Jonathan Acuña, Head of Curricular Development at CCCN,
Costa Rica [left]
and Julio Prin, General Director at CVA, Venezuela
[right]
ABLA 2016
Convention:
21st
Century Challenges
Houston,
Texas
By Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano, M. Ed.
School of English
Faculty of Social Sciences
Universidad Latina de Costa Rica
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Post 284
In spite of the fact that I don’t
normally attend international conventions outside Costa Rica (my home country),
at my workplace, Centro Cultural Costarricense-Norteamericano, I was given the
chance to attend the ABLA Convention in Houston, TX from August 16 to 19 by the
Academic and Executive Directors. And I must confess that it was until I got to
participate in this convention that I understood why ABLA (the Association of
Bi-National Centers of Latin America) exists and is there to let institutions
like the one I work for share their best practices, experiences gained through
the years, and the unique networking that a teaching professional can create in
an event like this one.
Participating at the ABLA 2016, 21st Century Challenges, in
Houston, Texas widened my perspective and comprehension of the role of
binational centers (BNCs) across Latin America. It is through this unique
experience that BNCs can share their best academic practices and social
projection and programs. BNCs’ personnel from various countries in the region
explained novelties in their language programs for adults and children, and how
they managed to get to that point in their language programs’ development and
social presence. Sessions on teaching training gave us participants food for
thought on how we are currently measuring the impact of our teacher training
programs and its ulterior impact in the short and long run. And when it comes
to put the pieces together, language programs and teacher training, rationale
is explained and shared, and collaboration is always offered to make this
symbiosis work.
Part of the deal when an ABLA
Convention is attended is to get to know the colleagues of ours who do similar
things to what we do in our home country’s BNC. While interacting with
administrative and teaching professionals from these other binational centers
across Latin America one gets to create friendship bonds with peers and
partners who are behind the same or similar objectives in our fields of work.
These bonds give room for cooperation to achieve academic goals, especially
when one has already walked the road peers are beginning to trot on. Being
there also means finding collaborative hands that can guide us towards success
in the academic endeavors one is trying to attain. To sum up, part of all these
friendship bonds that are create prepares all of us for the sharing of
well-gained experiences that only through academic life they are treasured and
then shared with people with similar ideals.
Though these facts may sound
convincing to people who work at BNCs in Latin America, is it really worth
attending an ABLA Convention like the one hosted and organized by the Instituto
Mexicano Norteamericano de Relaciones Culturales de Nuevo León (Monterrey,
Mexico)? A resounding yes needs to be the answer to this question. ABLA needs
to be the channel to share BNCs’ gained experiences in the implementation of
language programs that do have an impact on the communities they serve. ABLA
can be a bridge to find the right academic, administrative guidance coming from
sister institutions that pursue the same objectives in the teaching of English
as a foreign language. ABLA is the right place to network with peers and other
academic authorities to get feedback on what one is intending to achieve because
of their former experiences and gained knowledge in their academic and
institutional lives. ABLA is a space for BNCs and their personnel to learn from
one another to enrich their visions of one’s future.
Though I am not the kind of instructor
and curricular developer who gets to participate in a convention of this
magnitude, ABLA was a great opportunity to get to know lots of other Latin American
professionals who are interested in areas I am really fond of. I was offered
helping hands coming from various countries in South America to strengthen the
plans we have to create more solid English programs at our BNC with a healthy
online component. I offered my expertise in blended education to help our
sister institution in Venezuela and any other BNC that might need someone with
expertise and studies in this area. To conclude, the friendship bonds created
in this single participation of mine in this international event sponsored by
the US Department of State will not fade out in time and won’t get tainted by
the absence of contact with so many professionals who –no doubt- create a
better future for the BNCs they represent and a brighter future to the
communities they serve.
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
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