The faculty members from the Faculty of Arts and Languages at the Philippine Normal University agreed to revitalize the earlier established organization called the Literature Teachers Association of the Philippines (LiTAP) in 2016. With its new name and a shared mission-vision, the Literature Educators Association of the Philippines Incorporated (LEAP, Inc.) serves as an avenue to advance discourses on literature teaching and literary research. It envisions educating literature teachers from the basic education sector with cutting-edge teaching strategies and informed by evidence-based results to improve literature education in the country.

 

LEAP Inc. had its maiden meeting on November 19, 2016. It was attended by invited founding members from the esteemed Philippine education institutions: the Philippine Normal University, Ateneo de Manila University, National University, Central Luzon State University, Adventist University of the Philippines, and the Department of Education. The first set of LEAP Inc. Board Members was elected.

 

LEAP Inc. was formally launched at the Alumni Relations Hall of Philippine Normal University in December 2016 during the alumni homecoming of the Bachelor of Arts/ Bachelor in Secondary Education major in Literature (AB/BSE Literature).

 

On October 5-7, 2017, LEAP held its first national conference, “Literature and the K-12 Curriculum,” at the Philippine Normal University. The keynote speaker was Dr. Ma. Antoinette C. Montealegre.

 

On October 11-13, 2018, LEAP held its second national conference at the Philippine Normal University, with the theme “Literature at the Core of a Thinking Nation.” Mr. F. Sionil Jose was the keynote speaker. 

In 2019, it held its third national conference, with the theme “Re-mapping National Literature in the 21st Century Education Landscape,” and Dr. Rolando B. Tolentino was the keynote speaker. At this conference, the Dalin journal was also officially launched. It was also in the same year that, for the first time, LEAP could organize two packet sessions on assessment in poetry and fiction in partnership with the National University and the Philippine Normal University.

 

While LEAP was not able to hold a national conference in 2020 due to the CoVid-19 pandemic, it was able to offer free webinars (packet sessions) for Filipino teachers and exclusive webinars of LEAP webinars in July and August 2020 to cater to the needs of the teachers as they navigated through teaching literature in a flexible mode.

 

LEAP held its first international conference, “Literature and the Literature Teacher Toward the Better Normal,” from October 28 to 20, 2021. Dr. Verita Sriritana from Chulalongkorn University was the keynote speaker. 

 

The second one was held online from October 20-22, 2022, with the theme “Literature and Literature Education in the Post-Pandemic Era: A Lifelong Learning Initiative.” The keynote speaker was Dr. Radhika Iyengar from Columbia University.

 

LEAP held its first hybrid international conference in Palawan from October 26 to 28, 2023. In her keynote speech, Dr. Paula Morris, one of New Zealand’s famous writers, expounded on the theme of “Sustaining Resilient Literature Education in a World of Disruptive Change.”

 

The organization is currently preparing for its fourth international conference, which will be held in April 2025 and will have the theme “Investing in Literature Education as a Cultural Capital.”