Who we are
ALL is run by teachers, for teachers, and has thousands of members across the UK and further afield.
ALL has a very active volunteer network, with hundreds of volunteers offering their time and commitment to support other language teachers, or learners of foreign languages.
Below you will find information about those members who volunteer specifically to support our governance structure. For information on other ways in which you could get involved with your subject association, see Getting Involved.
ALL Council
The ALL Council is chaired by the President of the Association. The ALL Council comprises of twelve ALL members, who are elected from the membership and serve for a period of three years. ALL's elected Officers, and at least one Invited Trustee, who all serve on the Board of Trustees (ALL's Management Board) attend Council meetings.
ALL Council's serving members
Elected members:
Lisa Probert 2016 - 2019
Karine Harrington 2017 - 2020
Kevin Dunne 2017 - 2020
Clodagh Cooney 2017 - 2020
Crista Hazell 2017 - 2020
Clare Seccombe 2017 - 2020
David Shanks 2017 - 2020
Jackie Rayment 2017 - 2020
Kerry Phipps 2017 - 2020
Laura Simons 2017 - 2020
Lisa Stevens 2017 - 2020
Officers:
Jane Harvey (President 2018-2020)
Steven Fawkes (Honorary Membership Officer)
Other invited attendees:
René Koglbauer (Chair of Management Board)
Richard Fairbairn (ALL Invited Trustee, Treasurer)
Ian Bauckham (ALL Invited Trustee)
Anna Lise Gordon (ALL Invited Trustee)
Karl Pfeiffer (Observer, Management Board)
Find out about how the ALL Council works
Management Board
Our Elected Trustees
Jane Harvey
ALL President (2018 - 2020)
Jane serves as President from September 2018 - August 2020. Jane has served as President Elect during 2017/18 and has been a member of the ALL Council. Jane also runs the ALL Border Marches Network. Jane taught French and Italian during her career and worked in the primary and secondary sectors. She finished her career in Further Education as Head of Learning at Gloucestershire College.
Steven Fawkes
ALL Honorary Membership Officer
Twice President of ALL, now Honorary Membership Officer, Fellow and Chair of ALL North-East Branch, Steven Fawkes supports Branches, Networks, Hubs as well as Primary SIG, ITET and the ALL Literature project. Steven taught Languages in Co. Durham before working in curriculum development in special and comprehensive schools. At the BBC he developed TV, radio, print and internet resources for Schools Languages before taking the overview of policy across the schools area. He is a consultant and author and works in CPD and ITE contexts.
Our Invited Trustees
René Koglbauer
Chair of Board of Trustees
Following ten years in secondary education in Oxfordshire, René Koglbauer is currently Executive Director of North Leadership Centre, Senior Lecturer at Newcastle University and has recently been awarded the status of Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). René represents ALL on various national and international steering groups and is particularly interested in curriculum/language policy.
René was President of the Association for Language Learning from 2014-2016 during which time he served as a trustee. René has now been invited by the ALL Management Board to become an Invited Trustee and to fulfil the role of Chair of Trustees.
Richard Fairbairn
Treasurer (ALL Invited Trustee)
Richard works as a partner at a law firm in London. He has wide experience of most aspects of private client work including trusts, wills and probate and associated tax planning and his work is international,and as a French speaker his work is particularly focused on France and French clients in London.
Richard holds two French medals: Officer dans l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques, and Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite.
Richard was a long serving Chair of ALL's Board of Trustees (ALL Management Board), and also serves on other language and education-based boards. From 01 September 2016, Richard became ALL's Treasurer on its Board of Trustees.
Anna Lise Gordon
ALL Invited Trustee
Anna Lise Gordon has been a member of ALL since its inception. For the last 15 years, she has worked in initial teacher education as MFL PGCE tutor, as Academic Director for the PGCE provision at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, currently holding the title of Professor of Education at the same institution. She is a National Teaching Fellow and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Anna Lise's tenure as ALL President was from 1st September 2016 - 31st August 2018.
Helen Myers
ALL Invited Trustee
Helen Myers teaches Languages at The Ashcombe School in Dorking, Surrey (a Language College since 1998). She is also the ALL London Branch Chair, a former President of ALL and currently on the ALL Management Board. Through her work at The Ashcombe School and ALL, she has helped many teachers across the country in their use ICT in the teaching of languages, and provided constant support to language teachers through moderating forums and resource websites. She combines senior management experience and a national perspective with the realities of teaching across the age and ability range, including AL and GCSE exam classes.
Ian Bauckham, CBE
ALL Invited Trustee
Ian has worked in education since graduating Cambridge University in modern languages. He has taught in comprehensive schools, led a modern languages department in Brent, Inner London, and worked as a head of sixth form. He has been head teacher of a large 11-18 Church of England comprehensive in Kent since 2004. The school was rated as outstanding in every category by Ofsted in 2012 and is a Teaching School and National Support School. As a NLE Ian works with many other schools in the region and more widely. Ian was president of ASCL 2013-14. Ian has led on two successful free school bids, and started Tenax Schools Trust, a multi academy trust which now consists of 7 schools and is growing. He is an Ofsted inspector and was a member of the Head Teacher Board for the South London and South East region from 2014-2017. He chaired a TSC-sponsored national review of Modern Languages pedagogy in 2016, is a trustee of NFER, and was a member of the group which recently reviewed the National Professional Qualifications.
Ian was recently named in Parliament as the Secretary of State's special advisor on Sex and Relationship Education and PSHE. He also chairs the board of Sabre Charitable Trust, a charity which promotes early years education in Ghana . He was awarded the CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2017 for services to education.
Our Patron
Our Observers
David Crystal
ALL Patron
David Crystal is an academic, writer, editor and broadcaster, and Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Bangor. He is a patron of the Association for Language Learning (ALL) and of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL), president of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders and the UK National Literacy Association, an honorary vice-president of the Institute of Linguists and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. He received an OBE for services to the English language in 1995, and was made a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) in 2000. David lives in Holyhead, where he is the director of the Ucheldre Centre, a multi-purpose arts and exhibition centre.
Karl Pfeiffer
Observer
Karl attends meetings of ALL's Management Board as an Observer. He brings a wealth of experience to this role as well as an international perspective, and the ability to see how cultural institutes and other partner organisations might work together with ALL to meet shared objectives : raising the profile of Languages, developing intercultural awareness, and fostering international collaboration. Karl is Director of Educational Links at The Goethe-Institut London.
Find out about how the Management Board works
ALL Past Presidents
Below you will find a list of Past Presidents, along with a short introduction which summarises the focus of the Language World conference which they hosted during their presidency. ALL's Presidents have all served ALL's members as trustees, and many of the Past Presidents continue to serve the ALL community, on working groups, as members of ALL Council, working in consultancy capacities on projects or research; and meeting fellow ALL members' training and development needs out in local ALL Branches, Networks and Primary Hubs.
Anna Lise Gordon
Teacher Trainer, Invited Trustee of ALL
Anna Lise hosted two Language World conferences during her tenure as President. In 2017 she welcomed delegates to East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham, where the conference theme was 'Progress for ALL'. In March 2018 she welcomed delegates to Jurys Inn Hinckley Island in Leicestershire, where the conference theme was 'Flying the Flag for Languages'. During 2017 and 2018 Anna Lise has chaired the Publications Task & Finish Group, a working group of the ALL Council. She has also chaired meetings of the Initial Teacher Education and Training (ITET) forum.
René Koglbauer (2014-2016)
Executive Director of North Leadership Centre and Senior Lecturer at Newcastle University
In the first year of the ALL Connect project, which coincided with the first of a two year Presidency, René brought all of the ALL Connect strands together at Language World Conference 2015, under the banner ‘ALL Connected’. He also formally announced the launch of ALL’s Language Zones. The focus of the Language World Conference 2016 was on Curriculum Innovation, reflecting and preparing ahead of the changes to the language curriculum in September 2016
Rachel Hawkes (2012 - 2015)
Teacher of Languages and Deputy Principal at Comberton Academy Trust
Rachel is also a Languages Advisor for TES Resources, and, planned her Language World to get us 'ALL Joined up', reflecting her sense of the community of language professionals, and the importance of teachers working together and with others.
Ann Swarbrick (2011 - 2014)
Teacher trainer
Ann encouraged us at Language World to Imagine... having recently imagined the creation of the ALL ITET Special Interest Group for Teacher Educators. Ann' s current project is as editor of Barry Jones' selected writings.
Bernardette Holmes MBE (2010 - 2013)
Speak to the Future
'Languages for all - defining today, transforming tomorrow' expresses some of the passion that Bernardette continues to bring to her advocacy with Speak to the Future.
Karl Pfeiffer (2010 - 2013)
Director of Educational Links, Goethe Institut London
The first Language World to be held in London was called 'ALL Together', a fitting title for Karl, whose work as Director of Educational Links at the Goethe Institut London encourages personal and cultural exchange.
Cynthia Martin (2008 - 2011)
Primary Education Specialist
As befits someone with a specific interest in the early stages of language learning, Cynthia chose as her title for Language World, 'Building on Firm Foundations – Steps to Success'. The work she began continues with the ALL Primary Special Interest Group and the Primary Hubs around the country.
Pauline Swanton (2007 - 2010)
Tutor in Adult Education
Pauline's presidential challenge was about 'Grasping the nettles that beset us'. Pauline served as an Invited Trustee for a number of years beyond her presidential tenure.
Helen Myers (2006 - 2009)
Teacher of French
Helen 'Pulled the Threads Together' at Language World. Her interest in assessment is visible on the web pages of ALL London Branch, which she continues to chair.
David Wilson (2005 - 2008)
BBC Languages
David encouraged us to focus on 'Expanding Horizons' and conveying positive messages about languages at the time of the Dearing Review. David continues to support ALL by acting as an objective reviewer and editor of ALL's web content.
Kathy Wicksteed (2004 - 2007)
SSAT Languages Coordinator
Kathy's campaigning work on behalf of CLIL is still as vibrant now as it was at 'Language World: Working Together'. She also led the Linked Up project for ALL and served on many ALL Committees and Councils. Kathy sadly died in 2018.
Barry Jones (2003 - 2006)
Teacher Trainer
Barry's theme at Language World, was 'Creating Opportunities'. This encapsulates many of his principles as a teacher and trainer. These are to be explored in ALL's publication of Barry Jones' selected writings.
Bill Musk (2002 - 2005)
British Council
'Reaching Out' was a suitable theme for Bill's presidency, reflecting his career in forging effective international education links. ALL maintains links with other teachers internationally through FIPLV, FIPF and IDV and its close co-operation with cultural agencies and the British Council.
Steven Fawkes (1999-2002) and (2002-2004)
BBC Policy Adviser / BBC Education Officer
Steven, now an ALL Fellow, is the only person yet to have been President twice; the first time around his theme was 'Motivation - for all' stressing the importance of teacher motivation, reflected in the current ALL-Literature wiki which he manages.
Steven chose 'Next Steps' as his theme for his second Language World, in the European Year of Languages, exploring issues of learner progression, but also of developing the work of the Association to be more readily available locally. Steven now chairs ALLNE Branch, one of the dozens of Branches, Hubs and Primary Hubs that have taken this idea forward.
Terry Lamb (2000 - 2003)
Teacher Trainer
Terry's presidential theme of 'Building Bridges' related to bridges between sectors and languages, especially with community languages, and is now continued in his work with FIPLV.
John Trafford (1998 - 2001)
Teacher Trainer
John raised the important issues around 'Celebrating Diversity', still relevant within ALL, as reflected in the work of the World Languages Special Interest Group.
Peter Downes (1997 - 2000)
Head Teacher
Peter's theme of 'Raising Standards' is reflected in his work with the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and on Language Awareness.
Madeleine Bedford (1994 - 1997)
Adviser/Inspector
Madeleine's first Language World in York included the introduction of the European programmes (then called Socrates) while her second celebrated European Year of Lifelong Learning.
Margaret Tumber (1996 - 1999)
Teacher of German
Margaret's theme 'The Way Ahead: language strategies for the millennium' explored the potential for ICT and the way towards learner autonomy, and her talks always included the importance of diversification of language provision.
Bob Powell (1992 - 1995)
Teacher Trainer
Bob's Language World in Edinburgh brought language teachers together with teachers of EFL in the cause of promoting language learning and best practice.
Brian Page (1990 - 1993)
Teacher trainer
Brian's career encompassed teaching, teacher education, the launch of the European Actions and a keen interest in autonomy. See Looking back, moving forward (now available in the ALL Language Zones).