NEW COURSES!
Scroll to the bottom for a preview of the spring 2026 course.
SATE 2025 November course with Jacob Sam La Rose
Registration is now open!
Venue: Neue Kantonsschule Aarau
Date: 27- 28 November 2025 (Thursday & Friday)
Time: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (9. a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday)
Fee: CHF 350.- (SATE members CHF 330.-)
Course Description
Save the date for an eclectic workshop with the renowned writer, poet, playwright & educator of Guyanese parentage, Jacob Sam-la Rose! This 2-day workshop will focus on slam poetry/spoken word/ literature-in-education and the positive impact of new technology on literary practice. Jacob Sam-La Rose has been instrumental in designing the workshop model and teacher training for a number of national youth poetry in education programmes, including Shake the Dust, Word Cup and Shot From the Lip (2009-2021), so not only will he bring his unique slant to the table “as the product of a post-colonial Caribbean work ethic passed down from his mother”, but also his immense experience as a creator and pedagogue alike.
Biography: Jacob Sam-La Rose is a poet, educator, and creative facilitator, widely recognised for his work in nurturing young and emerging writers. His poetry has been described as vivid, masterful, and intricately crafted, and his collection Breaking Silence is studied at A-level. His writing has been translated into multiple languages and featured in a range of anthologies, including Out of Bounds: British Black and Asian Poets, Penguin’s Poems for Love, and Michael Rosen’s A-Z: The Best Children’s Poetry from Agard to Zephaniah.
Beyond his own writing, Jacob has dedicated much of his career to empowering others through poetry. He has developed and led creative writing and performance programmes across the UK and internationally, working with everyone from first-time writers to professional artists and educators. He has served as the Artistic Director for major youth poetry initiatives, including Shake the Dust—the UK’s largest national youth slam—and has played a pivotal role in shaping the UK’s youth poetry sector. His former students and mentees include award-winning poets, playwrights, novelists, and interdisciplinary artists.
Jacob’s work extends into arts leadership, curriculum design, and participatory practice. He has held residencies at institutions including Raffles Institution (Singapore) and English Heritage, and has worked with the British Council, Arts Council England, and the Ministry of Education in Malaysia. He has served as a trustee for the Poetry Society and the Forward Arts Foundation and continues to support the development of poetry and spoken word education nationally.
With a background in creative technology, Jacob has long explored the intersection between digital tools and artistic practice. He has built communities of practice across borders, using technology to facilitate creative collaboration before remote work became the norm. His current work includes mentoring, poetry programme development, and ongoing explorations of generative and procedural text.
Registration
Please fill in the online-registration below.
Please note that the number of places is limited. Participants are asked to find their own accommodation in Aarau.
There will be an optional communal evening meal on Thursday night. Details will be sent to participants in due time.
Spring 2026 Course
Advanced language practice opportunity
Interested in advanced speaking practice and engaging with current issues with fellow English teachers? Then why not join us for our spring course of 2026?
Course title: Teaching the 'Me' Generation?
Description: How do shifting values, identities, and life choices shape the way today’s students learn, think, and relate to authority? This seminar invites teaching professionals to explore key ideas from contemporary social theory on post-traditionalism, individualisation, and generational change.
As traditions and collective norms give way to personal choice and lifestyle diversity, classrooms increasingly reflect a world where identity and belonging are negotiated rather than inherited. We will discuss a short theoretical text participants have read ahead of the course which introduces these concepts, then consider their concrete implications for teaching practice, classroom relationships, and curriculum design.
Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will have:
- a shared vocabulary for analysing sociocultural shifts anda framework for analysing
generational differences in motivation and values; and - generational differences in motivation and values; and
- strategies for fostering relevance, inclusion, and authentic connection in post-traditional classrooms.
Date: Wednesday 25th March 2026
Time: 5-7pm
Location: Zurich, venue to be confirmed
Tutor: Jane Dewhurst Bratschi, Gymnasium teacher of English and Lektorin UZH
Information about course fees, registration and preparatory reading will follow in the coming months.