Professional Development at NUFS
NUFS Teacher Development Symposium 2027
Date: Saturday 23rd January 2027
Place: Online via Zoom - Schedule and Room Information will be available here at a later date.
Introducing our Guest Speakers
We are pleased to introduce the plenary speakers for the 2027 NUFS Teacher Development Symposium. This year’s symposium will bring together educators to share ideas, research, and practical approaches to teaching and professional development. More information about the event schedule will be announced soon.
Teaching Social Sustainability:
From Awareness to Classroom Practice
Avril Haye Matsui
Associate Professor
Aichi Prefectural University
Dr. Avril Haye Matsui is an associate professor at Aichi Prefectural University in Central Japan. Her research areas are intersectionality, gender, teacher identity, and social justice in ELT. Her PhD research explored the lived experiences and professional identity development of women of the African Diaspora who work and reside in Japan. Dr. Matsui is also the co-founder of the support, networking and friendship group, Black Women in Japan, and is the founder of the Women’s Empowerment Circle. A personal and professional coaching group for women. She lives in central Japan with her family.
Her recent publications include ‘Being a Black woman in Japan: The intersection of race, gender & nationality’. In Migration, transnational flows & the contested meanings of race in Asia. Springer Nature, 2025, ‘Demonstrating diversity: Reaching beyond stereotypes in the ESL classroom. The Language Teacher, 48(5), 2024. ‘Black, British and Female in the Japanese University English Classroom.’ In D.H. Nagatomo, K.A. Brown, & M.L. Cook (Eds.), Foreign Female English Teachers in Japanese Higher Education: Narratives from our Quarter. Candlin & Mynard, Hong Kong. p. 206-222, 2020.
Looking Back and Forward:
Life Lessons and Future Goals
Amanda Gillis-Furutaka
Professor Emerita
Kyoto Sangyo University
Amanda Gillis-Furutaka is a Professor Emerita at Kyoto Sangyo University where she worked for over 30 years. Born in the UK, she has always loved the languages, literature, and cultures of other countries. She has a bachelor’s degree in French with additional German (Exeter University), a Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching English as a Second Language (Leeds University), an MA in TESOL (Birmingham University), and a PhD in Music (London University, Goldsmiths College). After teaching for over 10 years in various countries (France, Portugal, China, and Brazil), she arrived in Japan in 1988 to work at the British Council in Kyoto. By 1993, she was married, expecting her first child, and a tenured lecturer in English language and culture at Kyoto Sangyo University. She retired in 2025, but is still active as a teacher, writer, and presenter, principally as the president of the JALT Mind, Brain and Education Special Interest Group, but also with other organizations she works with as a volunteer.