Dr Tomasz John
@tomaszjohn.bsky.social
390 followers 840 following 31 posts
#TESOL #multilngualism #SocialJustice #internationalisation @StrathEdu Director of Global Engagement @BAALSJSIG + @lc_baalsig Comms @RefugEAP 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏳️‍🌈🇵🇱|| views=mine
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Reposted by Dr Tomasz John
khawlabadwan.bsky.social
A keynote to language the heartbreak and failure, the work of living with genocide #BERA2025
We are humbled by your response, tears, plans for action & your standing ovation.
History is being made #GazaMatters
gla.ac.uk/research/az/un…
Reposted by Dr Tomasz John
baal-lesj-sig.bsky.social
Thanks to everyone who joined our Social Justice Linguistic Walk in Glasgow—Merchant City → East End → Barras. We read the city like a text: cones, plaques, shopfronts, murals & more. Big love for your keen eyes & generous chat. Blog & map soon. #LanguageJustice #BAAL2025 @baal2025.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr Tomasz John
baal-lesj-sig.bsky.social
Post-BAAL: join BAAL LESJ SIG’s Social Justice Linguistic Walk in Glasgow. Read the city like a text—see how public words shape (in)equality. Sat 6 Sep, 13:00–15:00. Meet: GoMA | Register: forms.gle/t4YvTJFUQaqZ... #BAAL2025 @baal2025.bsky.social #BAAL please share 🙏🏼
Reposted by Dr Tomasz John
baal-lg-sig.bsky.social
🚨 Join the 1st #BAAL #LanguageCurriculum SIG Symposium! 🗓 19 June 2025 | ⏰ 9am–12pm BST | 💻 Online & Free for #BAAL members🎤 Plenary: Dr Suha Alansari + 6 talks
🔗 Register: tinyurl.com/baalsig2025
@dariobanegas.bsky.social
@mqueroljulian.bsky.social
@tomaszjohn.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr Tomasz John
tanjabueltmann.net
You are a "citizen of nowhere", they said.

A "queue-jumper", they said.

Now I am a "squalid chapter", they say.

A risk as I might make this an "island of strangers", they say.

I am "pulling the country apart", they say.
tomaszjohn.bsky.social
This 👌🏼
tanjabueltmann.net
My letter to the Prime Minister. #immigration
Slightly amended so I can fit this here: 

I am writing to you as an immigrant who chose to make the UK my home. As someone who is now also a British citizen. And as a German-born historian who understands where the complete normalisation of the far right can end. I write to say: For shame!

I first came to the UK in the 1990s for a visit with my grandmother. Objectively, much was backwards here. No mixer taps in the bathroom; awful ‘bread’; and strings had to be pulled to switch on lights. But however I felt about this, my own string had been pulled: I loved this Cool Britannia. It was quite possibly then that I decided that the UK was to be my home. When I arrived to settle here permanently, I made a choice: to contribute my skills, my knowledge—all I have to offer—to this country rather than another one.

I am deeply disgusted by your comment today that immigration has done ‘incalculable damage’ to the country. 

This is the language of the far right. It is insulting, hateful & will fuel xenophobia. And it is just wrong.

Migration is a normal part of the human existence. None of us would be where we are without it. Open your fridge and you will see migration. Immigrants help make the UK tick every single day, whether we clean toilets in our hospitals or provide care for the elderly; whether we empty our bins or carry out cancer research. We are mothers, sons-in-law, aunts and uncles, friends, neighbours and colleagues.

I ask you not tell me that you do not mean me. I know that you do not—at least not primarily—mean a white woman from Europe who has a PhD. But who do you mean? And, much more importantly, who do you think those racists who were engaged in riots on our streets last summer think you mean?

Anti-immigration narratives have defined UK policymaking for the best part of two decades. And fundamentally so. They were the key driver in delivering Brexit, for example, and, as such, have directly limited the rights and opportunities of British citizens. This obsessive focus on immigration as the ‘problem’—that is the real problem. And it is consistently delivering poor outcomes for the UK. Instead of tackling this, you are choosing to consolidate it, sowing divisions along the way.

You may point me to polling and tell me that this is what voters want. Do they? I am not surprised at all that over 50% of voters might say they want to see immigration reduced if that is the question they are being asked. What we need to know is what they would answer to the question: “Would you like to see immigration reduced? What this would mean for you and your local community is XYZ.” That is not how surveys can ask questions, but governments absolutely can choose to make policy using such a more informed position. 

Prime Minister, you continue to talk a lot about making the tough choices. But let’s be clear: setting immigrants up as the ‘other’, as a scapegoat—describing us as a threat ‘pulling the country apart’, a ‘squalid chapter’, a risk that might make the UK an ‘island of strangers’—these are not tough choices at all. These are the easy choices. They are the choices that populists make who have no solutions to the real problems a country faces.

What I would like to know, Prime Minister, is what you will do when your policies lead to the implosion of the UK’s Higher Education sector. What you will tell communities when they can no longer provide any care for the elderly.

The policies you announced today will not solve anything at all. They will have exclusively negative impacts. For those immediately affected; for our communities; and for our economy. 

Being pro-immigration—it is progressive, yes, but the much more crucial point is that it is also the most pro-UK policy approach that any politician in the country can pursue. And you are choosing to do the opposite. This, Prime Minister, is the real damage—and it will be very calculable indeed. 

Tanja Bueltmann
tomaszjohn.bsky.social
Thanks Will! Some insightful findings there, we’re digging deeper with this through language diaries, focus groups and a zine making workshop.
tomaszjohn.bsky.social
New article in the #baleap Journal of Research & Practice! We explore trioethnography, rhizomatic analysis & blackout poetry as creative tools for resistance, growth & collaboration in EAP. Read here: reinventionjournal.org/index.php/ba... #EAP #BALEAP
tomaszjohn.bsky.social
Excited to share my @iatefl.bsky.social #IATEFL2025 talk:

Pre-service English Teachers’ Narratives on Bilingualism and Linguistic Landscapes
🗓 9 April | ⏰ 16:15 | 📍 Moffat Room

A journey through identity, space & language in the Forum on Bilingualism 🌍📚 #ELT #MultilingualEd

Hope to see you there!
tomaszjohn.bsky.social
Training for the #EdinburghMarathon Marathon & running for Refuweegee!
Smashed my ParkRun PB + a conversational half mara last weekend.
Already raised £250—help me hit £1,000!
Support here: www.justgiving.com/page/tomasz-...
#RunForRefuweegee
tomaszjohn.bsky.social
9 weeks to #EdinburghMarathon

This week: 10k, 2x5k, and a big ol’ 15k. Legs = cooked spaghetti.

#RunThisTown #marathontraining

12% of my fundraising goal for #Refuweegee so far— help me crawl to the finish line (and hit that target)!

🔗 www.justgiving.com/page/tomasz-...
tomaszjohn.bsky.social
Great to be at @satealscotland.bsky.social in Edinburgh! Thanks to the organisers and all the EAL practitioners and leaders for the inspiring discussions. We shared our partnership teaching model and explored its potential in supporting multilingual learners @EALGlasgow @annettestreetps.bsky.social
tomaszjohn.bsky.social
I’m excited to attend and present at the @satealscotland.bsky.social #SATEAL conference this Saturday with EAL coordinators from @GlasgowCC @EALglasgow Ella Van Loock, Anne Marie Love as well as Joanna McPake. We hope to see you there! #EAL #PartnershipTeaching @annettestreetps.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr Tomasz John
tomaszjohn.bsky.social
What a lovely bunch! Congrats everyone!
tomaszjohn.bsky.social
🏃‍♂️ Running the Edinburgh Marathon 2025 for Rwfuweegee! 💙

After my first half marathon & Hyrox competition, I’m now taking on 42.2km to support Refuweegee, providing vital aid to refugees in Glasgow.

💙 Donate here: shorturl.at/N1HcE #Refuweegee #EdinburghMara25
Tom's fundraiser for Refuweegee
Help Tomasz John raise money to support Refuweegee
shorturl.at
tomaszjohn.bsky.social
Great session with @jlmittelmeier.bsky.social on rethinking support for international students! 🌍🎓 Key takeaways: move beyond stereotypes, reduce uncertainty, and foster inclusion through co-creation. Thanks, Jenna, for an inspiring workshop! 🙌 #HigherEd #Inclusion #InterculturalLearning
tomaszjohn.bsky.social
Espero que estés salvo y seguro, amigo 🙏🏼
Reposted by Dr Tomasz John
iatefltdsig.bsky.social
Register for our 2025 in-person Pre-Conference Event at IATEFL Edinburgh Conference on 7 April: Looking Back, Looking Forward - celebrating 40 years of teacher development
Key figures from past & current membership consider how TD's changed in 4 decades & where we see it going
tdsig.org/pce