Teachers of English as a Second or Other Language (TESOL) Macedonia Thrace is an independent non-profit professional association for Teachers of the English Language who live in the area(s) of Northern Greece. TESOL Macedonia-Thrace, Northern Greece is also an associate member of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) which is based in the UK. The 9-member board run the organization on a 100% voluntary basis and are elected bi-annually at the annual convention.

TESOL was formed in 1993 after it was identified that teachers in the area(s) of Northern Greece required specific assistance and had clearly identifiable needs that could not be adequately met by a national organization based in Athens – for example, the problem of travelling to Athens for events. We still work closely with TESOL Greece and hope that this relationship will continue to grow in the future as we believe we have many common goals. Our main office is based in Thessaloniki and most of our major events take place there. However, we also aim to provide a service for teachers based in a number of towns around the Thessaloniki area including Kilkis, Larissa, Kozani, Veroia, Serres, Drama, Kavala, Komotini and Giannitsa. We are always open to the idea of targeting new places if there are teachers there who might be interested in becoming part of our organization and are willing to offer one of our "on the road" sessions to fulfill this need.

We see our role as two-fold. To explore the reality of how teaching actually is in our classrooms here in Greece but also to consider how teaching could be as we strive towards improving conditions for ourselves and our students.

• Providing teachers with the possibility and opportunity for consideration of issues that relate to the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language
• Providing teachers with contact information on the range of different educational institutions available for continuing professional development in Northern Greece
• Encouraging teachers to take up opportunities to improve themselves academically and pedagogically
• Empowering teachers to share information and develop a strong and confident voice regarding the future of the ELT sector in which we believe we should all have a stake
• Providing the opportunity for Newly Qualified Teachers (NQT’s) to come into contact with more experienced colleagues at a range of formal and informal levels
• Promoting collaboration between colleagues who teach English in a sharing and non-judgmental environment – providing a space for informal networking and promoting the idea of multicultural tolerance and understanding
• Promoting issues that are of importance to our members and affecting change in the field
• Reporting and disseminating information on new developments resulting from research in the field of ELT and Applied Linguistics and considering the practical implications in the classroom
• Providing an opportunity for those professionals who are interested to begin presenting and becoming involved with teacher training and development
• Ensuring that Greece is firmly on the global ELT map – cooperating with other professionals and organizations in other countries with similar goals to our own
• Encouraging Greek ELT practitioners and academics to speak and publish internationally about the specifics of the Greek culture of learning

Our members comprise Greek, British, American, Australian and Canadian teachers of English who work in private language schools, public schools, public and private universities and institutions of higher education, at all different levels from primary to post-graduate. We also have some members who are studying to become English teachers. At present we have approximately 600 active members – we believe this number could be much greater which would add to our strength and effectiveness.

• Regular teacher development seminars on a range of ELT issues
• A yearly 2 day convention with a combination of international and local speakers
• A newsletter 4 times a year distributed to all members free of charge. We encourage members to take their first steps into publishing - if you have something to say of interest we will consider publishing it
• Regular bulletins to convey information to members about local or regional events we are organizing
• This website which is constantly updated with new information and links
• A number of Special Interest Groups (SIGs) in the areas of learning difficulties, younger learners, exam classes, English for Academic and Specific Purposes