About TDSIG

Who we are

IATEFL Teacher Development Special Interest Group provides a forum for us to develop our potential as teachers, to cultivate our abilities to navigate the challenges and successes of being a teacher, and to invigorate satisfaction in our ongoing work.

Anyone interested in such developmental issues can share their experiences and learn from the experiences of others. Through such a network, our community seeks to encourage individuals and groups of teachers to undertake activities that focus on personal and professional development.

TDSIG was formed by Adrian Underhill in 1985, and was the first distinct IATEFL SIG.

Our aims:

To enable and encourage all categories of teacher to take more responsibility for professional and personal evolution throughout their careers.
To promote individual and institutional awareness of the importance of teacher development.
To encourage the provision of facilities for teacher development which do not already exist.

TDSIG member benefits

As a TDSIG member you will get:

to be part of an active and committed community of like-minded teaching professionals in over 50 countries
bi-monthly member-only online meet-ups with experts in TDLive
discounted entry to our events, including our annual Web Carnival conference and events in collaboration with other IATEFL Special Interest Groups and other Teaching Associations
opportunities to apply for scholarship(s) to attend IATEFL conference in the UK each year
our annual academic journal, TDAJ
to listen and contribute to Developod, our monthly podcast

What are you waiting for?

For further information about IATEFL and how to join the Teacher Development SIG, contact IATEFL. If you are interested contributing to the TDSIG community with your own TD-related content, contact us.

Become a member today!

Meet the committee

Joint-coordinators

Cecilia Lemos

Meet Cecilia

James Taylor

Meet James

Committee members and projects

Christian Tiplady

Developod

Christian Tiplady has a Diploma and Masters in TESOL (with teacher Education) and for the last 30 years has worked in a variety of areas such as teaching, teacher training, materials writing and management in the ESL and MFL sectors. He currently teaches in various contexts and is a teacher trainer and assessor for Cambridge. Christian started ‘Developod’ the TDSIG podcast in 2018.

Fiona Mauchline

Publications – Ebulletin
TDSIG Live

Fiona Mauchline has been working in EFL for 30 years, and has been involved in TD as both a face-to-face and online trainer for 20. She used to be a DoS and teacher, but is now an author, materials writer, teacher trainer, conference speaker, and blogger. She’s based in Oxford in the UK.

Irene Varela

Scholarships
Social media

Irene Varela has been an EFL teacher for over twenty-five years. In 2012 she was appointed DoS in a local private school in Montevideo, Uruguay. She completed her Trinity Cert TESOL and continued specializing in School Management as well as holding a Certificate in Emotional Intelligence. She is passionate about educational technology so she studied for the ICT Certificate through OEI (Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos). She’s interested in Flipped Learning and PBL using them both in her lessons and motivating teachers to do so. She has been giving workshops for the school’s EFL teachers since 2013. She has also been involved in volunteer teaching and training with young people through different international programmes such as Everything’s Possible (UK) and Adobe Youth Voices. She is currently pursuing her MA in Education via Universidad de Itaca in Mexico.

Helen Slee

Developod
Social Media
Website

Helen Slee is a nonbinary British-Canadian English language teacher who has been teaching English since 2015 to learners of all ages and levels. They have taught online and in multiple countries, including five years in Spain, and have spoken and written about ELT since 2020, and will not stop anytime soon. They are currently completing their DipTESOL, and always looking for professional development opportunities.

Taíza Lombardi

Scholarships
Events

Taíza Lombardi is a teacher and teacher educator based in Brazil. She has been teaching for over 20 years and was a partner in a school for people over 50 years of age where she worked with this demographic for 8 years. She contributed to the Raise Up! materials writing lessons focused on older learners. She is an Michigan ECPE and Cambridge CELTA holder and she has a postgraduate degree in English Language Teaching and Translation from PUC-PR in which she had the chance to specialize in formative assessment. She is Cambridge “Train the Trainer” certified. She is also a Speaking examiner. She is currently teaching one-to-one lessons and, relying on her solid background as a DoS, she’s also working with novice or experienced academic coordinators who wish to improve their skills.

Jake Kimball

Events
TDAJ / Blog

Jake Kimball holds an MSc in educational management in TESOL from Aston University, and his interests include program evaluation and classroom dynamics. In particular, he is interested in classroom management factors impacting Willingness to Communicate (WTC) and demotivation. Taking part in teacher development activities has been a long-time interest. He is an assistant professor of English in the Liberal Arts Department of Semyung University in South Korea.

Gabriela Froes

Developod 50% 50%
TDAJ / Blog 50% 50%

Gabriela Froes is an English teacher and a teacher trainer/educator based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She also works as an English-to-Portuguese translator, and as a speaking examiner for proficiency exams. She has been teaching preparatory courses for exams since 2005. She is part of the editorial team of the BRAZ-TESOL Association magazine, and a founding member of the Voices for LGBTQIA+ SIG. She has a Masters in English Literature and is currently concluding her DipTESOL.

Daniella Luca

Scholarships 50% 50%
Events 50% 50%

Daniella Luca has been an EFL teacher for over 20 years. She has taught in Italy, Spain and France. Currently, she is a language coach at the engineering school CentraleSupélec in France, where she works as an EMI facilitator giving guidance and advice to teachers on designing and developing more effective courses. Her responsibilities at the institution also include assisting administrative and technical staff in enhancing their English language proficiency within the higher education workplace. Daniella loves creating customised educational resources and delivering them in a variety of formats, from blended to entirely online. She is passionate about intercultural communication, inclusivity and digital learning.