Centre for English Language Teaching, University of Western Australia

NEAS congratulates the University of Western Australia Centre for English Language Teaching​​​​​​​ on completing a Premium Product Quality Review of their Academic English and Study Skills Bridging Course. 

NEAS has reviewed aspects of the Bridging Course using Quality Area K of the NEAS Quality Assurance Framework. The Quality Principles of Area K focus on these features of the target Service: its underlying research; its fulfillment of purpose; its processes for maintaining quality; its uniqueness and innovation; and its contribution to the ELT community.

The Bridging Course was initially developed over ten years ago and its benefits to the University of Western Australia have been clearly visible; incoming students are able to acquire a suitable English language proficiency for entry into the university’s programs while gaining a deeper knowledge of text types and Australian academic requirements and developing their analytical and reflective skills. In keeping with the signalled importance of ongoing research, the Course has been re-focussed and revitalised. 

NEAS was particularly impressed by the centre’s commitment to the evaluation and review of the Bridging Course in order to continuously improve the program and provide the optimum learning experience for students.

March 2023

The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade ran an Inquiry into Tourism and Australia’s International Education Sectors on Thursday, 2 March 2023 at which Dr Patrick, CEO of NEAS participated and provided important information on the importance of Quality Assurance (QA) in English language teaching. He explained that NEAS Australia is “a non-governmental, independent, industry-led quality assurance authority, involved with everything to do with English language teaching” and that “We have to keep our reach in the ASEAN region … One of the ways to do that is through online delivery. If we are not teaching in that space at least some part of our English language provision, we are failing to teach those students how to activate their English in an online space.”. He stated that new teachers coming into the ELT sector post-pandemic need to be scrutinised as well as Academic Managers. He identified that many teachers may be coming back after a second career and restarting their careers, while others who have just been teaching for a couple of years find themselves being pushed into management level, when they might not be ready or qualified. This is why QA remains so important in Australia and the ASEAN region because the “Australian ELICOS sector is world famous for its quality”.

This is an opportune moment to remind you of Day ONE (3 May) of the 2023 NEAS Management Conference which is a special full day Professional Academic Manager Training Workshop and is targeted exclusively at new and would-be Academic Managers. During the sessions a deep dive will be facilitated into what it means to be a professional Academic Manager in Australia’s ELT industry. For further information please go here and to get your tickets go here​​​​​​​. 

March 2023

There may be just five weeks before the opening of this year NEAS Management Conference, but we are by no means idle while we wait for the date. As featured in last week’s NEAS News we have four PD events over the next two months, all of which will be informative and engaging. 

Monday (20 March 2023) marked the grand opening of the Ukraine Workshop Series.

We are truly thrilled and proud to be bringing you this Workshop Series that features SEVEN pre-workshop presentations and will be followed by a live Zoom Workshop with a discussion Panel on Tuesday 18 April from 9:00 am to 10:30 am (Kyiv Time) 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm (Sydney Time) and will feature keynote presenters sharing their expertise and practical techniques. Joining the NEAS CEO, Dr Patrick Pheasant, on the Panel will be the Ukraine Ambassador His excellency Vasyl Myroshnychenko, Ms Liubov Zaliubovska-Head of Education at GoGlobal NGO as well as teachers and leaders from the ELT sector.  

The workshop focuses on two themes:
1. Trauma informed practice and teaching– thisrecognises the pervasive impact of trauma on individuals and communities. By prioritising safety and trust in a supportive learning environment, teachers can empower students to take agency of their learning. Through collaborative engagement in the learning space, students and teachers can promote healing, resilience, and growth. 

2. Student and teacher mental health and building resilience in times ofcrises – it is important to maintain teacher and student health during times of crises and this can be achieved by fostering a sense of community, promoting coping skills, and creating a supportive learning environment.  Encouraging individuals to adapt and thrive despite challenges leads to resilience. In this workshop, some building blocks will be provided to highlight the importance of self-care, healthy habits, and access to mental health resources.  

March 2023

Framed around the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, the conference focused on students and the profound impact international education has on their lives and on communities. 

NEAS CEO Dr Patrick Pheasant was part of a panel discussion entitled Partnering with Purpose – ASEAN Australia Higher Education Capacity Building during which he and the panel discussed the benefits of ASEAN and Australian building effective and purposeful partnerships that addresses regional higher education sector priorities. The panel was chaired by Julie Wilkens MacMahon, Regional Director (APAC) Times Higher Education, Australia and joining Patrick were Michael Fay, AAED and Dr Choltis Dhirathiti, Executive Director ASEAN University Network (AUN) Secretariat, Thailand.

Our involvement was best summed up in Claire Field’s article in the Campus Morning Mail of 22 March 2023 where she said, “NEAS was another Australian organisation which stood out at the conference. They are working with the ASEAN Universities Network to quality assure English language teaching across the region and have more recently started assisting English language teachers in Ukraine”. You can access the whole article here. Claire also conducted a podcast interview with Dr Pheasant while in Bangkok, which you can access here. In both cases she referenced the Ukraine Workshop Series as being an exciting and worthwhile initiative. 

Similarly, the higher education editor, Tim Todd, of The Australian Higher Education Supplement of 22 March 2023 also reported on the buzz around the Ukraine Workshop Series, claiming that “Thousands of Ukrainian English language teachers stand to benefit from a series of online workshops being offered free by Australian education quality assurance group NEAS”. He quoted Dr Pheasant as saying, “While they (Ukraine) rebuild the education system, … a big part of it is what Ukrainian Universities can do … to attract collaboration, research partnerships and international students.” This is why NEAS Australia member support for this project is important.

March 2023