CURRICULUM AND TEACHER TRAINING IN THE ISAs

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CURRICULUM AND TEACHER TRAINING IN THE ISAs
III Seminar on International Spanish Academies,
ISAs Los Angeles, November 27th-30th, 2007
María Teresa Rodríguez Consejería de
Educación. Embajada de España en Washington
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OVERVIEW

• The ISAs Network
• Integrated Curriculum Framework
• Teacher Training

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ISAs Network
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CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK

• ISAs AIMS are to
• Encourage students academic success in all
  subjects of the
• curriculum.
• Educate students within the values of
  interculturality to foster
• national and international communication and
  understanding.
• Prepare students to interact and express
  themselves in Spanish
• and English in personal, social and academic
  settings.
• Prepare students for their professional future
  growing up in
• international contexts.
• Promote community participation in an integrative
  
• educational project in a community of
  practice approach.

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ISAs INTEGRATED CURRICULUM

• 1. GENERAL COMPONENT
• Current school established curriculum. Part of it
  (subjects or thematic
• curricular areas) will be implemented in Spanish
  or in English.
• Languages and content areas are integrated to
  foster learning.
• 2. SPECIFIC LANGUAGE AND CULTURE COMPONENT
• Integrated in the regular school curriculum. It
  should include
• Spanish Language oral and written communication.
• Awareness of language and culture.
• Learning skills to encourage language
  acquisition, sociocultural
• learning and content learning.
• This integrated model actively involves the
  learner in using, learning and
• developing the target language.
• Language OF learning, used FOR learning and
  THROUGH learning.
• (Do Coyle, 2006, on CLIL)

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THE 3 DIMENSIONS OF THE SPECIFIC COMPONENT (I)

• LINGUISTIC DIMENSION
• Oral and written communication in Spanish.
• Language awareness.
• SOCIO-CULTURAL DIMENSION
• - Sociocultural communication skills.
• - Intercultural awareness.
• LEARNING INTEGRATION DIMENSION
• Learning skills to foster language acquisition
  and content
• learning.
• Collaboration of the entire school community.

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The 3 DIMENSIONS OF THE SPECIFIC COMPONENT (II) -
Is it necessary to outline common basic contents
and evaluation criteria for the ISAs?
WHAT?
WHY?
WHEN?
WHO?
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WHY ?

• It would serve as a guide for students who want
  to
• apply for an international certification of
  Spanish
• Language Competence (Diplomas DELE 3 levels).
• It would help to assure quality in the diverse
• contexts of ISAs.
• It would serve to identify an ISAs Network and it
  is
• a way to make common expectations explicit.

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WHO? WHEN? WHY?

• Who will outline it?
• Schools and the Education Office of Spain.
• How and when will it be done?
• Through a joint and collaborative process direct
  and
• virtual communication.
• Through different steps, closely linked to
  teacher training
• and responding to schools contextual needs and
  proposals.
• Outstanding and validated key references
• In Europe
• In the USA

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COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK FOR LANGUAGES
LEARNING, TEACHING, ASSESSMENT
Advisers and T. Trainers
Teachers
Students
Education authorities
Textbook authors
Common Scales of Reference
Curriculum writers
Examination boards

• Design language programs.
• Offer curriculum orientations.
• Write language teaching materials.
  
• Make assessements and write texts and external
  exams.
• Extend language certification.
• Foster and facilitate autonomous learning.

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THE EUROPEAN COMMON SCALES OF REFERENCE FOR
LANGUAGE LEARNING
C 2. Mastery C 1. Effective Operational
Proficiency
C
Common Scales of Reference(CSR)
B 2. Vantage B 1. Threshold
B
A 2. Waystage A 1. Breakthrough
A
http//www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/Framewo
rk_EN.pdf
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EUROPEAN LANGUAGE PORTFOLIO
Language Passport
Biography
Dossier

• Collection of
• pieces of work
• and certificates
• chosen by the
• learner
• - To document and
• illustrate language
• skills, experiences,
• and achievements.
• To demonstrate
• language competence
• to others.

• Student history
• of language
• learning
• Helps learners to
• evaluate own
• learning goals and
• experiences and to
• reflect upon
• language and
• culture learning.

• Formal record
• that includes
• Certificates and
• diplomas.
• - Self-assessment.
• A summary of
• experiences and
• abilities with different
• languages.

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PORTFOLIO AIMS

• HELP LEARNERS
• - To encourage learning self assessment and set
  up learning goals.
• - To foster language learning awareness,
  autonomous learning and
• life-long learning.
• - To show learning experiences in own country and
  abroad.
• HELP EDUCATORS
• -To emphasize plurilingualism and intercultural
  values.
• -To contribute to global understanding.
• -To motivate students and help them to set up
  learning goals.
• -To obtain information about the learner's
  previous knowledge.
• -To evaluate language competence following the
  European
• Common Scales of Reference for language
  learning.

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SPANISH LANGUAGE PORTFOLIOS

• Infant education
• http//www.mec.es/programas-europeos/docs/pel_inf
  antil_alumno.pdf
• Primary Education
• http//www.mec.es/programas-europeos/docs/pel_pasa
  porte_primaria.pdf
• Secondary Education
• http//www.mec.es/programas-europeos/docs/pel_biog
  rafia_dossier_secundaria.pdf
• Adult Education
• http//www.mec.es/programas-europeos/docs/pel_adul
  tos_pasaporte.pdf

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EUROPEAN LANGUAGE PORTFOLIO

• 89 Portfolio versions validated.
• Extended to over 25 countries
• in different European languages.
• Approved and used by the majority of
• the Associations of Language Testers in
• Europe.

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LINGUAFOLIOS IN THE USA

• Indiana
• http//www.doe.state.in.us/opd/docs/Linguafolio2
  0Indiana-11-04.doc
• Nebraska
• http//www.nde.state.ne.us/FORLG/LinguaFolio/Lingu
  aFolio.htm
• Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
  Kentucky
• and Georgia. LinguaFolio 5-State Pilot
• http//www.doe.virginia.gov/linguafolio/

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NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION
IN THE USA

• http//www.yearoflanguages.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm
  ?pageid3392

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TEACHER TRAINING

• PLANS FOR THE PRESENT AND
• FUTURE.
• TEACHER EDUCATION APPROACH.

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WHAT IS GOING ON NOW?

• 1.TEACHER TRANING COURSES
• 2. RESOURCES AND SUPPORT
• 3. OFFICE OF EDUCATION
• WEB PAGE

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1st ISAs Teacher Training Course

• Place and dates
• Albuquerque (NM) . January 20th - 27th, 2008.
• Teaching Staff and Certification University of
  Salamanca
• and Education Office, Embassy of Spain.
• Number of attendants 50-60 teachers (one per
  ISA).
• Aims
• - Learn about bilingual education and teaching
  approaches.
• Become familiar with socio-cultural and
  socio-linguistic
• aspects and with intercultural education.
• Discover new teaching resources and techniques
  for the
• teaching of Spanish Language and Culture.
• Exchange experiences and reflect upon ISAs
  integrated
• curriculum, teaching programs and assessment.

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OTHER TT COURSES (I)
http//www.mec.es/exterior/usa/es/programas/cursos
/portada.shtml
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OTHER T.T. COURSES (II)

• IN THE USA AND CANADA
• Teacher training courses offered by the
• MEC through the Education Office in
  different
• states.
• Education Advisors will inform teachers
• when to apply.

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OTHER T.T. COURSES (III)

• and in the near future
• First Spanish-American Teachers
• Tandem Pilot Course.

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RESOURCES AND SUPPORT

• FOR TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS
• Annual ISAs Seminar.
• Visiting Teachers Program.
• Spanish Language and Culture Assistants Program.
• Possibility of participation in the ISAs Network.
• Links with Spanish Schools e-twinning for online
  projects.
• 2008 International Year of Languages ISAs
  Student Group
• Contest.

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2008 INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF LANGUAGESISAS
STUDENT GROUP CONTEST

• Addressed to secondary and primary students.
• 2 Awards For primary and secondary levels.
• Topic Languages and cultures of Spain.
• Each participating school will present an entire
  class project.
• Projects must be presented in Spanish. Maximum
  length 20 pages,
• pictures included.
• Awards
• - Sets of educational resources for the class.
• - Grants for the teachers to study in Spain.

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WEB PAGE

• 1- ISAS NETWORK MAP
• 2- SPANISH MAP
• Where we are in the process of activating the
  locations of Spanish
• bilingual schools that wish to start e-twinning
  projects with our ISAs.
• 3- ON LINE RESOURCES
• Lesson Units ready for the Spanish classes. Taken
  from Materiales
• accessible by levels and topics
• http//www.mec.es./sgci/usa/es/publicaciones/mater
  iales/inst.shtml
• Useful links to get cultural, linguistic and
  other educational teaching
• Resources.
• 4- ISAS Forum/ Blog ?

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TEACHER TRAINING

• We try to help teachers to develop
• - Linguistic competence in Spanish.
• - Sociolinguistic and socio-cutural competence.
• - Intercultural values.
• And to analyse and reflect upon
• - CLIL teaching and educational practices.
• - Learning to to learn skills.

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TEACHER TRAINING APPROACH?

• If we are ever asked this question about
  teacher training,
• we would very much like to say centered in a
  community of
• practice and learning .
• Communities of practice are groups of people who
  
• share a concern or a passion for something they
  do and
• learn how to do it better as they interact
  regularly
• Etienne Wenger

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Teacher Training mode?

• No need to hurry. Better to move steadily,
  comfortably,
• and enthusiastically, so that others ISAs can
  join us
• in the journey.
• Arriving there is what you're destined for.But
  don't hurry the journey at all.Better if it
  lasts for years,so you're old by the time you
  reach the island,wealthy with all you've gained
  on the way,not expecting Ithaca to make you
  rich.Ithaca gave you the marvelous journey.
  
• C.P. Cavafy

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2007 ISAS NETWORK
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