Welcome to the 6th annual Global Teachers’ Festival!

From 9th to 20th February 2026, join us for two weeks of inspiration and innovation designed to transform your teaching. This year’s programme brings 20 talks from 24 leading voices from around the world to explore the most relevant topics in education today—AI in the classroom, inclusive learning, creative project-based approaches, and strategies to boost learner confidence and engagement.

Discover fresh ideas, practical tools, and a vibrant community of educators at the ultimate online event for English language teachers. Don’t miss your chance to learn, connect, and get inspired!

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World-class Speakers

Some of the most impactful education professionals from around the world.

Flexible Programme

All sessions run 3 times per day so you can see the sessions that are important to you.

Free Resources

A huge range of free teaching resources are offered to all those who register.

For All Teachers

No matter your experience, there is something for every teacher, just take a look at the programme!

Register with a Macmillan Education account!

Single-click registration for future events.

Access to personalised certificates in the profile, exclusive resources, and training.

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Register for this event only

(You will need to fill in the form each time you register for a webinar)

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Festival Programme

Download festival programme PDF

Week One

  • Keynote: How Digital Life is Reshaping Learning

    (For teachers of all ages)

    Digital teaching is often framed around tools and platforms, yet the deepest impact of digital life is cognitive. This keynote explores how constant connectivity reshapes attention, memory, and reading, and why this matters for learning. It offers practical, research-informed principles for designing teaching that supports depth in a distracted world.

    10:00 am, 3:00 pm & 9:30 pm (UK time)

    Laura Broadbent

    From Research To Reality: Building a new digital ELT experience

    (For teachers of all ages)

    MEE Air, Macmillan Education’s new digital solution, was developed by listening to what English teachers really need. In this talk, we’ll showcase the innovative co-creation research we undertook, what we learnt from teachers and students, and how this helped us develop a solution designed for the reality of the classroom, supporting impactful teaching and developing motivated learners. 

    10:45 am, 3:45 pm & 10:15 pm (UK time)

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    Louise Wilks & Susanna Goldschmidt

  • Starting Strong: The day-one language beginners really need

    (For teachers of teenagers)

    Most beginner courses start with greetings, personal information, and vocabulary lists – but this may not be what learners most need at the beginning of their journey. This session explores “catch-all” chunks so beginners can ask for help, manage confusion, and participate from the get-go.

    10:00 am, 3:00 pm & 9:30 pm (UK time)

    Rodrigo Honorato

    Autonomy Through Connection: Peer power and smart digital routines for teen learners

    (For teachers of teenagers)

    At the start of their learning journey, teens become more autonomous not by working alone, but by building the right support networks — peer, social, and digital — that allow them to take ownership of their learning. This talk shows teachers how to help teens become independent through interdependence, using structured collaboration and intentional digital routines.

    10:45 am, 3:45 pm & 10:15 pm (UK time)

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    Eduardo Freitas

  • Debate: How accurate does your English need to be in the world of work?

    (For teachers of young adults)

    Join Super, Del, Nathan, and Will as they debate whether perfect English is essential for professional life. We'll be exploring accuracy, clarity, and communication in today’s global workplace.

    10:00 am, 3:00 pm & 9:30 pm (UK time)

    Super Huang, Nathan Waller, Derek Spafford, Flora Jhuang, Will Rixon

    Preparing University Learners for Real Workplace English

    (For teachers of young adults)

    This talk examines how English is used in international workplaces and offers practical strategies to help teachers prepare learners at university for the communication challenges they are likely to face.

    10:45 am, 3:45 pm & 10:15 pm (UK time)

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    Evan Frendo

  • Rethinking ELT In The Age Of Digital Fast Food: Atomic Habits for Critical Media Literacy

    (For teachers of teenagers)

    Drawing on critical media pedagogy and James Clear’s Atomic Habits, this session explores how deliberate atomic shifts in teaching can nurture empathy, challenge bias, amplify student voice, and transform classrooms.

    10:00 am, 3:00 pm & 9:30 pm (UK time)

    Armanda Stroia

    Reimagining Projects: A design thinking template for engaged teen learning

    (For teachers of teenagers)

    This session equips English teachers with a practical PBL template using Design Thinking principles, enabling students to solve real-world problems through empathy, creativity, collaboration, language use, and reflective feedback-driven development.

    10:45 am, 3:45 pm & 10:15 pm (UK time)

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    Mike Rowley

  • Keynote: What Does Being a Humanist Leader Mean?

    (For teachers of all ages)

    We need leaders who can focus their attention on their people when it comes to making important decisions. Humanist Leadership creates a positive atmosphere where teachers feel valued.

    10:00 am, 3:00 pm & 9:30 pm (UK time)

    Arturo Alberto Hernández Medina

    The Enrolment Toolkit: Building trust, value, and visibility

    (For teachers of all ages)

    This session explores practical strategies to attract and retain students. It offers adaptable approaches any institution can use to strengthen its visibility, build trust, and boost enrollment in increasingly competitive educational markets.

    10:45 am, 3:45 pm & 10:15 pm (UK time)

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    Nour Barazi

Week Two

  • The Global Communication Backpack: Functional English every child should carry

    (For teachers of young learners)

    This session gives primary teachers useful phrases, repair strategies, and intercultural routines to help learners handle real cross-cultural communication. Participants will leave with practical phrase sets, classroom activities, assessment ideas, and ways to differentiate so their students become confident, polite, and functional communicators.

    10:00 am, 3:00 pm & 9:30 pm (UK time)

    Matthew Long

    From Choices To Decisions: Agency in the primary classroom

    (For teachers of young learners)

    Let’s teach children how to decide, not just what to choose. Explore simple strategies that help primary learners build confidence, think critically, and grow more independent in their English classroom.

    10:45 am, 3:45 pm & 10:15 pm (UK time)

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    Michelle Worgan

  • Agents, assistants and us - Who’s actually doing the work?

    (For teachers of all ages)

    How does 'learning' change when AI can perform the task? We clarify key terminology and explore how to urge student agency and cognitive autonomy in an age of powerful AI agents.

    10:00 am, 3:00 pm & 9:30 pm (UK time)

    Joanna Szoke

    The Human Edge: Safeguarding Teacher Agency in the AI Era

    (For teachers of all ages)

    AI tools in language teaching challenge teacher agency—the power to act and decide locally. This workshop explores practical strategies for preserving human expertise and empathy while integrating technology responsibly to ensure collaborative, learner-centered education.

    10:45 am, 3:45 pm & 10:15 pm (UK time)

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    Mark Arthur

  • Learning Through Play: Adapting to young children natural preferences

    (For teachers of very young learners)

    Young children show their learning preferences through play, movement, talk, and exploration. In this session, we'll examine how these unique ways of motivating influence their participation and development. You will discover practical strategies to adjust routines and activities, ensuring each child feels supported, engaged, and confident to succeed.

    10:00 am, 3:00 pm & 9:30 pm (UK time)

    Myriam Monterrubio

    Step Into Character: Nurturing confident speakers in the EFL classroom

    (For teachers of very young learners)

    How can we boost young language learners’ speaking and communication confidence in the classroom? In this session, Miranda shares a drama-based approach with ready-to-use strategies that engage students physically, vocally and emotionally, creating a space where they feel free to experiment and express themselves.

    10:45 am, 3:45 pm & 10:15 pm (UK time)

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    Miranda Legge

  • Universal Design for Learning: The Foundation of how to meet the needs of all learners

    (For teachers of all ages)

    In this introduction to Universal Design for Learning (UDL), we will explore the foundational theory through stories and connections to a challenge all educators face: how can we meet the needs of all of our learners in our classrooms? 

    10:00 am, 3:00 pm & 9:30 pm (UK time)

    Allison Posey

    The UDL Guidelines: Structure and Practical Classroom Applications

    (For teachers of all ages)

    This session will explore the structure of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines. The Guidelines will be brought to life through numerous examples of UDL in practice, followed by a brief Q&A.

    10:45 am, 3:45 pm & 10:15 pm (UK time)

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    Liz Byron Loya

  • Lowering The Affective Filter In Digital Learning

    (For teachers of young learners)

    Why does digital learning overwhelm some students? Join Pilar’s session to understand how the affective filter operates online and explore practical strategies to support confident digital learning.

    10:00 am, 3:00 pm & 9:30 pm (UK time)

    Pilar Capaul

    Supporting The Quiet Learner

    (For teachers of young learners)

    Puppets, masks, magic microphones, drawings, roles, choice… How do these connect? They’re powerful ways to encourage shy or quiet learners to be more at ease and communicate in ways that feel right for them.

    10:45 am, 3:45 pm & 10:15 pm (UK time)

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    Sarah Hillyard

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If that wasn’t enough, all attendees will benefit from:

PERSONALISED
CERTIFICATES

MACMILLAN EDUCATION
COURSE WALKTHROUGHS

FREE GOODIE BAGS
EVERY DAY

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