The Language Network ‘Watchdogs’ Meeting - summary and recording

The Language Network ‘Watchdogs’ Meeting

25^th April 2024, 6:30pm

Members present:

Marjorie          Yvonne        Karen       Sally
Janna              Alistair         Kate         Seema
Margherita      Sue           Kathleen     Ian             Sorry to Peter, who got stuck in the 'waiting room'.

Meeting Summary, by our Tactiq and Zoom Artificial Intelligence reporters.

- The meeting involved discussions about the criticism of Neurolanguage®coaching by an academic named Geoff Jordan on LinkedIn.

- Concerns were raised about Jordan's aggressive and personal attacks on Rachel Paling and the Neurolanguage®coaching methodology.

- It was noted that Jordan has been invited multiple times by Rachel Paling to discuss his concerns but has not accepted the invitations.

- The group discussed the benefits of Neurolanguage®coaching and coaching in general for adult learning and professional development.

- There was a consensus that Jordan's focus on the term "neuro" in Neurolanguage®coaching might be a significant point of contention for him.

- The group considered inviting Jordan to a future meeting to discuss his views on language coaching.

- There was a brief discussion on the administrative changes within the TLN community following the passing of its founder member, Claire.

- The upcoming TESOL Spring Day event was mentioned, with details about the date and the focus on community and teacher well-being.

- A free webinar by Rachel Paling was announced for Sunday, with the possibility of it addressing the recent criticisms.

- The recent solar eclipse observed in Ontario, Canada, was briefly discussed, including its impact and the experience of watching it.

Meeting Report, by our Tactiq and Zoom Artificial Intelligence reporters.

Lynda has been having difficulty registering her change of address on INPI, the new “Guichet unique” site, along with its electronic signature process. If anyone has any experience of using this, Lynda would be happy to hear from you!

Yvonne shared the upcoming 'Spring Day' event for TESOL, which this year will focus on being a self-care and networking gathering for teachers in Paris on May 25th. The event, with some free spots and a €30 entry fee, was anticipated to be both interesting and resourcing. Margherita recalled past successful events. Please see the article that has already been posted on the TLN-Blog.

The team discussed an article that criticized Neurolanguage®coaching, written on LinkedIn by an academic in the field.
Lynda, Margherita, and Janna, who are all Neurolanguage®coaches, were surprised and concerned by the article's negative tone and inaccurate portrayal of their profession. They speculated that the article might be part of an orchestrated campaign to discredit their field. The team also discussed the challenges of adult education and the alternative routes to becoming a teacher. Margherita clarified that Neurolanguage®coaching is officially recognized by the ICF.

The team deliberated on an ongoing issue concerning criticism of the teaching system, specifically the marketing of courses by Rachel. They debated whether the critic was targeting the teaching system or Rachel's self-promotion, and agreed that the courses were intended for teachers transitioning into language coaching. The team also discussed the academic's language and behaviour towards a LinkedIn article, with Margherita expressing disappointment at the academic's use of terms such as "content-free waffle" and personal attacks. Additionally, they mentioned that Rachel is organizing a webinar on Sunday. The team emphasized the importance of open communication and constructive criticism. There will be a recording available, so if you sign up for the webinar, you'll be able to watch it later if you're not free to see it on Sunday.

The team discussed the concept of Neurolanguage®coaching, emphasizing its importance in helping individuals improve their language skills for professional settings. They also discussed the controversy surrounding the term " Neurolanguage®coaching," as used by Rachel Payling. The team agreed that the name was not the main issue, but rather the concept itself that was garnering attention. They also noted the importance of continued professional development for teachers.

The team deliberated on inviting Geoff Jordan to a future 'Watchdog' meeting, and some members planned to organize a debate with him and discussed potential budget constraints and the possibility of conducting the meeting online.

The team discussed the scheduling of the next 'watchdog' meeting, deciding to conduct a poll for the time and date of the meeting, to be held towards the end of May.

Ian shared news of a tax credit available for company owners (‘chefs d’entreprise’) who have paid for a training course for themselves. He started out by informing his ‘chef d’entreprise’ clients about it, and has also applied for the same tax credit for his own training projects. According to his accountant, this credit can be used in conjunction with other funding sources if they only partially cover the full amount, and the sum applied is that of the minimum wage (the ‘SMIC’) multiplied by the number of hours of training, up to a maximum of 40 hours per year. Additionally, for training undertaken in 2023, the sum is doubled, but there is a ‘ceiling’ on the tax credit, which is variable and depends on your tax situation.

The meeting briefly touched on the BPF (Bilan Pédagogique et Financier) form's new question about online activities, but it's not a major feature, as you only need to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as to whether you do any online work. For the moment, there’s no need to quantify your response.

There was a short discussion on the agenda for the special meeting of the Language Network on Saturday, and a key point seemed to be to separate the commercial and non-commercial aspects of the Language Network in the aftermath of Claire's passing.

Here’s the link to the recording of Wednesday’s Watchdogs meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/7cSJ6JRRHSIN_V5GvWJb4tcquiEilU4G9oOpVIj2R8sIKqaUAFeALxR9VnyBgezxP-EHl8LGgNMVhJxU.2ZTXlngMl06hmqne?autoplay=true