Addressing language teacher professional learning needs: An evaluation of the the AFMLTA national conference, Canberra 2013

The 19th biennial AFMLTA National Languages Conference was held in Canberra in July 2013. The conference, along with other professional learning activities conduced at a local level and for individual languages, aims to provide teachers of languages with the opportunity to work toward the professional learning outcomes outlined in the AITSL Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, and its Charter for professional learning of teachers and school leaders. These documents highlight three characteristics of professional learning: being relevant, collaborative and future focussed. This paper reports on the evaluation conducted after the Canberra conference and compares the findings for that conference with the previous conference in Darwin in 2011. It reviews the contemporary research on the value of conference attendance for professional learning, and the ongoing work of the AFMLTA in supporting the professional learning of language teachers nationally, and across languages. The paper reflects on the extent to which a national, cross-language forum for professional learning such as the biennial national conference of the AFMLTA meets the expectations of teachers, and of the AITSL standards and charter. We address its relevance to language teacher's needs, its potential for collaboration, and its future-focus, in bringing together both contemporary theories of language learning and current best practices in school languages policy, teaching and assessment. Issues arising from the recent evaluation are discussed as a way forward in planning future conferences and other professional learning.