The ECML offers its member states European expertise in language education adapted to the concrete needs and specific contexts within individual countries. This bilateral support in a range of key areas helps strengthen the cooperation between member states and the ECML by taking the expertise gained from ECML projects directly into member states. ECML experts work with national authorities and local experts to devise and implement in-country activities, tailored to the particular context and target audience.  For 2025 a number of new areas are on offer which  build on the results of projects run within the Inspiring innovation in language education programme (2020-23). Please note that activities offered in cooperation with the European Commission are subject to a separate Call for requests which will be issued in late November.

The  following  ECML training and consultancy activities are on offer for 2025:

• Plurilingual and intercultural education: teacher and learner competences
• Steps towards implementing plurilingual and intercultural education
• Plurilingual and intercultural education in early language learning
• The CEFR Companion Volume: Mediation and other key concepts – Focus: teacher and learner competences  
• The CEFR Companion Volume: Mediation and other key concepts – Focus: curriculum and evaluation
• Learning environments where languages flourish – Focus: Plurilingual and intercultural education
• Learning environments where languages flourish – Focus: Early language learning
• Action research communities for language teachers
• Fostering digital citizenship through language education
• Language for work – Work-related second language learning for adult migrants and ethnic minorities
• Beyond CLIL – Pluriliteracies teaching for deeper learning
• A roadmap for schools to support the language(s) of schooling

Details of the proposed activities, practical information and the application form can be found here: www.ecml.at/Trainingandconsultancy.

Requests for a Training and consultancy activity must be submitted via the national ECML representative in the Governing Board. Educational professionals interested in a particular activity should therefore contact their national representative.

The application deadline for 2025 is 15 November 2024.

ECML training and consultancy: Action Research Communities online workshop
Date: pre-workshop on 23 May 2024; workshop: 31 May – 1st June 2024
Venue: Brusov State University, Yerevan
Local organiser: Arpine Hovhannisyan, Brusov State University
ECML moderators: Christine Lechner, Austria, and Renata Zanin, Italy
Participants: 22 language teachers working at the university, schools, language centres

As a local organiser and recent participant in the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) online Workshop on Action Research Communities (ARC), I am excited to share the incredible training and consultancy opportunities offered by ECML! These events are designed to empower language educators with cutting-edge methodologies and innovative practices, ensuring that we – Armenian language teachers – stay at the forefront of language teaching.

The ARC workshop was a transformative experience. You engage with educators from different Institutions, exploring innovative research methods, collaborative strategies, and effective practices in language education. The insights and practical tools develop the participants’ knowledge and creative impulses to enhance the effectiveness of their teaching.

ECML’s training and consultancy events cover a wide range of language education themes, including digital literacy, plurilingual education, and inclusive teaching strategies. These events are tailored to meet our diverse needs, offering engaging workshops and collaborative learning experiences.

By participating in ECML events, we benefit from the expertise of leading professionals in the field and join a supportive community of educators committed to excellence in language education. These programmes provide unparalleled opportunities to advance our skills, network with peers, and contribute to the evolution of language teaching.

I encourage all language educators to take advantage of these exceptional opportunities. Elevate your teaching and make a meaningful impact on your students’ language learning journeys.

Visit the ECML website to learn more and register for upcoming events. Together, we can transform language education and evolve further!

Arpine Hovhannisyan

• More information about the ECML training and consultancy offer for member states on Enhancing language learning and teaching through Action Research Communities for language teachers
• Facebook group of the Action Research Community for Language teachers

ECML training and consultancy event: “Action research and language pedagogy: Infusing action learning in language teaching processes”
Date and venue: 20-21 October 2023, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway
Local organiser: University of Agder, Department of Foreign Languages and Translation in collaboration with Sørlandsk Lærerstevne
ECML experts: Angela Gallagher-Brett (United Kingdom) and Larisa Kasumagić-Kafedžić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Participants: 22 teachers from lower secondary schools and upper secondary schools in the region of Agder, student teachers and teacher trainers from the university

The workshop by the Action Research for Language Teachers (ARC) team is a good starting point for developing your language teaching community. In the workshop, the ARC team offers a hands-on introduction to how to use different tools and leads participants through all the necessary steps in an action research process. Working together with other in-service and pre-service language teachers during the workshop creates an inspiring atmosphere with critical friends which leads you to develop shared ideas. As part of the workshop, participants are inspired to plan a small project for their own classroom and form a peer group with teachers with similar projects. In these peer groups you are strongly encouraged to plan a schedule for meetings to ensure progress in the projects. Before you leave the workshop, a date is set for a virtual follow-up-meeting with all the participants to present an update on each other’s projects.

To help you on your way, the ARC toolkit on the ECML website offers many tools that you can use to carry out the project. In addition, the follow-up meeting where you share the ups and downs in your projects is very fruitful and you see that small steps can make big differences for the quality of teaching languages in the classroom.

Eli-Marie Drange

• More information about the ECML training and consultancy offer for member states on Enhancing language learning and teaching through Action Research Communities for language teachers
• Facebook group of the Action Research Community for Language teachers

Norwegian version

Ønsker du inspirasjon til å utvikle din egen språkundervisning og samarbeide med andre lærere?

En workshop om aksjonsforskning for språklærere i regi av ARC-teamet fra ECML (Det europeiske språksenteret) kan være et sted å begynne for å utvikle egen språkundervisning i samarbeid med andre lærere. I workshopen gir ARC-teamet deg en steg-for steg introduksjon til hvordan du kan bruke ulike verktøy for å utvikle et aksjonsforskningsprosjekt i klasserommet. Gjennom å samarbeide med andre lærere og lærerstudenter i løpet av workshopen, skapes det en god atmosfære der en støtter og utfordrer hverandre til å utvikle nye ideer. Som en del av programmet, blir du utfordret  til å definere et lite prosjekt du kan gjennomføre i ditt eget klasserom, og etablere mindre samarbeidsgrupper med andre lærere som har lignende prosjekter. I samarbeidsgruppene blir du oppfordret til å avtale møtepunkter for å sikre en gjennomføring av de planlagte prosjektene. Ved avslutningen av workshopen, fastsettes det en dato for et virtuelt oppfølgingsmøte med alle deltakerne for å gi en oppdatering av de ulike prosjektene.

Som en støtte i prosessen videre, finnes det mange nyttige verktøy tilgjengelig fra ARC-prosjektet på ECMLs nettsider. Oppfølgingsmøtet der du kan dele erfaringene med prosjektet ditt er nyttig for å se at selv små steg er viktige i arbeidet med å forbedre kvaliteten på språkundervisningen i klasserommet.

Eli-Marie Drange