Upcoming CPD Opportunities Spring 2026
Upcoming CPD Opportunities: Spring 2026
Spring is springing again here in the northern hemisphere, and with the change of seasons comes the new blogpost with the latest batch of (mostly free and online) CPD opportunities. I’ve been posting these seasonal summaries for over three years now! If you look back at post from previous years, there’s not very much to see, as I delete events after they have happened. However, I have saved the original (full) posts and it’s remarkable how they serve as snapshots of the zeitgeist and hot topics in ELT at the time.
Looking forward to this season, it is clear that everything AI continues to assert its dominance, but the human side – in particular, diversity, equity, belonging and inclusion – are right up there with it!
As usual, please let me know in the comments if I’ve missed anything.
And hope to see some of you in TESOL-SPAIN in March, and IATEFL in April!
Jessica
TITLE: Adapting ELT resources
PRESENTER: Leonardo Marinho Dias Lima, Omar Habbaz, Wissal Ben Rhouma, Stavroula Bagia and Elena Orlandi
DATES & TIMES: Friday 15th May, 2026 - 13.00–16.30 (UK time)
LANGUAGE: English
ORGANISED BY: British Council
TYPE OF EVENT: Free online event
SUMMARY
This month the British Council continues their webinar series on practical approaches for your teaching context. The first session explores how to adapt teaching resources so that they are relevant and engaging for your learners. We will explore personalisation and simple ways to connect classroom learning to real-world experiences. The second session focuses on some of the challenges of teaching large, mixed-ability classes and offers strategies to ensure all learners are challenged, supported and engaged – whatever their level. Finally, expert teachers will share activities and advice for adapting teaching materials for their learners.
Session 1: Personalising your materials
Speaker: Leonardo Marinho Dias Lima
Time and date: 13.00–14.00 (UK time) Friday 15 May 2026
Do you ever find that published materials do not quite fit your learners' lives, interests or learning goals? In this webinar you will learn how to creatively adapt existing materials using a simple, three-step framework: Connect, Adapt, Empower. You will learn how to connect activities to learners' real-world contexts, adapt content to be more inclusive or challenging, and use simple digital tools to personalise. Leave with practical ideas to make your teaching more responsive, relevant, and impactful for the unique individuals in your classrooms. This webinar is suitable for teachers of secondary learners.
Session 2: Strategies for diverse classrooms
Speaker: Omar Habbaz
Time and date: 14.15–15.15 (UK time) Friday 15 May 2026
Every classroom contains a diverse range of learners. Some race through tasks quickly, while others need more time. Some love group discussion, while others prefer to work quietly on their own. This interactive webinar shares practical ways to move beyond 'teaching to the middle' and create an inclusive learning environment. You will learn how to provide scaffolding for learners who need more support, and how meaningful challenge can be added for those who are ready. This webinar is suitable for teachers of upper primary and secondary learners.
Session 3: Teachers share: How do we adapt our materials?
Speakers: Wissal Ben Rhouma, Stavroula Bagia and Elena Orlandi
Time and date: 15.30–16.30 (UK time) Friday 15 May 2026
Three expert teachers from around the world share activities and advice for tailoring lesson materials to their learners and their teaching context.
TITLE: TTEdSIG- A New Trainer Toolkit: the 'What' and a Few 'Hows'
PRESENTER: Jacqueline Douglas
DATES & TIMES: Saturday, 16th May, 2026 12:00 (UK time)
LANGUAGE: English
ORGANISED BY: IATEFL TTEdSIG
TYPE OF EVENT: Free Webinar
SUMMARY
If you've recently become a trainer or are on the threshold of a training role, this webinar is for you. We'll consider the nature of training, compared to teacher education and development, and explore types of training courses. Then there will be input on planning and delivery of a training session, concluding with tailored guidance through Q&A.
TITLE: Accent for Listeners
PRESENTER: Mark Hancock
DATES & TIMES: Sunday, May 17th – 17:00 (UK time)
LANGUAGE: English
ORGANISED BY: Hancock McDonald ELT
TYPE OF EVENT: Free Webinar
SUMMARY
In this free webinar, I’m talking about accent in ELT: what we need to know and why. I will also show how we can help learners to understand accent variation in a practical, classroom-friendly way.
TITLE: Lesson design: what makes a successful lesson?
PRESENTER: Scott Thornbury
DATES & TIMES: Tuesday, 19th May 2026 - 10:00 (GMT+1) & Thursday, 21st May 2026 - 16:00 (GMT+1)
LANGUAGE: English
ORGANISED BY: Cambridge University Press & Assessment
TYPE OF EVENT: Free Webinar
SUMMARY
Planning a language lesson typically involves identifying a linguistic aim (a ‘teaching point’) and organising a sequence of activities to achieve this outcome. But how realistic is this? Do learners really learn what we set out to teach? And does this approach accommodate the diversity of needs and abilities typical of every classroom? In this webinar we will suggest ways that planning can maximise learning opportunities, rather than limit them. The session is designed for teachers working with learners of all levels and ages.
TITLE: Towards a synergetic perspective on e-portfolio assessment applications
PRESENTER: Ricky Lam
DATES & TIMES: Tuesday, 19th May, 2026 – 13:30 (UK time)
LANGUAGE: English
ORGANISED BY: IATEFL TEASIG
TYPE OF EVENT: Free Webinar
SUMMARY
The principal aim of this webinar is to disseminate e-Portfolio applications as an alternative language assessment method to a wider teacher community. The webinar first introduces two fundamental assessment types with their accompanying paradigms, followed by a discussion on three dominant assessment purposes. Second, it examines the pros and cons of e-Portfolio assessment, particularly in a second language (L2) instructional context. Third, it reviews how and to what extent e-Portfolios fulfil formative and summative assessment purposes with practical classroom-based assessment strategies. Lastly, the talk proposes how teachers can align language teaching, learning and assessment via e-Portfolios. The audience members are invited to share comments and raise questions near the end of the event.
TITLE: Planning for Success: Designing Effective Young Learner Lessons
PRESENTER: Mona Hassanein
DATES & TIMES: Wednesday, 20th May – 16:00 (UK time)
LANGUAGE: English
ORGANISED BY: Trinity College London
TYPE OF EVENT: Free Webinar
SUMMARY
This interactive webinar explores the key aspects of effective lesson planning for young learners, with a focus on promoting equal learning opportunities in today’s diverse classrooms. Participants will discover practical strategies to create engaging, inclusive lessons that ensure successful learning outcomes for every child.
TITLE: Narrative self-observation: A practical toolkit for teacher educators
PRESENTER: Jason Anderson
DATES & TIMES: Thursday 21st May, 2026 - 12.00 – 13.15 (UK time)
LANGUAGE: English
ORGANISED BY: British Council
TYPE OF EVENT: Free Webinar
SUMMARY
Teacher retention remains a pressing challenge in many education systems worldwide. Drawing on research-informed knowledge about teachers’ work and lives over the last two decades, this webinar will share fresh insights into the significance of school organisation in retaining teachers. Join us to find out how and why so many teachers are able to remain committed and passionate about making a difference in their classrooms despite working with similar policy, structural and practical challenges that face many schools globally.
TITLE: Working Responsively: Emergent Language in ESOL Classrooms
PRESENTER: Sam Shepherd
DATES & TIMES: Thursday, 21st May 2026 – 18:00 (UK time)
LANGUAGE: English
ORGANISED BY: IATEFL ESOL SIG
TYPE OF EVENT: Free Webinar
SUMMARY
This workshop explores the concept of emergent language and the process curriculum in ESOL. We will first explore how to create classroom conditions that allow language to emerge, and how best we can work with that to make a cohesive and workable course. Then we will share strategies for recognising, valuing and extending learner-generated language in a structured and purposeful way, before finally picking up some of the issues around using such an approach in conjunction with exam preparation and with very low level language learners.
TITLE: You, the editor: Avoiding common task design pitfalls
PRESENTER: Luiz Otávio Barros
DATES & TIMES: Tuesday, 26th May – 13:00 (UK time)
LANGUAGE: English
ORGANISED BY: IATEFL Materials Writing SIG
TYPE OF EVENT: Free Webinar
SUMMARY
Designing language learning tasks is not just about creativity; it also means following certain principles that are rarely addressed in teacher training courses. Since many of these principles only become clear through feedback from others, I’ll share some of the editorial feedback I’ve received over the years to show how to recognize and avoid common task-design pitfalls. With examples from different proficiency levels, I’ll demonstrate how small tweaks in wording, sequencing, or layout can make a big difference in learning outcomes.
Participants will take on the role of editor as we look at flawed samples (including some generated by AI!), try to spot the problems, and discuss possible fixes. They will leave the session with a checklist of red flags and some practical self-editing strategies they can use when creating their own materials.
TITLE: “AI is always right… until it isn’t” A spotlight on responsible AI integration in ELT
PRESENTERS: Vicky Saumell and Belén Albarracín
DATES & TIMES: Thursday, 28th May – 18:00 (GMT)
LANGUAGE: English
ORGANISED BY: Modern English Teacher
TYPE OF EVENT: Free Webinar
SUMMARY
Discussions around Artificial Intelligence (AI) are everywhere, and are therefore inevitably on the minds of teachers and materials alike. But as many of us will freely admit, it’s easy to feel confused, overwhelmed, and even exasperated by the hype, the rapid new developments and the explosion of information that we face. With GenAI already making its way into language classrooms at all levels, a sustainable and responsible approach to AI integration is a must.
In this webinar, Vicky and Belén will first go over the challenges they have identified: biases, imprecisions, hallucinations, environmental impact, multilingual representation, safety and copyright, among others. They will then propose strategies and practical tasks to address these issues in a guided and responsible way for different contexts and age groups.
By the end of the session, you will have gained knowledge of the issues surrounding GenAI and leave with a practical toolkit to manage AI integration more confidently
TITLE: Africa ELTA International Conference
PRESENTERS: Various (See programme)
DATES & TIMES: Friday 29th – Sunday 31st May 2026
LANGUAGE: English
ORGANISED BY: Africa ELTA
TYPE OF EVENT: Face-to-face conference, Nairobi, Kenya
SUMMARY
Save the Date! The 10th Africa ELTA Conference is coming to Kenya
Zetech University, Mang’u Campus, 29–31 May 2026
Theme: ELT in Africa: Carving a Way Forward
Stay tuned for the Call for Speaker Proposals, coming soon!
hashtag#AfricaELTA2026
Registration/Info tbc
TITLE: Developing Larger Identities and Roles as an EOP Professional
PRESENTER: Anne Lomperis
DATES & TIMES: Friday, 29th May 2026 – 14:00 (UK time)
LANGUAGE: English
ORGANISED BY: IATEFL ESPSIG
TYPE OF EVENT: Free Webinar
SUMMARY
A framework for EOP (English for Occupational Purposes) is discussed that focuses on three levels of assessing need. These levels correlate to larger identities and roles that make the EOP professional more effective in providing services. The first level is Economic Needs Assessment (ENA) to align EOP with national level economic development policies and priorities. The second level is Organizational Needs Assessment (ONA) at the level of industry sector corporation down to entrepreneur. ONA addresses organizational pain and costs due to low proficiency in EOP. It also analyzes the best program delivery and use of technology. The third level is Instructional Needs Assessment (INA) to provide a direct EOP program at the individual client level. INA is based on collaboration with industry experts to customize curricula to job task improvement, workforce integration, and regulatory compliance. Case studies illustrate issues at each of these levels. Participant input is sought.
PRESENTERS: Various
DATES & TIMES: Saturday, 30th May, 2026 starting at 9:30 (UK time)
LANGUAGE: English
ORGANISED BY: IATEFL LT SIG
TYPE OF EVENT: Free online event
SUMMARY
We are pleased to announce an upcoming online conference in collaboration with TESOL Simple Education (Vietnam), titled Rethinking and Redefining LT in ELT (Learning Technologies in English Language Teaching), taking place on 30 May at 9:30 am (UK time). This event will bring together educators and researchers from around the world to explore innovative perspectives on learning technologies, share current practices, and reflect on how digital tools are reshaping English language teaching in meaningful and sustainable ways.
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