Connecting and Reflecting on the English Australia Conference 2025
The QI team reflects on their time at the English Australia Conference 2025
3 September 2025 I The Queensland Institute
Fiona Wiebusch and Philippa Coleman (centre) attend the opening plenary. Image via EAConf25.
The English Australia (EA) Conference 2025, held at the Pullman Hotel in Brisbane, brought together educators, researchers, and sector leaders for three days of professional development, collaboration, and innovation. The event highlighted the strength and creativity of Australia’s English language teaching community, while connecting us with our ELICOS colleagues.
UQ Voices Choir: Music that Connects
A highlight of the final day was the moving performance by the UQ Voices Community Choir, who opened Friday’s program with songs from Crowded House’s Don’t Dream It’s Over to K-Pop’s Golden. Conducted with joy by Musical Director Vicki Bos, the performance was a powerful reminder of how music can promote community and belonging across cultures.
Founded by the UQ School of Psychology, UQ Voices promotes wellbeing and connection for international students and friends. The choir has been proudly supported by The Queensland Institute since 2021, reflecting our values of inclusion and community building through education.
Led by Vicki Bos, UQ Voices sings ‘Golden’ at #EAConf25.
Professional Learning Highlights
The conference program was rich with innovative sessions. Among the many excellent presentations, several stood out for our team, including:
Adapting, evolving and learning through a generative framework for teacher education and development – Dr Gabriel Diaz Maggioli
Evolving English Language Teaching: Embracing Dialogic Teaching in the Age of AI – Melissa Reed
Redesigning classroom observations to empower teachers (Lightning Talk) – Paul Williams
Choose your tools! Professional development to foster a positive culture – Kathy Watson & Paula Dimmell
Collaborative leadership is the key: Adapting government policies to support a sustainable International Education market – Dirk Mulder
Human dictionary – A new way to vocabulary acquisition – Shakti Koushik
Bright Ideas – Adapting for inclusion: Applying UDL principles to support neurodivergent learners in the language classroom – Tanja Hafenstein & Adrian Cohen
Why isn’t this listening task working? Key principles for listening task design – Sophia Walker
For the full list of abstracts and presentations, see the program here or go to the conference website.
L-R: Kelly Pattison from Circular Learning, with QI Co-Founders, Philippa Coleman & Fiona Wiebusch, at the EA Conference 2025.
Celebrating Collaboration
Co-founders of The Queensland Institute, Philippa Coleman and Fiona Wiebusch were delighted to attend the conference and reconnect with colleagues across the sector. It was inspiring to see how educators are adapting and innovating while keeping learner success at the centre of their work.
Warm congratulations to Iain Aird, Sophie O’Keefe, Rachel Winton, and the English Australia Queensland Conference Committee for delivering such a high-quality event that continues to strengthen our sector.
At The Queensland Institute, we remain committed to empowering global educators through innovative, evidence-based professional development. Events like this help us to stay focused on innovations that drive teacher education forward.
Enjoy our conference photo highlights below:
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