Coordinator’s Introduction

James Underwood
LD SIG Coordinator
jamesmichaelunderwood[at]gmail[dot]com

Coordinator’s Introduction
The JALT Learner Development SIG’s 30th anniversary conference was held at Gakushuin University,
Tokyo, on October 21st and 22nd 2023. It resulted from collaboration with the JALT Global Issues inLanguage Education and the Teacher Development SIGs. Before I explain the theme, I would like toremember those LD SIG members who passed since the 20th anniversary conference, LD20.
In the 10 years since LD20, we sadly lost two dear friends of the LD SIG, Richard Silver and NaokoAoki, both in 2018. Richard Silver was heavily involved in the LD SIG committee. He helped organize
the Realizing Autonomy conference and later the 20th anniversary conference, and was SIG
co-coordinator with Andy Barfield from 2011 to 2013. Through LD20 I had the pleasure of meeting
Richard — I was on the website team, and he was one of the conference co-chairs. From the contact
we had during the run-up to the conference, he was supportive and quick to offer solutions to problems
that came up, but it was not until after the conference that we really got a chance to speak face-to-face.
It was great to meet Richard; I still remember the videos he shared that his students made as part oftheir projects. I only later found out about his illness, and thus, his passing came as a total shock.
In the same year as Richard’s passing, the LD SIG also lost Naoko Aoki, one of the founding membersof the LD SIG (alongside Richard Smith). Although we did not have much contact, I remember her
plenary at LD20, “Stories to take home,” which challenged us to share “true” stories about ourteaching that went beyond the cover stories that we sometimes use to portray ourselves as “certain,expert professionals” (Clandinin & Connelly, 1995, p.15). She encouraged us to share our stories ofpractice with someone near to us, with the intention that we would further develop the stories we told
into written form.
To find out more about both Richard Silver and Naoko Aoki, please see these dedications, “In Memoryof Richard Silver”: https://ld-sig.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Dedication.pdf, and “Remembering
Naoko Aoki Together”: https://ld-sig.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Dedication_Naoko.pdf.
When I took on the coordinator role at the AGM in 2022, I soon realized that the LD SIG would
again reach another milestone. To develop a theme, I met with Andy Barfield to brainstorm ideas.
As we shared ideas, reflected on the events in the world that had happened since 2013, and how
these had influenced our teaching in the classroom, we both agreed that the theme for LD30
should acknowledge how we had, in a sense, re-focused our work with our students from purely
language learning to learning with a purpose. Like many other teachers we knew, we encouragedour learners to gain knowledge and understanding about themselves or the world around them sothat they could more effectively deal with the challenges they would face in the coming years. This
led to the conference theme, “Learning for Change and Action, Making a Difference for the Future.”
For LD30, the LD SIG welcomed back Phil Benson, Honorary Professor in Applied Linguistics in theDepartment of Linguistics at Macquarie University, Sydney, as a plenary speaker, who enthusiasticallyspoke about “Turns, Terms and Reconceptualization in Language Teaching and Learning Research”
as well as held an informative workshop on “Language Learning Beyond the Classroom.” We also
invited two long-time members of the LD SIG, Stacey Vye and Chiyuki Yanase, to give a joint dialogic
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plenary on “Fostering Learner Wellbeing Through Autonomy: The Role of Learning Communities.”
Stacey Vye also held a workshop on “Autonomy, Creativity and Innovation for Learners and Teachers
Alike.” Not forgetting, of course, Taichi Ichikawa, who was invited from outside the LD community
to share how young leaders worldwide are working hard to realize the Sustainable Development
Goals in their local communities. In addition to these plenary sessions, the conference featured 22
concurrent sessions by teachers and 15 concurrent sessions by students over the two days.
The success of LD30 would not have been possible without the hard work of the conference team,the presenters themselves (and those who supported them), and everyone who came to participate.
Many thanks also to the International Social Sciences Faculty of Gakushuin University, especiallyour site chair Kay Irie, who also managed the registration desk, and Ted O’Neill, who joined theconference team at just the right moment and was on hand to help with any technical problems
during the conference. I would also like to thank Jennie Roloff Rothman of the GILE SIG who did agreat job managing the registration desk and liaising with Phil Benson. And, of course, a big thankyou to Jon Thomas, Ross Sampson, and Jason Hobman of the TD SIG who also contributed at various
points in organizing the conference.
James Underwood
LD30 Conference Chair, on behalf of the LD30 Committee: Andy Barfield, Ken Ikeda, Nicholas
Emerson, Patrick Kiernan, Robert Moreau & Tim Ashwell.
February 13th 2024

REFERENCES

Clandinin, D. J. & Connelly, F. M. (1995). Teachers’ professional knowledge landscape. Teachers
College Press.
Barfield, A., Coomber, M., Cusen, O., Elliott, D., Flanagan, A., Irie, K., Stewart, A., & Thornton, K. (2018).
In memory of Richard Silver. Learning Learning, 25(1), 10–22. https://ld-sig.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Dedication.pdf
Nicoll, H., with Barfield, A., Chik, A., Cooker, L., Cotterall, S., Head, E., Ikeda, T., Irie, K., Karlsson, L.,
Kjisik, F., Knowles, T., Little, D., Miyahara, M., Murray, G., Nakai, Y., Smith, R., Stewart, A., Tassinari,G., Toogood, S., Ushioda, E., Voller, P., & Vye, S. (2018). Remembering Naoko Aoki together.
Learning Learning, 25(2), 10–14. https://ld-sig.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Dedication_Naoko.pdf

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