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Building block 2:
How can the aims in learners’ curricula inform language-sensitive teacher education?


Download building block 2

This Building block is concerned with how teacher educators’ and (future) teachers’ understanding of language-related aims described in learners’ curricula can contribute to language-sensitive education. Such aims usually include the language-related competences of learners across the range of subjects, including languages, that they are studying at different target levels of education.

Who is this Building block for?

  • teacher educators and those organising professional development for practising teachers,
  • curriculum planners for teacher education.

To use this Building block, some familiarity with language-sensitive education is recommended. Teacher educators or curriculum planners with little background in language education are invited to cooperate with colleagues who are more experienced in this area and to consult Building block 1. 

Main objectives

  • to enable users to become acquainted with, and reflect on descriptions of learners’ language-related competences specified in learners’ curricula by national and regional education authorities;
  • to use the insights gained from discussing descriptions of language-related learner competences when planning language-sensitive teacher education modules or curricula.

Introduction to learners’ curricula

This Building block focuses on language-related competences in learners’ curricula. If you would like more information and activities on curricula in general, and teacher education curricula in particular, we would encourage you to have a look at the first section of Building block 3, (What is a teacher education curriculum and what does it contain?). The questions below can be used in a general warm-up discussion on the topic of learners’ curricula.

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While teacher educators and curriculum planners for teacher education are likely to be more directly concerned with the competences of (future) teachers, and perhaps of teacher educators themselves, it is essential to review and plan teacher education with its intended outcomes in mind. These outcomes include the teachers’ ability to help learners to develop the necessary language-related competences for education and for life. These competences are often described in course curricula for learners and in learner competence frameworks, so it is important for teacher educators to be fully aware of these competence descriptions where they exist.