Member Event Fund Report- AKCENT International House Prague

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‘Great venue, thought-provoking ambiance, excellent speakers, enthusiastic and responsive audience – such was the 15th edition of AKCENT IH Prague annual teacher training conference. Our most heartfelt thanks to all that helped to make the conference happen and looking forward to the next edition.’

The 15th edition of AKCENT IH Prague professional development conference took place on Saturday 18/02/2017 at Duhovka High School. It welcomed 230 international participants, teachers and other language professionals from elementary, secondary and language schools.

Plenary speakers Jamie Keddie and Joanna Stirling hosted sessions in the morning and afternoon respectively. In addition, a series of workshops ran throughout the entire day. The large conference hall hosted the plenaries with a further 10 classrooms holding workshops simultaneously. A total of 37 workshops took place, conducted in English, German, Spanish, Czech and French and covering various topics ranging from general professional development, teacher training and linguistic issues to topics like CLIL or Montessori methodology in TEFL. Partner stands including publishing houses and specialist bookshops, displayed their latest materials throughout the day, which was greatly appreciated by the participants.

The main aim of the conference was to provide a good quality yet affordable professional development opportunity to teachers and other language teaching professionals from Prague and other regions of the Czech Republic. Thanks to the accreditation by the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, teachers from public schools may use the certificate of attendance to prove their active professional development efforts as part of their FEPS (Further Education of Pedagogical Staff) scheme. Participants especially appreciated the practical aspect of the conference – the workshops and plenaries provided them with a wide range of ready-to-use teaching activities and advanced tips on ways to boost their teaching skills and improve their teaching performance. There were also plenty of opportunities for networking, both formal and informal, bringing together language professionals with various backgrounds and working contexts.