Language acquisition is the most relevant aspect of school-based learning. It is the task of every school with diverse language backgrounds to get the most  from their educational setting for their students. Not only the individual teachers' efforts but also a systemic, well-planned whole-school strategy is necessary. During the event, school-teams (head teacher and one or two teachers) from the provinces of Oberösterreich, Salzburg and Burgenland with the help of professional support reflected on the possibilities to further develop their schools. They were introduced to the data-based school development tool, Roadmap. They planned the next steps and could network with each other and also with school consultants from their region.
 

Selin Öndül, team member of the ECML Training and consultancy activity “A roadmap for schools to support the language(s) of schooling“
 

• Roadmap - Self-assessment tool: available in English, Finnish, French, German and Swedish

In early June, the University of Iceland hosted a dynamic ECML Training and consultancy event on “Beyond CLIL – Pluriliteracies Teaching for Deeper Learning” bringing together educators, student teachers and teacher educators committed to deepening learning through integrated language and content teaching. Led by ECML experts, the workshop offered hands-on strategies for designing learning sequences that support the development of both subject knowledge and language competences, with a strong focus on learner agency, multimodal meaning-making and transferability.

The event provided participants with tools to rethink their practice and beliefs through the lens of the Pluriliteracies framework, fostering collaboration across disciplines and languages. Feedback from participants was enthusiastic, highlighting the relevance of the approach in multilingual classrooms and the value of sharing practice across contexts.

This initiative was part of the ECML’s Training and consultancy programme, which offers tailored support to member states on key educational themes. If you are looking to transform your teaching and professional culture, we can warmly encourage you to explore this opportunity. Learn more about how to host an event: https://www.ecml.at/TrainingConsultancy.

Author: Caterina Poggi, local organiser, University of Iceland

• Further information about the ECML training and consultancy offer for member states: "Beyond CLIL – Pluriliteracies teaching for deeper learning"

Icelandic version:

Beyond CLIL vinnustofa: Innblástur til breytinga í fjöltyngdum bekkjum

Í byrjun júní stóð Háskóli Íslands fyrir vinnustofu á vegum ECML um efnið „Beyond CLIL – Pluriliteracies Teaching for Deeper Learning“. Vinnustofuna sóttu kennarar, kennaranemar og leiðsagnarkennarar sem deila áhuga á að dýpka nám með samþættingu tungumáls og efnis. Vinnustofan var leidd af sérfræðingum ECML og bauð upp á hagnýtar leiðir til að skipuleggja kennslu sem styrkir bæði þekkingu á viðfangsefnum og málfærni, með áherslu á virkni nemenda, fjölbreytta merkingarsköpun og yfirfæranleika þekkingar.

Viðburðurinn gaf þátttakendum tækifæri til að endurskoða eigið starf og fagleg viðhorf í ljósi Pluriliteracies-rammans og hvatti til samstarfs þvert á greinar og tungumál. Ánægja þátttakenda kom skýrt fram í endurgjöf, þar sem fram kom hversu vel nálgunin nýtist í fjöltyngdu kennsluumhverfi og hversu dýrmætt það er að deila reynslu með öðrum.

Þessi vinnustofa var hluti af þjónustu ECML, sem býður aðildarríkjum upp á sérsniðinn stuðning á sviði tungumálanáms og kennslu. Ef þú vilt breyta kennsluháttum og fagmenningu í þínu kennsluumhveri hvet ég þig eindregið til að skoða þessa þjónustu nánar.

Nánari upplýsingar um hvernig hægt er að skipuleggja slíka viðburði með aðstoð ECML: https://www.ecml.at/TrainingConsultancy

Τhe Training and consultancy event "Beyond CLIL: Pluriliteracies teaching for deeper learning",  was organised by the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) of the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Regional Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education of Peloponnese and the Ministry of Education, Sports and Religious Affairs of Greece.

It took place on 3-4 April 2025 in Korinthos, Greece and was attended by 35 participants: 17 education advisors of various subjects and 18 school principals of pre-school, primary and secondary level school units.

The principles of the CLIL approach and the Deep Learning procedures were introduced by the ECML expert, Kevin Schuck, who involved the mixed group of participants in a series of hands-on activities conducted in a creative and cooperative climate.

The event closed with the participants’ commitment to participate in dissemination events with the aim of creating new material and building a larger network. It is hoped that this ECML Training and consultancy event marks the beginning of future collaborations and similar participatory training activities for educators who strive to enhance their pedagogical practices and promote a more meaningful and profound learning experience for their students.

Dr Urania Sarri, local organiser

• More information about the ECML training and consultancy offer for member states: "Beyond CLIL – Pluriliteracies teaching for deeper learning"

This training activity is designed for teachers, teacher educators and educational administrators, aiming to establish a new framework for plurilingual development programmes in European educational institutions. The concept of "pluriliteracies" opens a highly relevant new horizon for professional development, where all educational stakeholders can find a theoretical foundation based on academic research, significant initial theoretical proposals, and a set of high-quality materials to apply directly in their respective educational contexts.

The workshop explores the possibilities offered by a sound structuring of an educational programme; the adoption by teachers of an appropriate content and linguistic perspective; and, finally, the planning of evidence-based classroom activities that provide an effective framework for action in any educational context. The key to the success of this workshop lies in starting from a well-established model like CLIL and evolving towards a new approach (Pluriliteracies for Deeper Learning) in which the most validated and advanced pedagogical proposals give meaning to a new way of implementing our teaching practice.

Authors: Eduardo Obradó Mancholas & Javier Barbero Andrés (Education Administration, Cantabria, Spain)

ESPAÑOL

La Consejería de Educación de Cantabria organiza en colaboración con el Centro Europeo para las Lenguas Modernas el taller Beyond CLIL – Pluriliteracies Teaching for Deeper Learning.

El Centro Europeo para las Lenguas Modernas ofrece el taller Beyond CLIL – Pluriliteracies teaching for deeper learning. Esta actividad formativa está pensada para docentes, formadores y responsables de administraciones educativas y trata de establecer un nuevo marco de actuación para los programas de desarrollo plurilingüe en los centros educativos europeos. El concepto de “pluriliteracies” abre un nuevo horizonte de desarrollo profesional muy relevante en el que todos los agentes educativos pueden encontrar un refredo teórico basado en investigaciones académicas, unas propuestas teóricas de partida muy significativas y un conjunto de materiales de alta calidad para poder aplicar directamente en sus respectivos contextos educativos. El taller explora las posibilidades que ofrece la estructuración razonable de un programa educativo; la adopción, por parte de los docentes, de una perspectiva de contenido y lingüística adecuada; y, finalmente, la programación de actividades de aula basadas en evidencias que proporcionan un marco de actuación eficaz en cualquier contexto educativo. La clave del éxito de este taller consiste en partir de un modelo ya contrastado como es CLIL para evolucionar hacia un nuevo enfoque (Pluriliteracies for Deeper Learning) en el que las propuestas pedagógicas más contrastadas y avanzadas dan sentido a una nueva forma de implementar nuestra acción docente.

Autores: Eduardo Obradó Mancholas y Javier Barbero Andrés (Consejería de Educación, Cantabria)

Local organiser: Tomislava Maljković, Hotel and Tourism School, Zagreb

ECML experts: Chantal Muller (Belgium), Katja Schnitzer (Germany)

Participants: 23 (foreign language teachers, teachers of other subjects, teacher educators, teachers of the language of schooling, policymakers, school administrators)

On 8 and 9 April 2025, a two-day workshop on Supporting Multilingual Classrooms was held at the Hotel and Tourism School in Zagreb, Croatia. Tomislava Maljković (local coordinator) along with Ana Trogrlić and Petar Bekić liaised with the ECML expert team, Katja Schnitzer and Chantal Muller on the organisation of the event.

The Hotel and Tourism School is known for holding classes of as many as seven foreign languages as well as Croatian language classes for foreigners. It educates future tourism professionals who will, one day, work in a multicultural and multilingual environment.

This workshop enabled us, above all, to become better acquainted with the possibilities of sensitization in working with different cultures and languages, including migrant students. We also learned about the challenges and new approaches to intercultural dialogue in our classroom and beyond. It placed emphasis on the importance of first creating a microcosm of diversity respect and tolerance within ourselves, as only then can we transfer it effectively to our classroom, to our students and colleagues, and ultimately to society as a whole.

The workshop analysed how to create an inclusive environment in which all languages are valued, including the language of schooling, discussing how multilingualism in tourism and hospitality schools and other schools in Croatia can serve as an advantage and how a lifelong school approach strategy can be developed within the framework of continuous support for multilingual curricula.

One of the topics was also recognizing linguistic diversity as a pillar of learning and the holistic development of students.

Thanks to the lively input and interactive approaches of the ECML expert team, the workshop participants were introduced to new knowledge and skills that they can now apply in their classrooms.

Tomislava Maljković, local organiser, 14 April 2025

ECML project website: Supporting multilingual classrooms, ECML-EC cooperation agreement 2025 "Innovative methodologies and assessment in language learning"

For many years now, teaching professionals have been aware of the use of ICT in teaching practices. This awareness has grown still further since the Covid pandemic, sometimes leaving good teachers at a loss as they seek to retrain or even leave the profession prematurely. A training workshop of the kind offered by ICT-REV has numerous benefits, which have been fully borne out by the success of this recent workshop in Brussels.

Through its training and consultancy activities, the ECML offers a wide range of  opportunities for high-quality training to teaching professionals. Its workshops, based on the practical use of pedagogical and didactic tools, enhance the professionalism of teachers who all too often feel left alone when it comes to designing their courses to meet local standards. The professional development and pedagogical skills of teachers are an asset in fostering education systems that encourage the appropriate use of tools in their daily context. There are many AI-related tools, but their appropriate use often remains a mystery and can prove discouraging.

This training encourages a diversification of approaches and a deepening of students' learning. By making it dynamic and interactive it captures their attention and promotes concentration. Young people today are very often connected but often do not know how to make intelligent use of artificial intelligence tools. Their teachers can be destabilised by the huge range of tools available, how to use them and how to select wisely from what is available online.

Another advantage is that educational teams with similar backgrounds can meet up, not only to exchange ideas and experiences, but also to collectively build on existing good practice. Often, a professional network is created through the establishment of useful connections for the development of teaching tools and materials. 

The participants systematically  highlight the dynamism and enthusiasm of the moderators, who make this training lively, interactive and varied, and greatly appreciate  the opportunity to benefit from their expertise. 

Karine Dekeukelaere, local coordinator

French version:

Les TIC dans l’enseignement et l’apprentissage des langues et au-delà !

Depuis, de nombreuses années, les professionnel·le·s de l’enseignement sont sensibilisés à l’utilisation des TIC dans leurs pratiques enseignantes. Depuis la crise Covid, cette conscientisation s’est encore accentuée en laissant parfois de bons pédagogues désemparés cherchant à se reconvertir ou à quitter la fonction prématurément. Un tel atelier de formation a plusieurs avantages et le succès constaté en fait la démonstration.
Le CELV nous offre chaque fois la possibilité de proposer une formation de grande qualité aux professionnel·le·s de l’enseignement. Ces ateliers, basés sur l’usage pratique d’outils pédagogiques et didactiques, permettent de renforcer le professionnalisme des enseignant·e·s qui se sentent trop souvent livré·e·s à eux-mêmes dans la confection de leurs cours pour qu’ils correspondent aux référentiels locaux. Le développement professionnel et celui des compétences pédagogiques des enseignant·e·s sont un atout pour promouvoir des systèmes éducatifs encourageant un usage adéquat d’outils dans leur contexte quotidien. Les outils liés à IA sont multiples, mais leur utilisation adaptée reste souvent un mystère, parfois décourageant.
Cette formation invite à diversifier les approches et à approfondir les apprentissages des élèves en cherchant à rendre ceux-ci dynamiques et interactif·ve·s pour capter l’attention et la concentration de ces apprenant·e·s. Aujourd’hui, les jeunes sont très souvent connecté·e·s, mais ne connaissent pas, dans la majorité des cas, comment faire un usage intelligent d’outils de l’IA.  Leurs professeur·e·s peuvent être déstabilisé·e·s devant la masse inconnue d'outils, leur usage et le tri correct dans l’offre en ligne.
La rencontre entre équipes éducatives de mêmes profils est un autre avantage permettant non seulement d’échanger des idées, des expériences, mais aussi d’enrichir collectivement les bonnes pratiques existantes. Souvent, un réseau professionnel se crée par la mise en place de connexions utiles pour le développement d’outils et de matériaux didactiques. 
Les participant·e·s soulignent systématiquement le dynamisme et l’enthousiasme des formateur·rice·s qui rendent cette formation vivante, interactive et variée avec la possibilité de profiter de leur expertise.