Valuing All Languages to Unlock Europe (VALUE)

Funding: 
European Union. Erasmus + KA2 – Cooperation and Innovation for Good Practices. Strategic Partnerships for school education
Project type: 
Coordinator: 
Project leader: 
Dr. Enrico Roberto Barbieri
Reference: 
2015-1-IT02-KA201-015407
Time: 
01/11/2015 to 01/11/2017
Budget: 
299.969€
Abstract: 

The VALUE project - Valuing All Languages to Unlock Europe- is a cross-field strategic partnership to provide learners with tools and methods to use both the language of instructions (OCSE) and the language of origin at different levels of competences.

This proposal is a response to the need across the EU school systems for an inclusive multilingual and intercultural pedagogy. It will support EU schools to meet this need by increasing teachers’ capacity to promote multilingualism.

VALUE is delivered by 6 partners and their hubs who run support programmes for teachers and schools to use VALUE Multilingual Curriculum and Modules, named “Idioms and Languages – Lingue e linguaggi” . They are Oxfam Italia (Italy), PAH (Poland), CARDET (Cyprus), FAU (Germany) and ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO "F.MOCHI" (Italy).

It is based on the partners previous expertise and experience that when delivered effectively, these approaches help schools by:

  • Creating more engaging curriculum and using learner centred pedagogies.
  • Engaging and motivating students (particularly students with fewer opportunities e.g. social obstacles, cultural differences, exposed to early school leaving) to value multilingualism as a unique resource to enhance inclusion and reduce disparities.
  • Developing transversal skills and competencies.

The project methodology is to use the current experience of partners promoting two-fold approach:

1) Enhancing the methodologies, tools and practices of teaching (innovative interactive teaching techniques, ICT, digital storytelling) in order to improve the access and quality of education in relation to the diversity pattern which characterizes the schools. 2) encouraging coordination among the educational stakeholders of 5 different countries pertaining to different levels, such as schools, research centres, NGOs, educational department.

Therefore the project objectives are:

OBJ1:Develop, adapt and transfer in classes an innovative model to add value to multilingualism in European school education systems through technologies and digital medias;
OBJ2: Contribute to the professional development of primary and lower secondary school teachers through the implementation of an in service training course on multilingual education and digital competences applied to intercultural didactic;
OBJ3: Develop innovative and personalized pedagogical approaches to promote educational success of students with migratory background giving regard to cultural and linguistic diversities and the development of transversal competences through digital media
OBJ4: Promote positive interaction and active participation of foreign families in the education context of the hosting society giving references to the different linguistic and cultural heritages.

To achieve this, VALUE will work with 1 partner school in Italy, 3 hub schools in the Poland, Cyprus and Spain, 1 educational department in Germany to develop 5 high quality intellectual outputs that are innovative and relevant for target audiences in project countries and across the EU. These include innovative online support tools for teachers and students to use these approaches, an interactive sharing portal with learning paths, and academic reports and policy recommendations into their effectiveness at improving educational outcomes on multilingualism.

The resulting outcomes will be

  • Teachers using these approaches for new and engaging curriculum and pedagogical methods
  • students using better quality processes for multilingual engagement in school, inspiring greater motivation and interest in languages and diversity
  • Increased motivation to embed these approaches by key stakeholders in the school system, including education ministries
  • Increased confidence of project staff to support teachers and students using these approaches in new ways

This will lead to the following impacts:

I1: Strenghtened profile of teaching professions
I2: Improved didactic
I3: Enhanced inclusion
I4: Greater use of multilingualism innovative methods by schools more widely across partner countries and the EU
I5: Improvements in the 5 school needs as a result of delivering VALUE within partners’ countries and across the EU