So, here I am, at my first language conference. How exciting it is to be an attendee, learning in the flesh from the researchers whose work I’ve been reading all year. I chose to be a student spy, so to speak, and I attended the colloquium “Innovations in Language Teacher Education” presented by Tammy Gregersen, Peter Macintyre, Elaine Horwitz, Tim Murphey, Andrew Cohen, Rebecca Oxford and Sarah Mercer.

I choose to focus on the discussion part of the presentations because that is what affected me the most as a language teacher-in-training. Mercer, as discussant, pointed out that Innovation (my capital) is like research-we notice a gap and then seek to investigate that gap. Innovating is a way to investigate a need in teaching. I feel like a researcher in my own right when I’m trying to innovate in my classes–but as Mercer reminded us, innovation never comes out of thin air. As educators we are building on an existing foundation. Gregersen also echoed this when she mentioned that we wiggle the innovation in at times–we couldn’t completely introduce something new because stakeholder buy in is so important. So we innovate the familiar.

What I especially appreciated was Murphey’s observation that he and his colleagues “were here because [they] want to be better teachers.” It is inspiring to see teachers that have been doing this for so many years still want to learn and improve upon how they reach students. The presenters also humbly recognized their need to provide language teacher trainees with both structure and a learner-centered space, putting into practice the learner-centeredness that many language teacher educators are always preaching. Not that I needed it, but it really reaffirmed my career choice, and it felt so inspiring to be part of such a field that really encourages a humanist approach to language learning.