John Hughes
John Hughes is an award-winning ELT author with over thirty years’ experience of teaching and teacher training. He has worked with learners and teachers from all over the world and is a well-known conference presenter. For National Geographic Learning, he is an author on the course series Pathways, Third Edition; Life, Third Edition; World English, Third Edition; World Link, Fourth Edition; Success with Business, and Total Business. He’s also co-author of the methodology title, Critical Thinking in ELT. Currently, he is specializing in materials writing training at
Conference Agenda
10:30
Registration
11:00
Session 1: Convergent and Divergent Thinking in the ELT Classroom
11:50
Coffee Break
12:10
Session 2: Visual literacy in the English language classroom
13:00
Closing and Raffle
National Geographic Learning conference for teachers of English in Georgia, Batumi | 22 November 2025
1
Session 1: Convergent and Divergent Thinking in the ELT Classroom
‘Convergent thinking’ activities can develop critical thinking and encourage students to read and listen more effectively. In contrast, ‘divergent thinking’ activities can increase a learner’s creativity and provide excellent support in our speaking and writing lessons. In this session, we’ll consider the differences between these two types of thinking and see how they can work together to improve thinking capacity in our English lessons. In this presentation John illustrates both types of thinking with practical activities you can use in your own classroom tomorrow.
2
Session 2: Visual literacy in the English language classroom
Our students are exposed to more visual content than ever before. They might have to interpret signs and symbols, present slides and graphics, or even create their own images with their camera or even with AI. Visual literacy also requires the viewer to engage, critically evaluate and then communicate so it’s a natural twin skill to the language skill of English. In this session, we’ll explore how teachers can exploit visual literacy at every stage of their lesson to make language more memorable, more purposeful and more practical.
National Geographic Learning conference for teachers of English in Georgia, Tbilisi | 23 November 2025
1
Session 1: Convergent and Divergent Thinking in the ELT Classroom
‘Convergent thinking’ activities can develop critical thinking and encourage students to read and listen more effectively. In contrast, ‘divergent thinking’ activities can increase a learner’s creativity and provide excellent support in our speaking and writing lessons. In this session, we’ll consider the differences between these two types of thinking and see how they can work together to improve thinking capacity in our English lessons. In this presentation John illustrates both types of thinking with practical activities you can use in your own classroom tomorrow.
2
Session 2: Visual literacy in the English language classroom
Our students are exposed to more visual content than ever before. They might have to interpret signs and symbols, present slides and graphics, or even create their own images with their camera or even with AI. Visual literacy also requires the viewer to engage, critically evaluate and then communicate so it’s a natural twin skill to the language skill of English. In this session, we’ll explore how teachers can exploit visual literacy at every stage of their lesson to make language more memorable, more purposeful and more practical.
John Hughes
John Hughes is an award-winning ELT author with over thirty years’ experience of teaching and teacher training. He has worked with learners and teachers from all over the world and is a well-known conference presenter. For National Geographic Learning, he is an author on the course series Pathways, Third Edition; Life, Third Edition; World English, Third Edition; World Link, Fourth Edition; Success with Business, and Total Business. He’s also co-author of the methodology title, Critical Thinking in ELT. Currently, he is specializing in materials writing training at
Conference Agenda
12:30
Registration
13:00
Session 1: Convergent and Divergent Thinking in the ELT Classroom
13:50
Coffee Break
14:10
Session 2: Visual literacy in the English language classroom
15:00
Closing and Raffle