Lots of us in the EFL/TESOL world give talks for love rather than money. So I found it interesting to come across an organisation with a rather more ‘high end’ approach. I found the web site of Speakers’ Corner, an international speaker consultation and booking Service.

The web site says,

“In a time when governments around the world are pushing legislation for equality in the boardroom, and when business, politics, sport, the media and the arts are increasingly influenced by men and women equally, corporate clients are often searching for an inspirational, powerful and successful woman to demonstrate that the […]

Good news! Sandi Toksvig, the well known Danish writer, comedian and broadcaster has set up a brand new political party in the UK. It is called The Women’s Equality Party.
You can find out more on Facebook or, if you would rather, by typing this into your browser search box: https://womensequality.org.uk.

Here are a few quotes from the WEP web site:

About Women’s Equality Party
Equality for women isn’t a women’s issue. When women fulfill their potential, everyone benefits. Equality means better politics, a more vibrant economy, a workforce that draws on the talents of the whole population and a society at ease with […]

I have just got back from the IATEFL conference in Manchester, UK where we held our third awards ceremony. While people were arriving, early birds set about blowing up balloons, preparing paper streamers and gathering the names and addresses of those attending. We then kicked off with a short history of the list. This year, for example, saw the creation and archiving of a webinar especially prepared to support women thinking of giving a plenary or keynote speech for the very first time. I gave thanks and a gift (courtesy of NILE. Thanks NILE!) to the four people who made […]

We are used to the idea of films being rated according to the levels of bad language, violence and nudity that they contain.
Now cinemas in Sweden have introduced a new rating based on the criterion of the inclusion in a film of properly-rounded female characters.

To be awarded an ‘A’ rating for gender equality films must pass the Bechdel Test. This test was established by the American cartoonist Alison Bechdel. Different versions of the test require at least two (named?) female characters to have a conversation (for longer than 60 seconds?) about something other than a man, (and without a man […]

Along with celebrating current successes, as in our last blog post, it’s important to ensure that the future for women ELT plenary speakers is rosy. So, when I heard about an initiative in Poland on a recent visit, I asked Ania Kolbuszewska to be our next Guest Blogger so her idea could be shared. Here she is!

To say that EFL in Poland is a profession dominated by women is a platitude. On a teacher training course I was recently involved in planning and delivering, only three out of nearly 40 participants were men. The course was organised with EU financial […]

The Second One:

Seeing The Fair List nominated for an award at the British Council ELTons on the evening of May 22nd 2014, reminded me of the influence that this project has had on me as a conference organiser.

I am Shaun Wilden and am the one who is responsible for putting together the programme for the International House World Director of Studies Conference held every January in London. It’s not a huge conference in terms of numbers but one that has always aimed to offer the participants a set of thought-provoking plenaries.

In January 2013, we invited Tessa Woodward […]

The First One:

The MaWSIG (Materials Writing Special Interest Group) is the newest addition to the International Association for Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) family of SIGs. The SIG is for anyone involved in or interested in writing materials for ELT, both published writers, would be published writers or teachers writing materials for their own institutions or classes.
The IATEFL conference in Harrogate, UK in 2014 marked our first anniversary and gave us an opportunity to look back at what we had achieved in the first year.
Our first face to face event was held in Oxford in January, […]

1. Awards for The Fair List, UK 2013 announced!
I have just got back from the IATEFL conference in Harrogate, UK where we held our second ever awards ceremony, complete with balloons, streamers and certificates. (Please see the History page for those on the list of organisers of balanced events for last year!)

At the awards event, after celebrating the people on the list, the group stayed on to explore a time line of positive events in civil rights for women in the UK over the last 100 years or so. As people wanted to have their own copies of the […]

Thanks to Sandie Morao, I realised that on this blog I should have a ‘blog roll’.
First of all, I had to learn what one was!

According to Susan Gunelius…

A blogroll is a list of links to other blogs that someone writing their own blog likes. Some bloggers divide their blogrolls into categories. An example might be a blogger who writes about cats. She could divide her blogroll up into categories for links to other blogs about cats and links to other blogs she likes about unrelated topics. The blogroll can be set up […]