Latest news items
18.05.2022
Collecting language learners’ voices – invitation to participate in a classroom activity and questionnaire
Just over a year ago, the European Centre for Modern Languages together with its Professional Network Forum and with the support of the European Commission conducted a survey on the effects of the pandemic on language education. With over 1 700 responses, the in-depth survey harvested a wealth of information on the ways in which the COVID pandemic and resulting lockdowns have affected institutions, language teachers and language learners.
The “Future of language education in the light of Covid - Lessons learned and ways forward” initiative is now seeking to complement the data already gathered by collecting learners’ voices, offering them a channel for telling their stories and voicing their opinions on how the pandemic affected their language learning. In particular, this new classroom activity and questionnaire will ask learners to express their views about their experiences during the lockdown phases when teaching and learning were mostly not in traditional (pre-pandemic) classroom settings. They will also have the opportunity to give their opinion about how language education might change for the better in the future.
Teachers working in foreign or other languages, including teachers of CLIL, who would be willing to run a learners’ voices classroom activity between 18 May and 26 June 2022 are invited to register as soon as possible on the following page: www.ecml.at/thefutureoflanguageeducation. Participation involves organising one or more motivating activities with the selected secondary school class(es), ensuring the learners as a group complete their questionnaire, and then completing a short teachers’ questionnaire. Following registration, the ECML will send details about suggested activities and the questionnaires. We would also appreciate it if you share this information and the registration details with your colleagues. All participating classes and teachers will receive a Certificate of Participation as a way of saying ‘thank you’ for their help and collaboration with this far-reaching pan-European initiative.
To find out more please also see the recording of the webinar on collecting learners voices run on 17 May 2022.
The overall findings of the initiative will be published at the end of the year in a book to be made available for download from the Future of language education website.
24.03.2022
Launch of a new ECML project “Building blocks for planning language-sensitive teacher education”
In January 2022 the ECML launched a new 2-year project entitled “Building blocks for planning language-sensitive teacher education”. This project responds to the need in member states to strengthen languages awareness in teacher education programmes.
The purpose of the project is to develop resources in the form of building blocks for teacher educators and curriculum planners working with teachers of different languages and subjects. The building blocks include guidelines to help ensure that a focus on language-sensitive education is built into teacher education curricula and courses. The aim is to enable practising and future teachers to help their students to meet their language and communication needs.
This project is coordinated by Lukas Bleichenbacher, PH St. Gallen (Switzerland). More information is available on the project website.
18.11.2020
Teacher competences for languages in education: ECML online workshop for teacher trainers in Serbia (4-6 November 2020)
Date and venue: 4-6 November 2020; online (Serbia)
Local organisation: Tamara Đorđević, Language Policy Officer, Education Policies and Career Guidance and Counselling Unit, FOUNDATION TEMPUS, Belgrade, Serbia
ECML experts: Richard Rossner, UK; Lukas Bleichenbacher, Switzerland
Participants: 26 university teachers working in initial teacher education who are also involved in curriculum/syllabus development and adaptation
The online ECML workshop "Teacher competences for languages in education" was held on 4-6 November 2020 in cooperation with the Foundation Tempus. The participants were language professionals in Serbia with a background in language teaching methodology who work in initial teacher education.
The main aims of the workshop were to familiarise participants with the resources developed through the ECML project A guide to teacher competences for languages in education, to assist them in exploring their relevance to teacher education in Serbia and in drawing on the resources when reviewing teacher education curricula and syllabi.
During the workshop, the participants had the opportunity to explore the ECML Catalogue of frameworks and Taxonomy of teacher competences for languages in education, as well as to discuss teacher education curriculum review and examples of good practice in Serbia and Europe. Important topics addressed at the event also included teaching practice in initial teacher education and (self-)assessment of teacher competences.
The workshop enabled the participants to discuss topics relevant to their work both with the ECML experts and with their colleagues from other universities. They recognised the applicability of teacher competence frameworks and taxonomy in their own professional practice and welcome dthe opportunity to gain new insights and ideas as well as exchange experience.
Author: Tamara Đorđević
Article in Serbian:
Онлајн радионица Европског центра за живе језике: Компетенције наставника језика
Европски центар за живе језике Савета Европе и Фондација Темпус организовали су од 4. до 6. новембра 2020. године онлајн радионицу под називом „Компетенције наставника језика“. Догађај је био намењен стручњацима у области методике наставе страних језика који се баве иницијалним образовањем наставника.
Главни циљеви радионице били су упознавање са ресурсима пројекта „Водич за компетенције наставника језика“ спроведеног у оквиру Европског центра за живе језике, као и испитивање релевантности ових инструмената у нашем контексту и њихове употребе при ревидирању планова и програма за образовање наставника.
Током радионице учесници су имали прилике да истраже Каталог оквира и Таксономију компетенција наставника језика, као и да дискутују о приступима ревизији планова и програма за образовање наставника и примерима добре праксе у Србији и Европи. Међу важним темама радионице били су и методичка пракса у иницијалном образовању наставника и (само)оцењивање компетенција наставника.
Радионица је учесницима обезбедила простор за дискусију о темама важним за њихов рад, како са стручњацима Европског центра за живе језике тако и са колегама из других установа у Србији. Учесници су препознали могућности примене представљених инструмената у сопственој пракси, а нарочито вредним су сматрали пружену прилику за стицање нових идеја и размену искустава.
Детаљније информације о пројекту „Водич за компетенције наставника језика“, из којег је потекла ова радионица, доступне су на веб-сајту Европског центра за живе језике, где се налазе и ресурси везани за ову тему који могу користити стручњацима у области методике наставе али и будућим наставницима.
Author: Tamara Đorđević