On 15th and 16th November the central workshop for the project A Quality Matrix for CEFR use took place. It was an important step in the development of our project.
Thirty-five participants from over thirty countries interacted, reflected and worked together on aspects concerning language education at different levels.
In an increasingly globalised world, characterised by growing personal and professional mobility, transparency and effectiveness in language assessment are more and more necessary. The CEFR can play a key role in this regard, if it is implemented with quality procedures. The workshop provided just such an opportunity for participants to concentrate on the notion of quality in education and to see the issues involved with this notion and the opportunities it offers for advances in language teaching and for a more effective implementation of the CEFR able to foster and support curriculum reform.
Sharing the experiences and practices in their respective countries allowed the participants to expand upon the challenges with which people playing different roles in education are confronted and to consider solutions they had encountered. This provided fertile ground for the identification of principles of quality and for the definition of indicators of quality in relation to the CEFR. These principles and indicators would be the basis of an online tool, the Quality matrix, aimed at all language professionals in education. The workshop was also the first step towards the creation of a network of experts who will continue their collaboration with the project team.
The workshop was a great success that has inspired us in our work. A big thanks to all involved!
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@ Photo credit: ECML - Workshop participants