Nakasendo conference description: Who are we?

Nakasendo is an ever-expanding, multi-organizational English conference based on mutual support and collaboration. Inaugurated in 2008, it is both an annual event as well as a year-round cooperative online exchange. Our specific aims include:

1) helping teachers gain awareness of what is happening at all levels of English education, not just their own

2) supporting young teachers’ organizations that have proven dynamic and innovative in our field

3) improving relations and exchange opportunities between Japanese and foreign teachers of English

Nakasendo 2010 Conference

Nakasendo 2010 will be held this year on Sunday, June 20th at Tokyo Kasei University. This year's theme, Teachers as Learners, Learners as Teachers, offers another engaging day of insightful presentations and collaborative sharing.

This year's conference will be our biggest yet and in addition to our line-up of presenters from participating organizations and our second annual materials swap, we are delighted to host for the first time two featured speakers - Marcos Benevides of J.F. Oberlin University and Dr. Masaki Kobayashi of the Kanda University of International Studies. Nakasendo 2010 promises to be exciting, uplifting, and professionally fulfilling, keynoted by two emerging figures of TEFL in Japan.

2010 Conference Theme

The theme for the 2010 conference is Teachers as Learners, Learners as Teachers. It seeks out the learning experiences of teachers themselves, including their L2 learning experiences, and what impact such experiences have had on teachers' approaches and beliefs about L2 instruction. It also seeks out the ways teachers develop professionally.

As Pertor (2003) says, "teachers have two jobs: teaching, and learning to teach better."

The 2010 conference also seeks out the learning experiences of L2 English learners, the learning strategies they employ, and the role of teaching in their L2 learning, whether it be in the form of peer tutoring, project collaboration, presentations, or any other way they assume the teacher's role, including teaching their teachers in various ways. Through this theme, we aim to further develop a body of research about L2 learning "from the inside." We hope that even greater empathy for L2 learners and the value of L2 learning for teachers themselves may emerge as an outcome.

CUE SIG is a co-sponsor of this event. For more information, please click on the above links or visit the conference web page at http://jalt.org/chapters/omiya/nakasendo2010/.