/s and suggest changes/improvements/clarification, etc. Where necessary, we ‘tweak’ the blog post to make it consistent with the Views style. When an article is ready for publication, Syke sends it to IATEFL Head Office where it is uploaded, and Syke informs the IATEFL community via our social media links.
However…
There is an important condition that all contributors to Views have to meet: they need to be an IATEFL member. This is checked before any work is done on any blog post. If you are thinking of writing a blog post, or would like us to clarify something, please write to us.
We look forward to hearing from you,
Mojca, Rakesh and Syke
About Mojca
Mojca Belak is Chair of IATEFL Membership and Marketing Committee and a longstanding IATEFL member. She teaches English at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, and likes running, trees, the cliffs on the south coast of England and a small tourist resort called Whitstable.
Contribute to the blog
If you are a member of IATEFL and would like to contribute to our blog, Views, we’d love to hear from you at [email protected] or [email protected]. We’re looking for stories from our members, news about projects you’ve been involved in, and anything else you think those connected to English language teaching would be interested in reading. We look forward to hearing from you! If you’re not a member, why not join us?