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17.07.2023
ECML x SenBJF – A ROADMAP for schools to self-assess and experience the implementation of individual multilingual projects as an essential part of a whole-school and teaching development
Date and venue of the event: 28-29 June 2023, Zentrum für Sprachbildung, Berlin, Germany
Local organiser: Mr Mehmet Fatih Özcan (Senate Department for Education, Youth and Families, II D 5.2, Advisor for multilingualism / Senatsverwaltung für Bildung, Jugend und Familie Berlin, II D 5.2, Referent für Mehrsprachigkeit
ECML experts: Sophie Babault (France) and Selin Öndül (Switzerland)
Participants: 25 headmasters, (heritage & foreign language) teachers, language development coordinators, subject unit managers, senate administration’s project and programme coordinators and support
The two-day ROADMAP Training and Consultancy workshop, together with the development teams within the framework of the quality label project "Multilingual School" and the expert group II D 5 of the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family, highlighted areas with high potential for implementing multilingual projects.
The participants discussed and visualised the overlaps between multilingual and intercultural education in terms of content and subject matter, in particular in ensuring awareness and equality of the languages of the students and the school. In this context, the participants developed methods to reflect on the promotion of multilingualism in school development processes and lesson development. The varied application possibilities offered by the ROADMAP self-evaluation tool and database clearly demonstrated that the ambitious quality label project "Multilingual School" can draw on already established and freely accessible resources of the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) as a sold basis for a piloting exercise in the 2023/2024 school year at 7 participating schools
Participants emphasized that the tools provided by the ECML would both simplify processes to determine potential developmental areas and provide abundant data and examples of reporting and evaluation.They also mentioned that it was necessary to include both Berlin-specific school structures and, in particular, multilingual questionnaires in the self-evaluation tool.
In summary, the participants received extensive training and became fully acquainted in the use of the ECML tools - in particular in the self-assessment tool, as well as in conceptualization of a customised roadmap to implement development modules within the framework of the “Multilingual School” quality seal.
Mehmet Fatih Özcan
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(Deutsch)
Der zweitägige Training and Consultancy ROADMAP Workshop hat gemeinsam mit den Entwicklungsteams im Rahmen des Gütesiegel-Vorhabens „Mehrsprachige Schule“ und der Fachgruppe II D 5 der Senatsverwaltung für Bildung, Jugend und Familie potenzielle Schwerpunkte in der Einrichtung von mehrsprachigen Angeboten sichtbar gemacht.
Die Teilnehmer:innen diskutierten und visualisierten die inhaltlichen und fachlichen Überschneidungen zwischen mehrsprachiger und interkultureller Bildung, insbesondere vor dem Hintergrund des Bewusstseins über, der Gleichwertigkeit von und der Haltung gegenüber der sprachlichen Vielfalt in der Berliner Schule und in der Lebenswelt der Berliner Schülerinnen und Schüler.
Die Teilnehmer:innen entwickelten in diesem Zusammenhang Methoden, um die Förderung der Mehrsprachigkeit in Schulentwicklungsprozessen und zur Unterrichtsentwicklung zu reflektieren. Das vielfältigen Anwendungsmöglichkeiten des Selbstevaluationstools und der Projektdatenbank des Wegweiser-Programms verdeutlichten, dass das ambitionierte Gütesiegel-Vorhaben „Mehrsprachige Schule“ auf bereits gefestigte und freizugängliche Angebote des Europäischen Fremdsprachenzentrums (EFSZ) zurückgreifen kann, um im Schuljahr 2023/2024 an 7 teilnehmenden Schulen pilotiert werden zu können.
Die Teilnehmenden bestätigten, dass die bereitgestellten Tools des EFSZ und die damit zur Verfügung stehenden Daten sowohl die Ermittlung der Weiterentwicklungspotenziale der schulischen Mehrsprachigkeitsförderung als auch die Berichtserstellung und Evaluation deutlich vereinfachen würden. Die Teilnehmer:innen fügten an, dass es notwendig sei, sowohl die berlinspezifischen Schulstrukturen und insbesondere mehrsprachige Fragebögen im Selbstevaluationstool einzubeziehen.
Zusammenfassend kann gesagt werden, dass die Teilnehmer:innen im Umgang mit den EFSZ-Tools und ihre Einbindung in das Gütesiegel-Vorhaben umfangreich geschult und weiterqualifiziert werden konnten.
Mehmet Fatih Özcan
01.03.2023
Series of 48 language education workshops in member states
The European Centre for Modern Languages is launching a series of 48 national training and consultancy workshops . The workshops which are hosted in member states offer a wide range of European expertise in language education and are adapted to the concrete needs and specific contexts within individual countries. This year represents the highest ever number of events organised according to this format by the ECML and reflects the increasing popularity of the Centre’s training and consultancy activities.
25 of the events will take place within the framework of the “Innovative methodologies and assessment in language learning” cooperation action between the ECML and the European Commission. These activities, covering member states of the ECML and the European Union, focus on Relating language curricula, tests and examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference (RELANG), Supporting Multilingual Classrooms and Use of ICT in support of language teaching and learning
The other 23 events targeting the member states of the ECML focus on the following areas: Action research communities, CLIL and beyond – pluriliteracies, Language for work, Language of schooling in subject learning, Plurilingual and intercultural approaches (CARAP/FREPA), The ROADMAP – a self-assessment tool to foster school development, Setting up learning environments where modern languages flourish.
The events combine professional input from the ECML and expertise in the member state to initiate quality developments – the workshops can assist in change processes in language education at local, regional and national levels. The first of the events, a RELANG workshop, will take place at the Lithuanian National Agency for Education in Vilnius on 7-9 March.
07.02.2023
Training and consultancy for ECML member states: network meeting for ECML training teams and national local organisers (Graz, 27 January 2023)
The ECML offers its member states European expertise in language education adapted to the concrete needs and specific contexts within individual countries.
On 26 January 2023, seven training and consultancy (TaC) teams exchanged their experience in the field of:
- Action research communities,
- CLIL and beyond – pluriliteracies,
- Language for work,
- Language of schooling in subject learning,
- Plurilingual and intercultural approaches (CARAP/FREPA),
- The ROADMAP - a self-assessment tool to foster school development,
- Setting up learning environments where modern languages flourish (online presentation),
focusing on highlights, challenges and learning opportunities, and conclusions for 2023 activities.
The network meeting with the local organisers from Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Slovak Republic and Slovenia took place on 27 January. The participants got an overview of the TaC offers and their benefits from previous experience, national contexts and needs, and the ECML support provided. Individual meetings took place for local organisers with the TaC teams to discuss the organisation and arrangements of their national events planned this year.
In 2023 the ECML will conduct 23 training events in 17 member states:
| Action research communities (ARC): |
Luxembourg, Montenegro, Norway |
| Language for work (LfW): |
Luxembourg |
| Plurilingual and intercultural approaches (FREPA): |
Greece, Malta, Serbia, Slovak Republic |
| Supporting the language(s) of schooling (ROADMAP): |
France, Germany, Poland |
| CLIL and beyond: |
Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, NorthMacedonia, Poland |
| Language of schooling in subject learning (LiS): |
Malta, Slovenia, Belgium |
| Setting up learning environments where modern languages flourish (EOL): |
Armenia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece |
In addition, up to 25 workshops will be organised in ECML and EU member states through the Centre’s cooperation action with the European Commission – these will be announced shortly.
Photo gallery
26.01.2023
The ROADMAP workshop in Finland – and a sidetrack to the future
Date and venue of the event: 30 November - 1 December 2022, online workshop
Local organiser: Anu Halvari, Senior Adviser (Education), Finnish National Agency for Education
Experts and moderators: Katri Kuukka, Senior Adviser (Education), Finnish National Agency for Education, and Nermina Wikström, Director of Education, Swedish National Agency for Education / National Curricula/ Pre-school and Compulsory School.
Participants: Primary and secondary school in Finnish as second language, English language, one head teacher, and special education teachers.
In the wake of two covid-19 years and in the midst of recent game-changing events in Europe, we organized a two-day workshop to introduce the ROADMAP in Finland. On a national level a lot of work has been done to build an understanding of what language awareness means in the context of school. But changing linguistic landscapes in society and at schools needs rethinking in terms of school values, practices and procedures. ROADMAP is a tool to address these concerns, in a very tangible manner.
In practice, the challenge in Finland was to get a sufficient number of participants because of scheduling constraints, possibly also because the main language of the workshop was English. It was therefore decided that the first day would be held in English, the second in Finnish.
The content of the first day was an introduction to the background of the ROADMAP project and the tool itself. At the end of the day, the participants were asked to “play school”, i.e. use the self-assessment tool in practice. Each one chose the role of a different stakeholder (teacher, head teacher, student, parent, other school staff) in the framework of the make-believe ‘Potato School’. Everyone was excited to receive the report.
The next day started with a review of the report and of some promising practices. The second day – which was in Finnish - also included presentations on developing a language-aware school in the context of the Finnish curriculum and on language-aware culture and leadership. Finally, there was also time to reflect on the participants' own school development plans and to sum up the day together.
We held the workshop to a small but inquisitive group of practitioners, with a thought in mind to pilot how best to deliver the ROADMAP in the months and years to come to the Finnish audiences. As workshop organizers we learnt valuable lessons on how to proceed. Most likely the next steps will be addressing especially head teachers, and take the ROADMAP to different stakeholder meetings and in-service training sessions.
We would like to take the opportunity to thank the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) for all the support and flexibility we have been given in organising the workshop.
Anu Halvari and Katri Kuukka
Resource website “A roadmap for schools to support the language(s) of schooling”
30.11.2022
Supporting the language(s) of schooling: the Roadmap workshop in Sweden (10-11 November 2022)
Date and venue of the event: 10-11 November 2022, online workshop
Local organiser: Pernilla Sundström Fast, Head of Unit, Swedish National Agency for Education / National Curricula/ Pre-school and Compulsory School
Experts and moderators: Nermina Wikström, Director of Education, Swedish National Agency for Education / National Curricula/ Pre-school and Compulsory School, and Katri Kuukka, Counsellor of Education, Finnish National Agency for Education.
Participants: More than 40 primary and secondary school teachers in the different school subjects, school leaders, policymakers and decision-takers.
The Swedish National Agency for Education and the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) organised a 2-day workshop entitled “Supporting the language(s) of schooling – The ROADMAP ” as the online session.
The workshop took place on the 10th and 11th of November 2022 and was attended by more than 40 participants who showed a great interest and dedication in the topic. The aim of the experts and moderators, Nermina Wikström and Katri Kuukka, was to give the participants an overview of the Roadmap project, including a presentation of the outcomes of the project, while conducting a training session focusing the hands-on activities related to language development. During the workshop the participants had the opportunity to see some examples of promising practices, use the self-assessment tool in practice, get to know the Roadmap database and to set up the outlines of a school development plan for their own school.
Since sharing thoughts and experiences was an important part of the workshop, the participants had the possibility to discuss different topics in pairs and in smaller groups. The participants discussed the role of language(s) of schooling as a backbone of education as well as the challenges of plurilingual and intercultural education. Other topics were the importance of adapting a whole-school approach, school culture and leadership, the key ideas of the Roadmap-project and benefits for the school, areas and dimensions, self-assessment tool and guide, survey statements and customized school report.
The workshop aimed to provide a “learning by doing-opportunity” as the participants familiarized themselves with the different parts of the user-friendly Roadmap-material, sharing their findings in the common work platform Padlet.
This two-day online workshop received favourable comments from the participants, who stated that they advanced their knowledge and skills, exchanged opinions within the working groups and with the experts and shared ideas and experiences concerning their own involvement in the work with language(s) of schooling. According to the participants` evaluation the workshop provided a good combination of activities and information. The participants found the presented approach and materials very useful for their practice.
In conclusion, it has been a privilege for the Swedish National Agency for Education to take part in this project and to contribute to the Roadmap with our expertise. We are very satisfied with the outcome, and we believe that this workshop will contribute in the most positive way to support the language(s) of schooling. We would like to take the opportunity to thank the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) for all the support we have been given in organising the workshop in Sweden.
For those countries which have not yet had the opportunity to host this workshop, we strongly recommend it. It was great fun!
Pernilla Sundström Fast
10.03.2022
Adaptation of ECML resources: Ireland launches an Intercultural Look at our Schools Toolkit
An Intercultural Look at our Schools Toolkit is an online toolkit for self-evaluation and support for intercultural and linguistic diversity in schools wishing to address inclusion. It was developed in Ireland as a localised version of the self assessment tools established by the ECML project “A Roadmap to support the languages of schooling” (which is available in English, French, German and Finnish).
Set up at the initiative of the Post-Primary Languages Ireland (PPLI) in collaboration with Dublin-Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board (DDLETB) the Irish toolkit aims to:
- raise awareness of the role students’ plurilingual and pluricultural identities and competences play in their learning in a school setting;
- support teachers and school management in facilitating and promoting students’ access to the curriculum;
- encourage schools to cast an intercultural look at aspects of school life beyond the classroom to ensure that all languages and cultures of the school community are included and valued.
The toolkit advocates for a whole-school approach to improvement. It surveys and includes the voices of all members of the school community.
Find out more at : https://ilaos.ppli.ie/
Watch video
21.10.2021
Webinar “Roadmap for supporting the language(s) of schooling”
Webinar “Roadmap for supporting the language(s) of schooling”
We know that language lies at the heart of all learning; we know that highly developed competences in the language of schooling are key to learner achievement. But do we understand the importance of adopting a whole-school approach for identifying and addressing learners’ linguistic needs?
If you would like to find out about the benefits of a whole-school approach when it comes to the language of schooling, as well as tips on how to engage all stakeholders in your school community, then this webinar is for you.
Roadmap is a web-based, user-friendly resource for creating a strategic whole-school development plan which will foster inclusion by raising awareness of all languages present in the school community and provide concrete guidance on how to advance learners’ competences in the language(s) of schooling.
It offers an interactive self-assessment tool, practical materials and a large database of promising practices and can be adapted to specific national contexts. One such adaptation has already taken place in
Ireland- why and how this was done will be presented at the webinar.
The webinar is intended for all those working in language education and on language-related themes within school development - teachers, teacher educators, school leaders and administrators.
Webinar in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGqMab9rdMM
Recording from 21 October 202128.04.2021
“Supporting the language(s) of schooling: The ROADMAP - a web-based, user-friendly and customised self-assessment tool to foster school development”: ECML training and consultancy events in Malta
Local organiser of the ECML training and consultancy events: Alice Micallef, Malta.
Date of the online events: 18-19 November, 11 December 2020.
Participants: 23 participants; education officers for Maltese, English, Science and Maths and the Early Years who support teachers in schools and provide professional development sessions, amongst other work related to curricula, and assessment; heads of school; curriculum education officers working in schools; teachers.
An ECML workshop and consultancy session was organised in November and December 2020 in the context of the ECML training and consultancy offer for member states : “Supporting the language(s) of schooling: The ROADMAP - a web-based, user-friendly and customised self-assessment tool to foster school development”. A project was initiated with stakeholders in state schools with the aim of raising awareness and to help stakeholders work towards a whole-school strategy to support the development of students’ competences in the language(s) of schooling. Stakeholders were familiarised with the Roadmap tools and discussed the specific linguistic support required for learners in local school contexts. This includes learners with a migrant background as well as other learners who require support in one or both languages of schooling. A consultation meeting was held to discuss and plan the way forward in this regard.
The first phase of the project will address the situation in the Early Years and Primary sector and to initiate discussion across school sectors. The Roadmap tool will be used in schools to evaluate and address requirements related to the languages of schooling. Stakeholders from various schools and sectors are invited to form part of the working group with the aim of discussing and disseminating information on the Roadmap project.
Alice Micallef, local organiser of the ECML training and consultancy event
Related ECML resource website