ECML training and consultancy for member states

Local organisation: Ms Aikaterini Karagiorgou, Head of the Directorate of Primary Education of Larissa, Thessaly, Greece, Larissa, in cooperation with the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs

Participants: 35 kindergarten and primary school teachers, head teachers, representatives of the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs and the Institute of Educational Policy

The “Quality Education in Romani for Europe (QualiRom)” workshop took place as an online event in Larissa, Greece on 4^th and 11^th March 2022. The training was organised by the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) of the Council of Europe and the Directorate of Primary Education of Larissa in cooperation with the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs. Thirty-five pre-school and primary school teachers, head teachers, representatives of the Institute of Educational Policy and the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs participated in the event. The trainers were the coordinator of the ECML QualiRom expert team, Prof. David Little (Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland) and Ján Hero (Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for Romani Communities).

On the first day of the workshop David Little and Ján Hero familiarised the participants with the Romani language, culture and history and the Council of Europe’s plurilingual and pluricultural/intercultural approach to education. The participants were divided into groups to discuss further using Padlets about different challenges this approach to education poses for them. David Little also presented a case-study from Ireland and then the participants discussed the potential application of the Irish example in the Greek classroom.

On the second day, the Curriculum Framework for Romani, the European Language Portfolio for Romani, and learner autonomy to make their own learning materials and teaching/using English as a bridge between Greek and Romani were the topics explored. The participants again worked in groups received feedback.

The workshop ended with participants’ future plans for integrating the results of this training in the education of Romani pupils in Greece.

Author: Dr. Aikaterini Karagiorgou, Head of the Directorate of Primary Education of Larissa, Greece, local organiser

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Greek version

Η διαδικτυακή επιμορφωτική δράση με τίτλο «Quality Education in Romani for Europe (QualiRom)» πραγματοποιήθηκε στη Λάρισα, Ελλάδα στις 4 και 11 Μαρτίου 2022. Η εν λόγω επιμορφωτική δράση διοργανώθηκε από το Ευρωπαϊκό Κέντρο Σύγχρονων Γλωσσών (ECML) του Συμβουλίου της Ευρώπης και τη Διεύθυνση Πρωτοβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης Λάρισας σε συνεργασία με το Υπουργείο Παιδείας και Θρησκευμάτων. Στην εκδήλωση συμμετείχαν 35 εκπαιδευτικοί προσχολικής και σχολικής εκπαίδευσης, διευθυντές, εκπρόσωποι του Ινστιτούτου Εκπαιδευτικής Πολιτικής και του Υπουργείου Παιδείας και Θρησκευμάτων της Ελλάδος. Οι επιμορφωτές ήταν ο επικεφαλής της ομάδας εμπειρογνωμόνων ECML QualiRom, Καθηγητής David Little (Trinity College, Δουβλίνο, Ιρλανδία) και Ján Hero (πληρεξούσιος της κυβέρνησης της Σλοβακίας για τις Κοινότητες των Ρομά).

Την πρώτη μέρα του εργαστηρίου ο καθηγητής David Little και ο Ján Hero εξοικείωσαν τους συμμετέχοντες με τη γλώσσα, τον πολιτισμό και την ιστορία των Ρομά και την πολυγλωσσική και πολυπολιτισμική/διαπολιτισμική προσέγγιση του Συμβουλίου της Ευρώπης στην εκπαίδευση. Οι επιμορφούμενοι χωρίστηκαν σε ομάδες για να συζητήσουν περαιτέρω στα Padlets σχετικά με τις διαφορετικές προκλήσεις που τους θέτει αυτή η προσέγγιση στην εκπαίδευση. Επιπλέον, ο καθηγητής Little παρουσίασε μια μελέτη περίπτωσης από την Ιρλανδία και στη συνέχεια οι συμμετέχοντες συζήτησαν την πιθανή εφαρμογή του ιρλανδικού παραδείγματος στην ελληνική τάξη.

Τη δεύτερη μέρα, το Πλαίσιο Αναλυτικού Προγράμματος Σπουδών για τα Ρομά, το Ευρωπαϊκό Χαρτοφυλάκιο Γλωσσών για Ρομανί, η αυτονομία των μαθητών να φτιάξουν το δικό τους μαθησιακό υλικό και η διδασκαλία/χρήση της αγγλικής ως γέφυρα μεταξύ της ελληνικής και της ρομανικής γλώσσας ήταν τα θέματα που διερεύνησε ο καθηγητής Little. Οι επιμορφούμενοι δούλεψαν ξανά σε ομάδες και ο Ján Hero τους παρείχε ανατροφοδότηση.

Το εργαστήριο ολοκληρώθηκε με τα μελλοντικά σχέδια των συμμετεχόντων για ενσωμάτωση των αποτελεσμάτων αυτής της επιμόρφωσης στην εκπαίδευση των Ρομά μαθητών στην Ελλάδα.

Author: Dr. Aikaterini Karagiorgou, Head of the Directorate of Primary Education of Larissa, Greece, local organiser

One school, Many Languages (January 2022) – this attractive brochure has been designed as a practical resource for primary school teachers. It contains links to lesson plans, videos, audio resources that can be used in the classroom and articles following the latest research and best practice.

The toolkit has been designed by Mother Tongues to disseminate some of the key points from the Supporting Multilingual Classrooms national workshop, delivered in Ireland on 27th and 28th September 2021 by the ECML experts, Chantal Muller and Prof. Terry  Lamb. This event was funded by the European Union and the European Centre for Modern Languages.

In February 2022, The Irish Times featured Mother Tongues and the toolkit in an article:
“Speaking in mother tongues shows heritage is a class act – Embracing diverse languages inside the classroom gives all pupils a great advantage”.

Follow Mother Tongues on social media:
Facebook: @mothertongues.ie
Twitter: @MotherTonguesIE
Instagram: @mother_tongues_ireland
#MotherTongues

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

In response to the call for the 2022 round of “RELANG” and “Supporting Multilingual Classrooms” national workshops, a total of 27 requests from EU and ECML member states were received.
Events will take place between mid-March and mid-December 2022 in the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland – with slots for one-two further workshops still to be determined.

RELANG focuses on relating foreign/second language curricula, tests and examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), and Supporting Multilingual Classrooms focuses on the linguistic integration of migrant learners in schools across Europe.

These activities take place within the 9th edition of the European Commission – ECML joint action on Innovative methodologies and assessment in language learning.

The European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe together with the European Commission are launching a new round of RELANG and Supporting Multilingual Classrooms workshops within the joint action on Innovative methodologies and assessment in language learning. RELANG focuses on relating foreign/second language curricula, tests and examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), and Supporting Multilingual Classrooms focuses on the linguistic integration of migrant learners in schools across Europe.

The activities are scheduled to take place between mid-March and mid-December 2022, each initiative offering up to 9 national workshops during this period. In view of the ongoing pandemic, workshops will be delivered in a combination of online and face-to-face formats.

The call is open to current European Union member states and the additional member states of the ECML until 16 February 2022.

For further information, please contact Adelina Rosca (adelina.rosca@ecml.at), the ECML-EU cooperation agreement coordinator.

Date, venue, format: 2-3 December 2021, face to face event in Nicosia, Cyprus
Local organiser: Maria Iacovidou, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth of Cyprus
ECML experts: Jackie Robbins, Spain; Pauline Ernest, Spain
Participants: 20 foreign language teachers (mainly English language teachers + Spanish and Russian language teachers), heads of departments, teacher trainers, advisors from both secondary and primary education

A number of language teachers in Cyprus from all sectors had the opportunity to participate in the ICT-REV workshop “Using ICT in support of language teaching and learning” so as to include more ICT tools in the teaching, learning and assessment process.

In this two-day workshop the participants were introduced to a number of digital tools and then designed activities according to the trainers’ instructions. The activities were designed to encourage participation and engage learning in the classroom, subsequently enhancing all four skills. Of course, all of this was done in a pedagogically sound way. An  collaborative workspace online was created where teachers could share ideas and good practices and gain new insights into language teaching and learning.

The ECML language experts, Jackie Robbins and Pauline Ernest, who led the workshops offered practical tips for both face to face and distance learning scenarios. The atmosphere during the workshop was positive and quite lively, especially during group work where experiences were shared. All participating teachers commented favourably about both trainers, saying that they were extremely efficient, highly competent and thoroughly professional.

It was a very useful workshop which should be followed up on.

Maria Iacovidou, local organiser of the event

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