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Think tanks within the ECML 5th medium-term programme: Languages at the heart of learning

The ECML 5th medium-term programme consists of two strands, development and mediation. The development strand includes ECML projects and the new ECML Think tanks.

Why think tanks?

The aim of the new ECML think tanks is to create a network of expertise from across ECML member states and beyond which can advise the ECML secretariat on how to address the following key priorities in language education:

Whole-school approaches to the language/s of schooling ( September 2016)
Early language learning (December 2016)
Pathways for learning/autonomous learning (2017, date to be confirmed)

How do they work?

The first step in the think tank process is the development of an online questionnaire for each theme which is then disseminated as widely as possible so that a picture of the current state-of-play emerges, revealing both success stories as well as challenges. The second stage involves a first analysis of the questionnaire results and the selection of between fifteen and twenty of the respondents to form the think tank group itself. A date is then set for the group to meet in Graz; the group is tasked with providing concrete recommendations to the ECML secretariat on how the Centre might best use its resources and structure to address the topic within the remainder of the 5th medium-term programme, 2016-19.

What are the benefits?

As well as offering an innovative and flexible way in which to respond to these areas of need, think tanks also allow the ECML to involve more stakeholders in the discussions. No fixed outputs are pre-determined: these might take the form of a new project or a series of events or something completely different.

Think tank report

Professor David Little, Fellow Emeritus, Trinity College, Dublin, has kindly produced a report in relation to the first two think tank topics which can be downloaded here.

Where are we now and where do we go from here?

Whole-school approaches to the Languages of schooling

A new thematic area has been created on the ECML’s website, dedicated to the language/s of schooling. This will be updated on a regular basis.
A project team is now in place to take forward the new two-year project. The team members are:
Rebecca Dahm (France), coordinator
Selin Öndül, Switzerland
Nermina Wikström, Sweden
Katri Kuukka, Finland
There will also be associate partners – details to follow.
The ECML intends to develop a new module on whole-school cooperation in the language/s of schooling to expand the existing modules on offer within the joint ECML-EU training and consultancy initiative, “Supporting multilingual classrooms”. This should be available from 2019 onwards.

Early language learning

A new two-year project has been agreed and the team selected.

The team members are:

Flore Schank, (Luxembourg), Coordinator
Déirdre Kirwan, Ireland
Dana Musilova, Czech Republic
Jakob Patekar, Croatia
Ingeborg Birnie, United Kingdom

The draft objectives and expected outputs of the new project are:

Objectives

to develop a professional learning community based on ECML resources adapted for the primary sector with a focus on pre- and in-service training and development for teachers
to provide continuity in terms of teacher development from pre-primary through primary and into secondary
To enable a whole-school approach

Expected outputs

A web-based platform with:

Tools for pre- and in-service teacher training (pre-primary/primary) covering areas such as:

developing a reflective approach to teaching
working with multilingual classrooms
teachers discovering their own plurilingualism/considering their attitudes towards the plurilingual resources of their students (emergent plurilinguals)
developing literacy skills across languages
observing and documenting progress in the children’s learning
reconsidering ways of assessing children

examples of living multilingual classrooms, including videos of teacher training and classroom situations with guidelines

These are activities of the European Centre for Modern Languages within its "Languages at the heart of learning" programme 2016-2019.

Go to the programme webpage

Think tank: Language learning pathways

Think tank meeting, 18-19 January 2018

In preparation for the think tank meeting, which took place at the ECML in Graz on 18-19 January 2018, the moderation team consisting of Marisa Cavalli (ECML programme consultant) Jonas Erin (France), David G Little (Irland), Anne Ontero (Finland) carried out a detailed analysis of the responses to the online questionnaire, launched by the ECML in September 2017 and which received 40 responses from 22 countries. This analysis then formed the springboard for discussion among the 16 language experts from 12 different European countries and Canada who were selected to take part. In addition to an introductory presentation on the ECML on day one, and a presentation of key Council of Europe resources pertinent to the topic of language learning pathways on day two, group work was complemented with individual presentations from the coordination team. Links to all of these presentations can be found below.

The meeting resulted in a list of recommendations on how the ECML could support its member states in developing language learning pathways. The ECML Secretariat will now review these recommendations with a view to formulating a concrete proposal which will be presented at the meeting of the Bureau of the Governing Board in March 2018. This website will be updated once a decision on the proposal has been taken. The ECML would like to take this opportunity to express its gratitude to everyone involved: all those who took the time to answer the online questionnaire, those who participated in the think tank meeting itself and, of course, to the coordination team who so skillfully prepared and managed the event.

Meeting agenda

You can download the PowerPoint presentations of the think tank meeting here:

Supplementary reading

Article on Learner autonomy - self-assessment, goal-setting and reflection- David G Little

Overview of the project

The aim of the think tank is to bring together language experts from across Europe and beyond (for example, teachers, teacher educators, inspectors, curriculum developers, parents, language policy makers…) to discuss language learning pathways in schools but also outside formal educational frameworks. The think tank will examine what is already being done, what tools exist and what more needs to be done to respond to the individual needs of diverse learners. Within the specific context of language learning, the following aspects will be discussed:

Autonomous learning through self-reflection and self-evaluation (including the role of the European Language Portfolio)
Recognition of prior learning; valorisation, reuse and expansion of the learners’ existing linguistic repertoires as part of the language learning process
The role of formative assessment
The role of intercultural learning in education for democracy and citizenship
Continuity of learning in terms of learning content, learning method, learning pace and language learning awareness at different stages of the educational process
The availability and diversity of language learning experiences (cf. curriculum guidelines) in schools as well outside educational frameworks
Valuing languages and language learning

Within the framework of the plurilingual approach, a central concept of the Council of Europe, the think tank will take account of the languages of schooling, but the main focus will be on pathways towards the recognition of - and the learning of - foreign and classical languages, family and heritage languages. The task of the think tank will be to recommend ways in which the ECML might take further the ideas developed in the meeting. This could be done in a variety of ways such as a colloquium which builds on the findings of the think tank, or a dedicated website to disseminate relevant resources and information.

“PATHWAYS” AND “PARCOURS”

The expressions « learning pathways » and « parcours d’apprentissage » are not used in exactly the same way. « Learning pathways » tends to refer to ways of accessing learning, the choices available, the continuity between different strands of education and learning. « Parcours d’apprentissage » includes some of these concepts but also explores the processes of learning. However, in the context of the work of the Council of Europe, the learner is a social actor, at the centre of the learning process. The role of the school and other educational agencies is to enable learners to become independent and to help them to achieve their own learning goals. Therefore for the purpose of this think tank, we would like to combine all of these aspects.

The ultimate goal of learning pathways is to empower the learner as a person and as a citizen.

Think tank: Whole-school approaches to the language/s of schooling

The online questionnaire produced a total of 107 complete responses from 33 different countries, including 7 non-ECML member states. Nearly 20% of the respondents were teacher trainers, closely followed by academic researchers (18%). Most encouraging was to see that in addition to these two key ECML target groups, responses were received from parents, language teachers, teachers of non-linguistic subjects as well as head teachers. This is an endorsement of the ECML’s decision to focus this think tank not only on the language/s of schooling but specifically on whole-school approaches. Moreover, teacher respondents came from all sectors from pre-primary to upper secondary.
Read more

Think tank: Early language learning

The online questionnaire triggered a very positive response from across the world. 156 completed responses from 31 different countries were received, with strongest interest from Switzerland, Romania and Greece. There was a wide array of respondent profiles including parents, pre-school and primary teachers, specialist language teachers, teacher trainers, head teachers and researchers, data which helped the ECML secretariat and the think tank moderation team identify the key challenges as well as examples of innovative practice and to use these as a basis for discussion at the think tank itself.

The moderation team and participants were selected.

Think tank meeting 1-2 December 2016

Moderation team: Frank Heyworth, ECML Consultant; Francis Goullier, France, Déirdre Kirwan, Ireland and Dorieta Zdravkova Chakarova, Bulgaria.

Participants: 17 in total: 14 from ECML member states, 2 from European non-ECML members states and 1 from Canada.

In order to come up with proposals for the ECML, the experts worked in groups to address the following issues:

The methodologies of language teaching and assessment in primary and pre-primary, including the role of CLIL. Continuity and progression within primary education and transition to secondary education.
The content of pre- and in-service training and development programmes for teachers and the place of autonomous learning
Making best use of all of the human resources in and around the school – the wider school community
Making all the different resources available in an easily accessible and coherent way.

In addition to the questionnaire data, participants were presented with an overview of European policy on early language learning and of ECML existing resources in this area. They were also inspired by the presentation of one Irish primary school’s response to linguistic diversity and witnessed the positive learning outcomes and strong self-esteem experienced by these young learners whose languages and cultures were valued and drawn upon as a rich resource for learning.

A number of very interesting proposals emerged with the main focus being the question of teacher education, both initial and in-service. There was unanimous agreement that any training needed to begin with attitudes and values – with a commitment to plurilingual and intercultural education; to recognising and valuing all of the languages in both the learner and the teacher’s repertoire. Moreover, experts were keen to build on existing ECML tools such as PEPELINO, CARAP, Conbat + and EPOSTL (*) to ensure continuous support for teachers from pre-primary through to secondary and beyond.

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(*)

PEPELINO – European portfolio for pre-primary educators – The plurilingual and intercultural dimension

CARAP – A framework of reference for pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures

Conbat + – Plurilingualism and pluriculturalism in content-based teaching: A training kit

EPOSTL – Using the European portfolio for student teachers of languages