By Olivera Ilić
The forum was held on 6 and 7 February 2026 in Bratislava, Slovakia, and was organised by SCELT, the Slovak Chamber of English Language Teachers, together with the Bridge language school community. The event gathered English language teachers, trainers, mentors, and educational professionals from Slovakia and other European countries.
As an ELTA representative, Olivera Ilić had the opportunity to attend a rich programme of workshops, presentations, and discussions covering artificial intelligence in language teaching, mentoring, motivation, cognitive science, and student engagement. The main theme of the forum was “Resilience”, with a focus on teacher wellbeing, professional growth, innovation in education, and effective classroom practice. It was, in every sense, a theme well chosen for a profession that regularly asks teachers to think, adapt, encourage, and keep going, often before the first coffee has fully done its job.
The first plenary speaker was Zuzana Labašová, Executive Director of CEEV Živica, a Slovak nonprofit organisation working in environmental education, sustainability, and teacher training. Her presentation, “The Things That Make Us Stronger”, focused on resilience, personal growth, and the factors that help teachers and learners face challenges in education and everyday life. She described growth as a journey that begins in the comfort zone, moves through the fear zone and the learning zone, and eventually reaches the growth zone. In this view, resilience is not a fixed trait, but a process of moving through challenge, learning, and development. She also emphasised that teachers can support students in building resilience by promoting positive psychology.
Read the article:
