TESOL France: Gabriel Diaz Maggioli on effecting change

The thrust of the opening plenary from Gabriel Diaz Maggioli was neatly summed up in his title, 'Change is Good: You go first'. In other words, while most teachers will agree that there is room for improvement or change, it's easier said than done. Gabriel stresses that teachers require adaptive expertise - the ability to constantly self-reinvent, and yet in reality we tend to be a deeply conservative bunch. It's relatively easy to convince teachers to accept new ideas, but much more difficult to persuade them/us to drop our old ones.

Gabriel went on to propose ten tips to help teacher educators effect change. These included things like leading by example, not holding yourself above the people you are working with, measuring results and celebrating success.

Gabriel gave the impression of being a power-house of positive energy who has been able to put into practice the message of this plenary in his native Uruguay.