1 IN THE FIELD OF MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES AT SCHOOL We wanted to gain new insights and skills in teaching modern languages, acquire new skills to differentiate better, and increase motivation among our students and teachers. It was also important to be able to assess the students’ assignments more effectively, with more authentic language tasks. We also wanted to know how other European schools deal with diversity so that we can increase the professionalism of our language teachers and turn them into inspiring coaches of the individual learning process of their pupils. Finally, we also wanted to get to know similar educational reforms in other European countries. 2 EXPANDING OUR EUROPEAN NETWORK OF TEACHERS AND PUPILS We were looking for partners for new projects, as well as European colleagues who inspire us and help us brainstorm to tackle pedagogical and didactic issues that we we had before the project. Moreover, we also wanted our students to get in touch with foreign students.
This project was requested because there was a need for tools and knowledge to improve our Department of Modern Foreign Languages. Due to the changing student population and the diversity in our classes, we needed new input, new insights and new tools. In addition, we had an important challenge to deal with : the screening we had in 2019 revealed some weaknesses in our teaching we had to deal with. At the same time, we also wanted to be stronger and more experienced to cope with all the innovations that were coming our way at the time. In short, we felt a great need to get to know European colleagues, their way of dealing with issues that were a challenge for us, and to step into new European projects.