In order to target a number of needs that our school has, several objectives were proposed: 1- To increase the foreign language teachers' knowledge of inclusive education and to learn how to implement it with the help of collaborative teams, with the aim to later extend it to other areas of the school 2- To learn about strategies to differentiate and personalise education , responding to the different needs of culturally diverse, mixed-ability classes 3- To learn about innovative teaching methodologies and resources, including ICT tools, to enhance our language lessons, motivate our students more and reduce drop-outs. 4- To increase the European dimension of the school by building bridges that allow our students to become involved in European transnational projects
The number of students taking language subjects in our school has decreased, which worries us, considering the importance languages play to build bridges between people & cultures. Asked about the reason why they dropped out of a language course, many explained that they found studying a foreign language too challenging. As a comprehensive school, our students have various levels of aptitude, which makes our school a highly heterogeneous learning environment. Our students have different disabilities ranging from dyslexia and ADHD to autism and cerebral palsy. Even though we try to integrate them as best as we can, we still have a lot to learn in this area. Our teachers would benefit from receiving training in European countries that have a reputation for inclusive education, in order to learn how to personalize teaching to motivate students of all achievement levels to succeed, including those with disabilities. Observing and learning how ICT is best used in inclusive education systems can help us to enhance our lessons, make them more engaging and prevent drop-outs in our foreign language programme. By learning from other European education systems, we can increase the European dimension of our school and start projects with them.