Talk Together – Teacher In-Service Training in the European Context Erasmus Project

Project Title

Talk Together – Teacher In-Service Training in the European Context

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Teaching and learning of foreign languages; Integration of refugees

Project Summary

Talk to each other! – In-Service Training for Teachers in the European Context (TaTo)

The successful integration of refugees and immigrants in German speaking countries and the awareness for multi-/plurilingualism and cultural diversity in today’s society are regarded as challenges, which require transnational expertise, especially in the context of education. In the framework of the project TaTo, a range of support measures using the expertise of professionals from various fields were therefore
developed and implemented. Transregional teams worked on four distinct Intellectual Outputs (IO).
IO 1 “Plurilingual Curriculum” (PLC) developed a key document for the inclusion of plurilingual competencies in schools. In the course of the project, IO 1 “PLC” emerged as the foundation for IO 4, which evolved from the “Competency Grid” into the “Plurilingual Competency Model” (PCM). Both IOs were tested at the school district of Bozen-City Centre and in the Pforzheim school district. Selected parts were also implemented at schools in the school districts of Böblingen, Pforzheim, Salzburg and Bozen-City Centre. Both the school management and the teaching staff were prepared for the testing and evaluation of the material in various further training events. Furthermore, the implementation at the Pforzheim school district was scientifically evaluated by the University of Education Ludwigsburg (UEL) and the results were made available for the development of further training seminars.
IO 2 “Massive Open Online Course” (MOOC) used contents from other IOs to develop four different MOOC modules, consisting of learning videos and teaching and working materials. The four modules cover the subject areas “self-reflection and acquisition of intercultural skills”, “interaction and communication with parents or legal guardians”, “PLC” and “PCM”. The respective IO working groups were responsible
for the scripts. The production was undertaken by Bad Wildbad.
IO 3 developed a curriculum for a transnational teacher training concept (TTTC), consisting of 8 modules – 4 compulsory modules and 4 optional modules – totalling 12 ECTS. 2 modules were implemented at the University of Education Salzburg (UES), the Deutsche Bildungsdirektion Bozen and the ZSL Bad Wildbad and evaluated by the UEL with regard to their effectiveness. Furthermore, the PLC was
edited for teacher training and the modules “DaZ (German as a Second Language)- transfer DaF (German as a Foreign Language)” and “Self-Reflection and Intercultural Skills” were implemented at the University of Pristina (Kosovo).
The PCM of IO 4 is a product which goes far beyond the originally planned “Competency Grid” in terms of content and structure. It is based on the competence areas of the PLC. The structure is supplemented by references and examples of open forms of teaching. Using the PCM helps teachers to quantify their students’ learning progress and makes it easier to talk about plurilingual competencies. The
expected goals of IO 4 were exceeded by this further development. It is not only made available in a print version, but – like all other IO products, including the evaluation – it is also posted and available for free on the new homepage and the
homepages of the project partners.
Due to Covid19 not all events could take place as planned. Most importantly, the dissemination event, scheduled for 13 March 2020, had to be cancelled at short notice. The AUL in Nuremberg, scheduled for May 2020, had to be cancelled as well. Other regional events, e.g. a multilingual theatre production, were also called off.
Still, the production of the MOOC videos could be completed despite the difficult circumstances, which included a prohibition of direct contact thus making the shooting of the videos impossible for a prolonged period of time. The project’s main goal – supporting teachers, school administrators and disseminators in their work with intercultural students – was fully achieved. Many short-term and long-term
effects can be observed among all those involved in school life.

Short term effects: Legal guardians, students, teaching staff and school administrators work together more closely; strengthening of learners’ self-reflection and assessment skills; change of attitudes; strengthening of language acquisition, interculturality, inclusion/integration; change of perspective (on multilingualism and languages of origin as a resource); interdisciplinary multilingual projects with languages of origin and school languages.

Long term effects: teacher-student conversations at eye level, increased motivation in students’ learning behavior. Both effects could be ascertained in the project’s test phase. 2 modules of the TTTC were adapted for the teacher training curriculum and have been implemented at the UES since the academic year 2019/2020. Both the PLC and the PCM will be used in schools further on. Cooperations with experts were initiated and will continue after the project’s official end.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 287289 Eur

Project Coordinator

Zentrum für Schulqualität und Lehrerbildung & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Schulsprengel Bozen Zentrum
• PAEDAGOGISCHE HOCHSCHULE LUDWIGSBURG
• Pädagogische Hochschule Salzburg
• Education Unlimited e.V.
• PROVINCIA AUTONOMA DI BOLZANO
• Volksschule Hallein Burgfried