Eaquals Online 2026

Ali Nayyeri

Ali Nayyeri is an English language instructor, teacher trainer, and DELTA Module 2 candidate based in Türkiye. He works in university preparatory education and contributes to professional development projects, including workshops on task-based learning, student-centred teaching, AI-supported lesson planning, and assessment. His interests include teacher development, speaking pedagogy, classroom interaction, and practical links between methodology and assessment.

Derya Bingör

Derya Bingör is an English Language Instructor at MEF University. She holds a BA in English

Language Teaching and an MA in Curriculum and Instruction in Educational Sciences from

Marmara University. Her academic and professional interests focus on online teaching, flipped

learning, active learning, curriculum design, and material development.

Dino Music

Dino Mušić has been working in the ESL sector for a number of years and has recently taken up the ADOS position in an Irish ESL school.

Dr. Gabriel Díaz Maggioli

Gabriel Díaz Maggioli is a teacher who applies the lessons learned in the classroom to his roles as teacher educator, researcher and author. He is tenured professor of TESOL Methods at the National Council for Teacher Education and Coordinator and professor in the graduate programs at Institute of Education Universidad ORT Uruguay. He is a former president of IATEFL and the current President Elect of TESOL International Association. His research centres on sociocultural approaches to teacher learning.

Ecem Isbilir

English Language Preparatory Programme Instructor at an EMI university in Turkiye with 11 years of experience teaching A1–B2 levels. I am involved in both formative and summative assessment, as well as material development and adaptation. I hold an MA in ELT and Cambridge DELTA Module 1 and 2 certificates. I also run the Critical Thinking Club, an extracurricular course aligned with course objectives to support students’ academic skill development.

Gemma McDonnell

Gemma has worked as a Young Learner English teacher and coordinator at the British Council Barcelona since 2013. She has contributed to Primary materials development, coordinated Primary levels across Spain, and delivered teacher training. Her MA focused on Young Learner assessment, with particular emphasis on the implementation of the European Language Portfolio, an area she is especially interested in continuing to develop professionally.

Georgia Papamichailidon

Georgia K. Papamichailidou is an award-winning International Education Leader with a diverse background in teaching and teacher training. As a public speaker, Georgia specializes in practical approaches to teaching and coaching managers to thrive in ELT.

Georgia is also a Trustee and the Chair of the Digital Committee at IATEFL, where she leads the monthly IATEFL Live! shows and oversees the planning, organization, and execution of the annual IATEFL Themes conference.

Gillian Fearn

Gillian Fearn is a SEND Coordinator and teacher across four British Council teaching centres in Spain. A Level 7-qualified TESOL professional, she is the lead author of British Council Spain’s Neurodiversity Awareness and Support Guide for Staff. Gillian supports colleagues in developing inclusive practice and regularly delivers training and conference presentations on neurodiversity, SEND, and inclusive education to national and international audiences.

Jane Langley

Jane Langley is the Academic Director at SEDA, leading curriculum innovation, quality assurance, and teacher development

Joanne Margaret Gillespie

Jo Gillespie has worked in ELT since 1995. Originally from New Zealand and now based in Italy, she has a background in international bilingual education and CLIL. With DELTA and an MA in TESOL, Leadership & Management, she is passionate about CPD and helping teachers grow in their practice. She finds joy in being a lifelong learner and loves connecting with teachers across cultures.

Julien Weiss

Titulaire d’un Master M.E.E.F (Métiers de l’Education, de l’Enseignement et de la Formation).

Enseignant FLE et responsable du département de français au sein de l’établissement Prolingua Language Centre.

L’étude des différents procédés de la transposition didactique est au cœur de mes préoccupations quotidiennes.

Katarzyna Elzbieta Stopa

I am an English instructor at MEF University, Istanbul, where I teach in the English Preparatory Programme and the course, Understanding Literature, Understanding Life. With over 14 years of ELT experience in Turkey, my professional interests include learner autonomy, materials design, AI integration in ELT, and the role of authentic texts in language development. I presented at the Eaquals Annual Conference in Berlin in 2026.

Katherine Martinkevich

Katherine Martinkevich is the Teaching Excellence Lead at the British Council English Online. She leads a team of academic managers who support teachers delivering online classes to thousands of adult and young learners around the world.

Katherine lives in Kyiv and is currently working on her dissertation for an MSc in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh.

Lou McLaughlin

Executive Director, Eaquals

Lou is the Executive Director of Eaquals. She was one of the founding members of ELT Ireland, and served on the IATEFL Board of Trustees as the Associates Representative until 2021. Lou holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics, Masters in ELT, DELTA, TESOL Cert. in Leadership & Management and Trinity TESOL Cert. Her special interests are Young Learner teacher training, teacher cognition and management in ELT and she was the co-editor of Children Learning English: From Research to Practice (2015).

Lucie Cotterill

Based in South Italy, Lucie has been in ELT since 2001, and in leadership since 2006.  Now a freelance teacher, trainer, inspector, and consultant, she has formerly worked as an Innovation Director, DoS, Academic Director, and Educational Project Manager. She has taught a range of ages and levels, teaching mainly online now, as well as leading innovation projects, organising the academic content of conferences and managing the recruitment process for academic staff, amongst other things.  She is the DoS Community Coordinator for IH World, tutors on the IH OTTI Academic Management Diploma courses, is a local tutor for DELTA Module 2, a School Inspector, and has been actively involved with IATEFL for several years.

Matthew O’Connell

I am part of the management team for the British Schools of Friuli-Venezia-Giulia in Italy. I also manage mock exams, am the K course (Teens) supervisor. I have been teacher-training here in Italy for the last few years, mostly for Cambridge in State Schools, and I mentor new teachers and regularly carry out in-house CPD sessions for our teaching staff.

Mike Riley

Mike Riley joined NILE as Deputy Director in 2020 after working as Teacher Training Manager at Macmillan Education. He started his teaching career in 2001 working with refugees and asylum seekers. He spent 15 years working as a teacher, director of studies and school director in Milan. His role at NILE involves supporting strategic and organizational management, and training and consultancy.

Naomi Moir

Naomi Moir is a learning and leadership practitioner with 30+ years’ experience working in education and global organisations. Formerly at Oxford University Press, she now works independently, supporting people and teams to build trust, simplify complexity and create the conditions for meaningful connection and effective collaboration. She helps people learn, lead and deliver with clarity, and confidence making it easier and more enjoyable for individuals and teams to get stuff done.

Natalia Bagdavadze

Natalia is an Academic Cluster Lead for Adult Education across the BSWE region, overseeing academic operations in multiple countries. She began as English teacher and worked as teacher trainer internationally, shaping her focus on inclusive academic leadership and teacher development. She holds BA, MA, and PhD in English Language and Literature and completing second MA in Professional Development in Language Education. Cross-cultural experience informs her CPD design and team support.

Özlem Baykan

Özlem Baykan works as an instructor at Özyeğin University School of Languages. She holds BA and MA degrees in ELT, DELTA, and M.Sc. in Educational Administration and Planning. During more than 15 years in ELT, she had various roles such as being a Team Leader and a Level Coordinator in her institution. She also provides service as a CELTA trainer; an EAQUALS Inspector, a CEA Commissioner, and as a committee member of IATEFL LAMSIG.

Peter Brown

Peter Brown is the co-founder and Founder Chair of Eaquals, and the co-founder of AISLi, the Italian quality association. He has been closely involved with the qualitative aspects of language teaching, education, and policy for over forty years.

He initiated several joint projects for ALTE and Eaquals including the accredited European Language Portfolio (ELP) for adults, available in some 20 language versions, as well as the first electronic ELP for adults.

Director of the British School FVG based in Trieste, a language teacher and teacher trainer of many years standing, and a Council of Europe language expert, Peter worked on the Covid impact report with Richard Rossner and Frank Heyworth for the ECML in Graz, and co-wrote the Council of Europe’s Guide to Quality in Language Education with Frank.

Peter currently chairs the international panel of experts who reviewed and revised the Eaquals-ALTE  Language Assessment Professionalisation Programme LAPP English v2.

Robin Foggo

Robin Foggo PhD has been working at MEF University SoFL since 2014 and is the Associate Director for Curriculum and CPD. Prior to MEF University, he worked in a variety of teaching and training contexts in Turkey and the UK. His professional areas of interest are pronunciation, memory, teacher training and curriculum.

Salma Alamassi

Salma Alamassi works as an instructor at ScOLa. She received her BA in English/ French Literature from Alazhar Universityin Gaza/ Palestine in 2006. Before joining Özyeğin University, she worked as an Arabic teacher assistant at public high schools in France and she worked as a French teacher and examiner (DELF A1, A2, and B1) at the French Institute of Gaza. She also worked in Alazhar University as a French lecturer. She’s still a DELF Examiner and corrector at the French Institute of Turkey in Istanbul.

Sama Mirahmadi

Sama Mirahmadi is an experienced English language instructor with a background in EAP, IELTS, TOEFL preparation, and university-level English teaching. She holds a CELTA, an MA in TEFL, is a DELTA Module 2 candidate, and has taught in Türkiye and Iran. Her teaching interests include speaking skills, learner interaction, assessment, drama-based techniques, and student-centred classroom practice.

Shruti Sharma

I am an experienced academic professional and the Director of Studies at Liffey College, Dublin. I have over ten years of experience in English language education in Ireland and have worked in both teaching and academic leadership roles. My background includes curriculum design, staff training, quality assurance, student support, and programme development. I hold the Cambridge DELTA and CELTA qualifications.  I am passionate about communicative teaching, learner engagement, and creating practical learning experiences that connect the classroom with the real world.

Siavash Bakhtshirin

Siavash Bakhtshirin is the Academic Coordinator at Istanbul Nişantaşı University’s Foreign Languages Department. CELTA- and DELTA-qualified, with nearly 20 years of ELT experience, he works on CEFR-aligned curriculum design, assessment, and academic quality assurance. As a certified teacher trainer, his main interests include mentoring, CPD, and practical leadership in LTOs, with a growing research interest in mentoring, innovation in leadership, and the role of AI in teaching, learning, and management.

Thom Kiddle

Thom is Director of Eaquals member Norwich Institute for Language Education (NILE) and Chair of Eaquals.

Vladlena Tcherkachina

Vladlena Tcherkachina, the Director of MEF University SoFL, has been actively involved in ELT management and teaching since 2010. Her professional interests encompass leadership, motivational management, staff well-being, effective utilization of technology, effective observation feedback, online teaching, Flipped learning and continuous professional development.

Züleyha Tulay

Züleyha Tulay holds an MA in TESOL and is an English language instructor at Sabancı University, İstanbul, Türkiye. A certified AI in English Language Teaching Project (AIETP) trainer and collaborator at the AIEOU Human-Centred Education and Human Flourishing Collab Lab (University of Oxford), her research spans teacher education, learning technologies, and CPD. Her current work explores the design conditions that distinguish transformative AI professional development from surface-level tool training.