Markus Davis is an international teacher trainer and educator. He is a Senior Teaching Fellow at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) in Suzhou, China. He holds an MA in Applied Linguistics from King's College London and has over 30 years of experience in international education as a teacher, manager and trainer.

He is currently working in the university's Global Engagement Department and is involved in recruiting and supporting international and domestic students, engaging with the university's online learning policies, and training staff from all around the university. He was central in the creation of the university's Best Practice Guide for Online Learning, which was developed and adopted by the university as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He created, managed and ran the university's Certificate in Teaching English for Academic Purposes (CTEAP) and Teaching with English as the Medium of Instruction (TEMI) courses, which carry out professional development with teachers from throughout China and beyond. One of his regular co-trainers on these courses was Professor Tim Marr.

At XJTLU, he has previously held a number of roles in the Institute for Leadership ILEAD, and the School of Languages, including Short Courses Manager, Exams Officer and Chair of the Departmental Learning and Teaching Committee. Before coming to China in 2013, Markus was the Director of the Language Centre at the University of East London for seven years. Prior to that, he worked as English Programmes Manager at London Metropolitan University, for the British Council in Syria, and as a teacher in Greece.

He has been an External Examiner for Worcester University and INTO London and is currently an external examiner for Nottingham Ningbo University in China.

He has spoken on teacher development and training, and international education, at conferences across China, Asia and the UK.

The Global Pandemic As Pedagogigal Accelerator: Starting a Critical Discussion

The COVID-19 pandemic shut down the physical education sector across the globe almost overnight. The speed and depth of changes in delivery methods of learning experiences were without precedent. Changes that would normally have required more than a generation to become operational happened through necessity in a matter of a few short weeks.

This talk will continue a discussion that has already started in many places, and will certainly be held in all educational establishments as the urgency of the pandemic wanes. It argues that for most of us there is no appetite for going back to the ‘old’ ways of 2019. The pandemic may end, but its legacy will be felt for years to come. It will look at examples of recent developments and consider whether they represent opportunities, threats, or a combination thereof. Examples include the routine video recording of learning and teaching activities, the digitisation of learning resources, and the student as viewer-participant. It will ask that audience members bring to bear their own experiences and contexts in the discussions that take place at this conference and going forward.

The background to this talk is that the speaker wrote the initial learning and teaching policy document for use by all academics at XJTLU as the impact of the pandemic began to be felt. This policy introduced a completely online and then a hybrid model of education. Now, more than a year later, this policy is being reviewed, and a more permanent and robust policy is being developed that is intended to reflect lessons learned, acknowledge the realities of actual practice, and act as a foundation upon which to build the next few years of pedagogy and practice.