Council of Europe

The right of learners to quality and equity in education
The role of linguistic and intercultural competences

Intergovernmental Policy Forum
Geneva, 2-4 November 2010

10.00 – 13.45
12.00 – 13.45

Registration of participants (Conference area: level -1)
Buffet-lunch

Chair: Johanna Panthier

Official opening

14.00 – 14.30

Charles Beer, State Councillor in charge of the Department of Public Instruction, Culture and Sport of the Republic and Canton of Geneva
Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, Director General of Education, Culture and Heritage, Youth and Sport, DG IV, Council of Europe [speech]

14.30 – 15.15

Introduction to the Conference: Francis Goullier, General Rapporteur

Chair: Joseph Sheils

Session 1: Languages for educational success, the right to plurilingual and intercultural competences: the responsibilities of educational systems and the contribution of international Organisations

15.15 – 16.00

Aims of all languages in/for education – Michael Fleming [powerpoint]

16.00 – 16.45

Coffee break

16.45 – 18.00

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds: Field and working methods of international Organisations:
o Closing the Gap for Immigrant Students: Policies, practice and performance – Miho Taguma, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
[powerpoint]
o The Multilingualism policy of the European Union - Facing new challenges– Fiorella Perotto, European Commission [powerpoint]
o Policy guidelines and tools developed by the Language Policy Division concerning the linguistic and educational integration of children and adolescents from migrant backgrounds - David Little [powerpoint] [handout]

19.30

Reception and official Dinner in the presence of
§ Isabelle Chassot, State Councillor, Director of Public Instruction, Culture and Sport of the Canton of Fribourg, Chair of the Swiss Conference of Canton Directors for Public Instruction (CDIP)
§ Paul Widmer, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the Council of Europe
§ Joseph Sheils, Head of the Department of Language Education and Policy, Council of Europe

Chair: Irene Pieper

Session 2: Linguistic competences in knowledge construction

9.00 - 9.30

Procedures for describing linguistic competences in “non-language” school subjects - Jean-Claude Beacco & Helmut Vollmer [powerpoint]
Introduction to questions for group work – Irene Pieper

9.30 – 11.45

Group work A (including coffee break)
1. How can a subject curriculum be conceived which adequately takes into account its language dimension (in primary and secondary education)?
2. How might the procedures presented in the previous plenary session concerning the description of language competences contribute to the development of curricula in your context?
3. How could this be concretely implemented in the classroom, and what are the implications for textbooks, teacher training, etc?
4. How can developments and experiences be shared, for example using the ‘Platform of resources and references for plurilingual and intercultural education’?

Chair: Daniel Coste

Session 3: Languages and curriculum development for plurilingual and intercultural education

11.45 – 12.30

Guide for the development and implementation of curricula for plurilingual and intercultural education- Mirjam Egli – Marisa Cavalli [powerpoint]
Introduction to group work - Daniel Coste

12.30 – 14.30

Lunch

14.30 – 15.15

Round table: Group work A Rapporteurs - Chair: Sandra Hutterli

15.15 – 17.00

Group work B (including coffee break)
Based on the ‘Guide for the development and implementation of curricula for plurilingual and intercultural education’, which strategies might be used to gradually promote the concept of plurilingual and intercultural education
- in the field of foreign languages?
- in the field of languages of schooling?
- by taking into account migration languages?

17.00 – 17.30

Example of horizontal and vertical coherence: Co-ordination of language teaching in Switzerland – Sandra Hutterli [powerpoint]

Chair: Joseph Sheils

Session 4: Council of Europe perspective (Part 1)

17.30 – 18.00

In support of plurilingual people living in multilingual societies: the contribution of the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) - Waldemar Martyniuk & Susanna Slivensky [powerpoint]

18.15 – 19.15

Show & Tell: selected Language Policy Division, ECML and Swiss projects 

20.00

Dinner at the hotel

9.00 – 9.45

Round table: Group work B Rapporteurs – Chair: Danièle Moore

Chair: Joseph Sheils

Session 5 Council of Europe perspectives (Part 2)

9.45 – 10.45

Language Policy Division
● The current projects of the Division in a wider perspective - Daniel Coste
● Platform of resources and references for plurilingual and intercultural education Jean-Claude Beacco

10.45 – 11.15

Coffee break

Session 6: Key note

11.15 – 12.15

Languages of Schooling: Exploring the Connections between Research, Theory, and Policy in an Ideologically Complex Environment – Jim Cummins [powerpoint and text]

Session 7: Summing up

12.15 – 13.00

Conclusions
§ Francis Goullier, General Rapporteur [powerpoint]
§ Johanna Panthier, Language Policy Division, Council of Europe [powerpoint]
Closure
§ Olivier Maradan, CDIP, Switzerland

13.00 – 14.00

Lunch

Departure of participants