Summary

This presentation will address implications of the interrelationship between theoretical CLIL pedagogies and classroom practice. Particular emphasis will be placed on how resources and materials can be made and/or used to promote and bring together a range of approaches to learning and teaching. For a variety of CLIL approaches to be effective, they have to be based on rigorous fundamental principles which exercise plurilingual and pluricultural demands. This raises ‘big’ questions including defining visions and potential for CLIL, effective practice, teacher competences, materials and task design and sustainability. What do we want our students to learn and how do we understand effective ways which will help to achieve this? Moreover, teachers involved with CLIL have not only to be accountable for the learning which takes place in their classes, but also take responsibility to analyse and reflect carefully on their own practice. In so doing, teachers who take ownership of these processes are in a position to develop theories of practice which are rooted in their own contexts and which are especially meaningful since they involve shared practice. This session will take the view that when teachers are prepared to collaborate and create learning communities, then the effects can be powerful and lead to significant changes in how learning environments are constructed. In addition new technologies play a crucial role in creating and supporting our CLIL environments. They position CLIL in 21st century learning and teaching and lead the way to borderless classrooms, international curricula and global understanding. So where do we start?

Curriculum

Do Coyle is Professor in Learning Innovation in the School of Education at the University of Aberdeen UK. She is an international expert in content and language integrated learning (CLIL) having led and participated in a wide range of European CLIL initiatives. She has developed a pedagogic framework for CLIL which is used throughout Europe. Do also works with governments on policy initiatives. Her research interests lie in classroom interaction, teaching and learning in CLIL, Modern Languages and EAL (English as an Additional Language) contexts. She also researches intercultural understanding and its impact on learning. Do’s special interest is in technology-enhanced learning and the use of video conferencing to build ‘borderless classrooms’ and learning communities. Before leaving the University of Nottingham, Do was co-director of the Visual Learning Lab which researches technology-mediated learning and her work in the Learning Science Research Institute focused on cross-disciplinary learning.

http://www.visuallearninglab.ac.uk/
http://www.lsri.nottingham.ac.uk/

She believes CLIL should be an entitlement for all learners at any level of formal or informal education.