Konstantina Vlahos

I began working in the adult literacy sector in 2006 and have worked at PRACE (Preston Reservoir Adult Community Education) as a literacy and EAL teacher since 2007. I really appreciate this year’s VALBEC propositions, as after all this time, I am still not comfortable with the title ‘teacher’. I prefer to consider myself a learner and never want to lose the wonder of learning. Since 2017 I have been teaching literacy and life skills to people with disabilities. When we were all suddenly thrown into distance learning, I was overwhelmed with concern as to how the learners would meet this new challenge. As it turns out, the learners have excelled in every way. Which begged for me the question, ‘In my attempts to create a safe learning environment, where the learners would be set up to succeed, did I underestimate their abilities and allow my own unconscious bias to get in their way?’