Call for Proposals

Call for Proposals: Teacher Journeys 2021

In 2020, the spread of the novel coronavirus has led to the imposition of social distancing, including the closure of schools, and introduced many teachers to a new concept: Emergency Remote Teaching, upending syllabuses, forcing the learning of new skills, and complicating the nature of the classroom and student-teacher relationships. This year, we hope to continue reflecting on the professional journeys of teachers through the pandemic, as well as to look forward to how we might all come out as stronger and more adaptable educators.

We invite any teacher to submit a proposal for a pre-recorded video presentation, 5 to 20 minutes in length, sharing their experience of teaching in these circumstances. We encourage presenters to focus on teaching during the pandemic, but welcome proposals on other features of teaching practice. Proposals can be submitted by individuals, pairs or groups. We encourage presentations around the broad theme of teacher journeys, including the presenter’s own journey, those of students or classes, or other teachers in or out of Japan. The purpose of this conference is to spark new conversations about becoming and being a teacher in the fullest perspective.

Proposals should be for pre-recorded videos of 5 to 20 minutes in length and be 250 words or less. Proposals should be submitted to the conference registration page. We are open to various types of video styles, as long as the focus is a narrative. Video styles should be mentioned in your abstract. (voiceover of a slideshow presentation, pair or group discussion on zoom, single “talking head”, etc...)

There will be a rolling vetting process for proposals from May through August 15. Videos will be posted on the conference site through September. If it is useful, please refer to featured videos from last year's conference when preparing your proposals.

Finally, we would like to invite all accepted presenters to submit a written version of their talk for a special issue of Explorations in Teacher Development to be published in 2022.