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Minutes of the Learner Development SIG AGM 14 October 2012

Minutes of the Learner Development SIG AGM 14th October 2012
Approved by the Learner Development SIG committee and those present on 31st October 2012
Start time:
Present:

13:20
27 people (24 + 3 arrived later)

Lee Arnold; Tim Ashwell; Andy Barfield; Gretchen Clark; Paul Crook; Rob Fritz; Chika Hayashi(arr. 1330); Ian Hurrell (arr. 1332); Ken Ikeda; Cory Koby; Fumiko Kurosawa; Bill Mboutsiadis;
Aiko Minematsu; Peter Mizuki; Martin Mullen; Fumiko Murase; Hugh Nicoll; Steven Paydon;
Martha Robertson; Colin Rundle; Rich Silver; Alison Stewart (arr. 1335); Jackie Suginaga; James
Underwood; Kazuko Unosawa; Michael Wilkins; Stacey Vye
Apologies from: Darren Elliott, Ellen Head, Kay Irie, Kayo Ozawa, and Phil Brown1.
1.1

WelcomeAndy: Welcomed everybody and introduced the agenda which had been distributed to allpresent. Attendees were invited to read it while Andy talked over the values of the SIG,
emphasising participation, collaboration and working in teams as being central to thesuccessful way in which the SIG operates

2.
2.1

GrantsAndy: Introduced the two LD SIG Conference Grants Awards (¥40,000 each) which were
presented by Hugh Nicoll and Stacey Vye to Cory Koby and Aiko Minematsu (pictures
taken by Bill, Jackie, Kazuko)
Andy: Following the grants ceremony suggested a 5-minute discussion with neighbours
about the areas of committee activity people might be interested in for the coming year

2.2

3.
3.1
3.2

Coordination
Andy Barfield and Rich Silver approved to continue
Alison Stewart approved as shadow co-coordinator (Lee Arnold also expressed interest in
shadowing here, but, following later discussions, decided to become familiar with different
committee responsibilities and demands first)

4.
4.1
4.2

Treasury
Treasury: Kay Irie to continue until after the audit is approved in May 2013
No shadow treasurer approved at the AGM, but Rob Fritz volunteered to shadow after ashort discussion after the meeting. Rich suggested Nagasaki chapter treasury as a possible
future source of support as the systems for accounting SIGs and Chapters are the same5.
5.1

BudgetAndy: Explained that lots of money is going out for Learner Development SIG grants
because support for SIG teachers and researchers in the field is a key area of the SIG's work.
He also explained the main sources of revenue for the SIG as being (a) membership fees,and (b) Realizing Autonomy Proceedings, with the money from the latter in particularearmarked to fund the March Tohoku retreat and a 2-day LD SIG Conference in November
Draft budget approved for 2012-2013 (see Appendix 1)

5.2

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Minutes of the Learner Development SIG AGM 14 October 2012

6.
6.1
6.2

6.3
6.4
6.5

7.
7.1

7.2

8.
8.1

8.2
8.3
8.4
8.5

9.
9.1
9.2
9.3

9.4
9.5
9.6
10.
10.1

10.2

2-day LD SIG 20th Anniversary Conference, November, Tokyo
Andy: The date is provisionally: 3rd or 4th weekend of November 2013
Andy: The 2013 Conference Planning Group (currently: Andy Barfield, Fumiko Murase,
Kay Irie, Masuko Miyahara & Rich Silver) have been sharing ideas since July and have so
far had confirmations of participation as speakers from Naoko Aoki (Osaka University) andRichard Smith (University of Warwick, UK)
Andy: A potential Japanese speaker will be approached and we hope to find out later in
October if they will be willing to take part
Andy: 2 possible sites for the conference have been identified, and a decision will be madeas soon as we have got some more details sorted out from either university
Andy: More details will be released about the conference as the details are finalized; wehope to involve students and NGOs in the conference
Realizing Autonomy Proceedings
Andy: 300 copies of Realizing Autonomy Proceedings have been printed in time for the
conference with the aim of selling about 200 copies by the end of JALT2013 in October next
year. 75 copies need to be sold to break even
Andy: Encouraged colleagues and friends to buy them to support the SIG's work by buying
copies for themselves and their colleagues/friends
Membership
Rich: Gave a short report about membership, including efforts to revise the system in thepast year. Last year the new system was led by Rachelle Jorgensen with support from Rich
Silver, Jeremy White and Matt Coomber
Rich: The SIG has been praised for its efforts in terms of membership by both the VicePresident and the Membership Chair of JALT
Rich: Jeremy White to continue sending out welcome letters and Matt Coomber to continue
to send out renewal letters
Gretchen Clark approved as the new Membership Chair
Andy: Membership has risen by 25% from 157 at JALT2011 to over 200 at JALT2012: it’s
an amazing achievement by the membership team. That said, we are still looking for a
shadow to join the membership team!
GrantsAndy: Explained why grants are important to the mission of the LD SIG
Andy: Explained changes in grants (see Appendix 1 for brief summary)Andy: In summary the same amount of money is being offered by the LD SIG in grants thisyear but in a different way, so that the SIG can offer two grants for the 2-day November 20th
Anniversary Conference
Andy: Briefly explained the role of the grants sub-committee, which for 2011-2012
consisted of Rich Silver, Andy Barfield and Kay Irie
Andy: Kay has agreed to continue, but Rich and Andy both feel they should step backMartin Mullen & Stacey Vye volunteered to join the grants sub-committee for 2012-13
Publications
Alison: Suggested that not much had been done over the past 12 months but went on to
explain various discussions that had taken place at the Publications Dinner in Tokyo in
September (see report of this in Learning Learning 19(3) which included splitting Learning
Learning – more details below)
Alison: Confirmed that a new team is already in place for Learning Learning. The editorial
team is James Underwood and Glenn Magee (Editors) with Fumiko Murase andMonika Szirmai (Shadowing)

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Minutes of the Learner Development SIG AGM 14 October 2012

10.3

Publications Project 1
Alison: Aiko Minematsu and Andy Barfield working on a series of papers and need authors
for a publication provisionally titled: Critical Understandings of Learner Development.
More details to follow after the conference.
10.4 Publications Project 2
Alison: Various ideas being knocked about. The projects that have been discussed include
approaches to analyzing learner histories which has been proposed by Masuko Miyahara andChika Hayashi, criticality and critical thinking, building on the plenary session and article in
the RA Proceedings by Mike Nix and Richard Pemberton, and online learner resources, suchas graded reader stories relating to Tohoku (?) with links for donating money toorganizations involved in the ongoing relief work. (This could also be something to discusswith Colin working on NGO outreach.)10.5 Splitting Learning Learning into two
Alison: Explained that Learning Learning can currently be described as a hybrid, partjournal and part newsletter10.6 Alison: Suggested splitting Learning Learning into two publications consisting of a moreformal journal and a shorter, newsy publication. Both publications would be launched intime for the 20th Anniversary Conference
10.7 Discussion followed:- Colin Rundle, Martha Robertson, Lee Arnold all said it was a great idea
- Lee Arnold: Said there is a need to bear in mind the “perception gap” in terms of teachers’
resumes between journals and newsletters- Andy Barfield: Suggested it is very important to keep the name Learning Learning- Rich: Asked how often each would be published; Alison: newsletter twice a year; journal
once
10.8 Andy: Noted that the feeling of the meeting is to pursue the split, but more discussion
needed in detail on how this would work and who would be doing what
10.9 Masuko Miyahara approved as Publications Chair with Steve Paydon as shadow
10.10 Tim Ashwell and Aiko Minemastu approved to join the publications team
11.
11.1
11.2
11.3
11.4
12.
12.1
12.2
12.3
12.4
12.5
12.6

12.7

Tohoku Retreat, March 2nd-3rd 2013
Bill: The date has been set as Saturday March 2nd- Sunday 3rd and the retreat is in the initialplanning stage and could be heading to Sendai
Bill: Would like to set up a planning group to work towards the March retreat
Bill: One of the aims of the retreat is to work with local people in the area and there has
been some contact already with people there
There were no volunteers to join the planning group at the meeting [See 19.5 below]
Programme
Bill: Announced he will be stepping down and returning to Canada in April
Ian Hurrell (Sapporo) approved to shadow Bill until he returns to Canada in March
2013, and then take over as programme chair in April 2013
Andy: Many thanks to Bill for the great work he has done. We are still looking for anotherco-chair and someone to shadow the position
CALL Conference: Hugh Nicoll approved to be JALTCALL2013 LD SIG Forumcoordinator
Andy: Ask Allen Lindskoog to see if he would be interested in joining Hugh
PAN-SIG Conference: Jim Ronald approved to continue as LD SIG PAN-SIG
Representative and Forum coordinator for 2013 (NB The official SIG representative of
the conference is entitled to a conference fee waiver)
Nakasendo Conference: Rob Moreau praised for organizing the SIG’s participation in
Nakasendo

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Minutes of the Learner Development SIG AGM 14 October 2012

12.8

Andy and Bill: Because of outstanding questions and concerns about the organization ofNakasendo 2012 and queries about Nakasendo 2013, the LD SIG is likely to step back fromparticipation in 2013

13.
13.1

Publicity
Andy: Rob Moreau has developed the new logo which is now on the website and other SIG
materials (see http://ld-sig.org/)
Andy: Robert Cochrane is willing to help Rob with publicity
Andy: We are still looking for volunteers to join the publicity team

13.2
13.3
14.
14.1
14.2

14.3

14.4

NB:

15.
15.1
15.2
16.
16.1
16.2
16.3
17.
17.1
17.2
17.3
17.4
17.5
17.6

WebsiteHugh: Reported on the work of the team with Hugh responsible for website updates andmaintenance, Darren Elliott for Facebook and Mike Nix for digitizing Aya and Maya
Hugh: Explained a little of the history of the website and why it is hand-coded. There is aneed however to move to a LMS CMS data website (e.g. like JALT website), which would
offer more interactivity etc.
Hugh: The current domain is fine but we will need another domain in order to develop a new
system in parallel in order for a transition to be made. Noted that there may be a cost
involved of up to JPY10,000.
Hugh: Asked for anybody interested in developing a hand-coded, modular website and Lee
Arnold volunteered to join the website team saying, though he knows nothing about it, heis willing to learn. James Underwood and Ken Ikeda also volunteered to be involved
with the website team
Hugh: I will be making a backup of the current site, making it available as a download forthe new team members, and will try to come up with a schedule that will work for everyone
in developing the new CMS site for launch in the new academic year (Added 2012/10/19)
Monthly update writer
Alison Stewart approved to be the monthly writer of website updates (short texts of 400
words)
Chika Hayashi approved to work together with Alison
NGO OutreachAndy: We are hoping to develop our NGO Outreach (in time for 20th Anniversary
conference) e.g. generous Shanti donation from Realizing Autonomy authors
Colin Rundle approved in a role to develop links for this purpose
Andy: We are still looking for other people to volunteer to take part in this area
Local Get-togethers
Hiroshima: Jim Ronald and Andrew Brady approved to continue to develop Hiroshima
get-togethers
Kansai: Greg Rouault, Phil Brown, Michael Wilkins and Gretchen Clark approved todevelop Kansai meetings
Nagoya: No members from the area at the AGM
Andy: Robert Croker has a research group already running in the area which people may beinterested in joining
Tokyo: Andy: Rachelle Jorgenson is stepping down as she is on a 6-month leave of absencein Canada
Andy Barfield, Ken Ikeda and Stacey Vye approved to be co-coordinators of the Tokyo
Get-togethers for the coming year

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Minutes of the Learner Development SIG AGM 14 October 2012

18.
18.1
18.2

Members at large
Dexter Da Silva, Ellen Head, Greg Rouault, Jackie Suginaga, Kayo Ozawa, Martha
Robertson, Phil Brown, Rachelle Jorgenson and Stacey Vye all approved to continue
Bill Mboutsiadis (after March 2013), Peter Mizuki and Cory Koby all approved to be
added as members at large

19.
19.1
19.2

Other businessAndy: Alison Stewart to take care of remaining Realizing Autonomy Proceedings stock
Andy: Explained the JALT Database Project and the committee’s decision to give ¥50,000
for this project19.3 The donation of ¥50,000 was approved
19.4 Bill: Explained more about how the retreat would work to include a day of volunteer work
e.g. at a mobile library, along with many other ideas
19.5 Steve Paydon volunteered to join Bill in the Tohoku planning group, with Cory Koby
later confirmed as a member of the planning group, with Bill coordinating the group19.6 Peter Mizuki: Asked if there is a way for individuals to donate money through the SIG.
Andy: Yes, we can accept donations at any timePeter: Asked if the donations are tax deductible
Rich: We can check with JALT Treasury
19.7 Andy: Explained more about the 2-day Conference in November and how we want learners
and NGOs to be involved so if you're working with high school or elementary school
students please think about being involved
19.8 Martin Mullen: Asked for more details about the November conference and Andy gave moredetails about the plans [See 6]
19.9 Andy: Thanked Bill Mboutsiadis for his energy and efforts since joining the SIG andespecially for bringing new people in. Bill responded by saying how much he had learned
from both his role as Programme Chair and the whole community
19.10 Rich: Reminded everybody that new chairs/shadows etc. would automatically be added tothe committee list and if there is a particular email that they would like used to speak to him
afterwards
19.11 Andy: Thanked everyone for coming and making it a great meeting(End time 14:15 approximately)
Minutes taken by Rich Silver
First Draft completed: 16th October 2012 (Reviewed by Alison, Andy)
Second Draft completed: 18th October 2012 (Reviewed by Alison, Andy)
Third Draft completed: am 19th October 2012 (Reviewed by Bill, Hugh)Fourth Draft completed: pm 19th October 2012
Fifth Draft completed: 22nd October 2012
Finalized: 27th October 2012
Minor corrections made: 31st October 2012

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Minutes of the Learner Development SIG AGM 14 October 2012

Appendix 1: Draft budget for 2013
Draft SIG budget for 2013

Actual 2012

Draft 2013

Expected balance in March

373,713112,013

Notes

Projected expenses
Table rental for JALT National Conference
Shipping LD materials to and from JALT National
Conference
Shipping fees for other events
LD web site cost (including domain name registration)
Financial support for Nakasendo
Donation for Best of JALT2012
2 Tohoku JALT+LD SIG membership grants
Pan SIG conference grants (25,000 yen each)
LD SIG research grants (25,000 yen each)
2 National conference grants (40,000 yen each)Donations to the disaster-stricken area
Tohoku Retreat
20th Anniversary LD SIG Conference Grants
New JALT integrated database & management system
Other miscellaneous(17,000)(10,000)(17,000)(10,000)(10,000)(7,200)(10,000)(20,000)(20,000)(50,000)(50,000)(80,000)(155,000)(20,000)(20,000)(7,200)(10,000)(20,000)
0(25,000)(25,000)(80,000)0(50,000)(50,000) 2 x 25,000(50,000)(20,000)

SUB-TOTAL(449,200)(384,200)

Projected revenue
Membership x 1500 6 months/12

112,500

150,000

Realizing Autonomy Proceedings sales at JALT2012
SUB-TOTAL

0112,500

150,000
300,000

TOTAL

37,01327,8130

Projected expenses 20th anniversary LD conference
Plenary speaker from Europe
Plenary speaker from Tokyo
2 invited speakers/guest workshop leaders
Programme book, and assorted running costs
SUB-TOTAL(250,000)(40,000)(80,000)(100,000)(470,000)

Projected revenue April 2013 onwards
November conference registration projection
Realizing Autonomy Proceedings sales
Membership x 1500 6 months/12
SUB-TOTAL

400,000
150,000
150,000
700,000

PROJECTED TOTAL END of NOVEMBER 2013

357,813

Reserve liabilities
GRAND TOTAL

250,000
507,81375/
100
members
100 copies

100 attending
100 copies
100 members

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Minutes of the Learner Development SIG AGM 14 October 2012

Appendix 2: Committee List for 2012-13(as shown on the LD website October 27 2012; the list may change as other people join in)
Our 2013 committee officers are:· Co-coordination—Andy Barfield & Rich Silver, shadowed by Alison Stewart· Treasury—Kay Irie, shadowed by Rob Fritz· Publications—Masuko Miyahara & Steve Paydon, joined by Aiko Minematsu & Tim Ashwell· Learning Learning Editorial Team—Fumiko Murase, Glenn Magee, Monika Szirmai & James
Underwood· Membership—Gretchen Clark, Jeremy White & Matt Coomber· Programmes—Bill Mboutsiadis, shadowed by Ian Hurrell: March 2013 Tohoku Retreat,
JALT2013 LD Forum; Hugh Nicoll: JALTCALL LD Forum; Jim Ronald: Pan-SIG 2013 LD Forum· Grants—Kay Irie, Martin Mullen & Stacey Vye· NGO Outreach Liaison—Colin Rundle· Publicity—Rob Moreau & Robert Cochrane· Web Editing and Outreach—Darren Elliott, Hugh Nicoll & Mike Nix; joined by James Underwood, Ken Ikeda & Lee Arnold· Web Update Writers—Alison Stewart & Chika Hayashi· Local Get-togethers—Jim Ronald & Andrew Brady (Hiroshima); Greg Rouault, Gretchen Clark,
Michael Wilkins & Phil Brown (Kansai); Andy Barfield, Ken Ikeda & Stacey Vye (Tokyo)· Members-at-large—Bill Mboutsiadis (from April 2013), Dexter Da Silva, Ellen Head, Greg
Rouault, Jackie Suginaga, Cory Koby, Kayo Ozawa, Martha Robertson, Peter Mizuki, Phil Brown,
Rachelle Jorgenson & Stacey Vye