ESD Students and Dr Paschalia Patsala on the stage of the 23rd TESOL Macedonia-Thrace Convention in an inspiring performance!

A group of Level-2 students in the BA in English Language and Linguistics Programme—Alexandros Agathangelidis, Maria Gourmou, Evanthia Kanonidou, Iro Sapouna, Despina Sarantidou and Persefoni Tyfliori—together with Dr. Paschalia Patsala, Head of the English Studies Dept., passionately delivered a presentation at the 23^rd TESOL Macedonia-Thrace Northern Greece International Convention, held on 26-27 March at the American College of Thessaloniki.

The team presentation was entitled “Aspiring to inspire! From teaching to … educating” and covered a wide range of ELT topics. Founded on the distinction between teaching and educating, the presentation aimed at presenting the attributes of an inspiring EFL teacher, as well as raising participants’ awareness of the barriers that could impede inspirational teaching. Hoping to motivate Foreign Language teachers and their learners, the team shared various innovative ideas and suggested practical techniques that can actively contribute to inspiring teaching practices.

The most positive outcome though of this presentation was that students with different educational backgrounds, diverse experiences and future aspirations, joined forces and created a memorable presentation! This presentation would have not been so exciting without the support and ideas of Mr. Thanos Hatziapostolou, Senior Lecturer of the Computer Science Dept., whose contribution proved to be valuable!

“This will be an unforgettable experience for us! We combined our studies with professional development and not only did we bond as classmates, but we felt new professional pathways opened up for us as well. We would definitely do it again!”