Research
Faculty Workshop and Keynote Conference Presentation: Bangladesh Outreach, 2025 – Dr. Patrick Dougherty
Dr. Patrick Dougherty, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of International Liberal Arts, participated in several education events in Bangladesh in 2025, continuing more than 2 decades of work with local education, and participated in events including a conference keynote address, presentations, and conducting teacher training workshops. Here is his account of his activities:
Continuing my Academic Work in Bangladesh: Tales from 2025
In summer and fall of 2025 I was privileged to make my 21st and 22nd visits to Bangladesh, continuing work that has been taking me to that complex and beautiful country since 2005. In late June I traveled to Rajshahi in the eastern portion of the country, where I had been invited to give a keynote address at an international conference being hosted by the Faculty of Arts of the University of Rajshahi. Later, in November, I visited Dhaka and Sylhet to coordinate and offer presentations and workshops for the 19th annual teacher development conference of the Bangladesh English Language Teachers Association (BELTA) and Teachers Helping Teachers (THT) partnership.
June: The International Conference Keynote
From June 23 – 27th I was a guest of the University of Rajshahi and an invited keynote speaker at the 3rd International Conference on “Issues Around Pedagogy: Teaching-Learning Strategies in Arts & Humanities for the 21st Century,” organized by the Faculty of Arts, University of Rajshahi. Beyond my keynote address, I also chaired two sessions, and, in addition, gave talks to the Institute of Education and Research and the Department of English and Other Languages.
My first talk was given to the Department of English and Other Languages faculty and students on June 24th. Titled, Lessons from a Life in Pedagogy: What it means to be a teacher in the 21st Century, it dwelled on my experiences from my almost forty years in the classroom. My June 26th presentation to the Institute of Education and Research was titled, Inspirations in Education and Research. After each talk, I was pleased to have energetic Q & A sessions with the undergraduate students in attendance, many of whom are on paths to become educators in the future.
My keynote, titled, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL): A Pedagogy for 21st Century Transformation, was delivered on June 26th at the start of the conference. In it I focused my attention on not only CLIL but how to develop faculty capabilities to allow for CLIL to be introduced and maintained in classroom settings at both K – 12 and tertiary levels. It was a busy week of presentations, talks, panel discussions, and meetings with students and faculty. The experiences were invigorating and inspiring.
November: Teachers Helping Teachers (THT)/Bangladesh English Language Teachers Association (BELTA) Teacher Development Conference
Teachers Helping Teachers programs feature presentations and workshops that wed theory with practice and have practical applications for working educators, involving materials and ideas that are readily adaptable to their classroom contexts. Our audience members for THT programs typically are a mix of in-service and pre-service teachers and come to us from local and regional junior and senior high schools as well as university faculty and graduate students. We have been an organization for twenty years, having begun with our first program in 2005 in Dhaka, at Presidency University. Since that time, THT has expanded to include programs not only in Bangladesh but also in the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Nepal, and Kyrgyzstan.
The 19th annual THT/BELTA Teacher Development conference was held from November 7th – November 10th in Dhaka and in Sylhet, Bangladesh. In light of so many challenges educators in Bangladesh and worldwide have been facing over these past years, we set the theme for the 2025 program as “English Teaching in Interesting Times.”
Our schedule began with online sessions on November 7th, with four THT presenters and 140 BELTA attendees. Our online sessions began during the pandemic, and as we discovered that members of the online community that joined us ranged from across the country and overseas, with the unifying factor being that they were members of BELTA, we decided to continue holding a day-long online session as part of our annual programs as we felt that it expanded the reach of our workshops and presentation exponentially. Four THT workshop facilitators conducted the online session, with sessions ranging in titles from Structured Speaking Strategies: Building Confidence and Longer Turns in EFL Classrooms toTeaching in the Era of AI – Methods of Engagement.
Our first in-person session was held at Shanto Mariam University of Creative Technology in Uttara, Dhaka, on November 8th. We had approximately 60 attendees for that program and, after the THT team traveled to Sylhet on November 10th, we concluded our program at Sylhet International University with a full auditorium of in-service and pre-service high school and university English teachers. The in-person programs in Dhaka and Sylhet continued the THT tradition of wedding theory with practice and keeping the focus on practical pedagogical ideas that will help teachers in their classrooms. The schedules featured workshops and presentations with titles such as Hands-on Transmedia Storytelling in Multilevel Classrooms: Integrating Culture as Core Content, Creative Writing Activities for the EFL classroom, No Prep Language Learning Activities for a Busy Classroom (& Busy Teacher), and Reimagining the Classroom: Practical Applications of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
After returning to Dhaka, three of our THT members were able to accept an invitation to conduct a workshop with the Department of English at Southeast University. The workshop was held on the 11th of November for 40 faculty and pre-service teachers from across the university. Titled Innovative Teaching Strategies for Teachers, it focused on practical pedagogical elements that could be utilized with different curriculums, teaching contexts, and with varying levels of resources and technology.
An interesting impromptu event occurred with the THT team and the BELTA Sylhet chapter officers while we were visiting the banks of the Surma River at nightfall after our program there had concluded. A local Sylhet television station asked to interview me regarding the importance of the government of Bangladesh investing in protecting and maintaining historical edifices and artifacts. The question was motivated by our location, which was under the Keane Bridge. It’s a historical landmark and known as the “Gateway to Sylhet.”
The sessions that were part of the THT/BELTA 2025 program were well received. The workshops and presentations were full to capacity. And, we are very much looking forward to our 2026 program which will be our 20th with the Bangladesh English Language Teaching Association.
THT and its programs with BELTA been part of my professional life for the past twenty years. Even when my career was taking me from Japan to the Middle East and then back to Japan again, I have continually been a visitor to Bangladesh. I have made my experiences and what I have learned there a significant part of my portfolio of research and publications and have developed deep ties and friendships within the BELTA community. I look forward to continuing this association over the coming years and enjoying the supportive energy it gives me as a researcher and educator.