This was followed by interviews with the three honorary members present (Margarete Schuster had to undergo an
operation and unfortunately could not join us for the event). In addition, Helena Hirsch, who was the chair of TEA
for many years, was interviewed.
Many interesting details of TEA's history were mentioned: Pat Häusler spoke about the "divorce" from the British
Council which was a very decisive event, as the ELT News had originally been produced and published by the
British Council in cooperation with TEA. Now TEA needed to be independent and find sponsors, an editor,
someone for the layout and needed to do all the work alone. But these difficulties could also be overcome
and the ELT News is still being published and is an internationally renowned publication. Pat also expressed
her hope that more teachers would join TEA and help shape the future of this organisation.
Leo Partman then talked about his time as an author and English teacher and had many a funny story to tell.
One story concerned a group of teachers who, after World War II, wanted to perform Arsenic and Old Lace
on stage in the Josefssaal in the 8th district. Unfortunately, at the same time the film with the same title
came into the cinemas and was a flop since people did not find it proper to show a story making fun of death
after a period of time when many people had been killed. Leo Partman and the other teachers decided to invite
American soldiers to watch their performance for free and this finally saved the play - and also the film.
Juanita Kaiser talked about her time with TEA and mentioned that it had not always been so easy to motivate
people to join TEA and that she would have wished more young teachers, and more teachers from outside the
Vienna region would have decided to support this organisation. But maybe this will happen in the near future.
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Finally, Helena Hirsch had an opportunity to discuss TEA's history,
including some funny events. There was, for example, the story
of a T-shirt that was ordered in great numbers for a conference.
As the TEA board wanted to save money, the T-shirt was ordered
abroad. Finally after getting the consignment from the customs
office, the parcels were opened. Suddenly everyone present was
silent - because everyone was shocked to see the word "Vienna"
written with only one 'n'. However, also this difficult situation
could be resolved when Andrew Skinner had the idea of using
these T-shirts in a different way. TEA members were asked to
spot the mistake to win a prize.
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These are just some of the memories, stories and events that have marked TEA's history.
The whole anniversary was sponsored by öbvhpt and SFA
Sprachreisen. Both offered informational material and useful
goodies to the members present. And Mag. Andrea Meier
from SFA Sprachreisen was also there to give a workshop
on how to organize a language trip abroad. She offered
many useful hints and tips and answered numerous questions.
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This workshop was followed by a discussion round with Candy
Fresacher. It had the title: "Motivating students - How do YOU
do it?" After some theoretical input, a lively discussion took
place and many an idea was voiced.
Similar discussion rounds are planned for the next
school year.
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Apart
from that there will also be
• regular seminars and workshops throughout Austria
• the summer school (27 - 30 August, 2007)
• the Linz ConneXion (21 - 23 September, 2007)
Comprehensive information on these events was presented by Candy Fresacher, Irena Köstenbauer
and Claudia Zekl. And if YOU want to know more, have a look into the current issue of the ELT News as
well as at TEA's website at: www.tea4teachers.org
We are looking forward to seeing you at some of the upcoming events.
Best Regards,
Claudia Zekl
(Chair of TEA)
