In today's society, the learning and mastery of a foreign language is recognized as a necessary and indispensable skill for the new generations that will undoubtedly have to develop in social and professional environments in which to have linguistic competences in more than one modern language. In particular, mastering a language of international recognition will be decisive in their lives. Although there are many efforts by public administrations, schools and families to achieve this goal, there is often a certain lack of coordination between the different stakeholders involved. The BiMo project has delved into the situation and the needs of the main stakeholders involved in bilingual programmes. One of the groups that undoubtedly plays a prominent role in this issue of learning a foreign language and which, however, is often left out of the decision-making organizational circles and also of the academic research that is carried out on the achievements of bilingual education programmes, are families of children enrolled in public and private schools with bilingual programmes. Families must constantly make decisions regarding the education of their children (at what age to start learning a second language, how to do it, what educational center to choose, etc.) and in the vast majority of cases it is not an informed decision as parents do not know in advance what it really means to join a bilingual education programme. This situation is particularly serious in the case of societies with a monolingual tradition in which parents, because they do not have prolonged contact with situations of bilingualism in any of its aspects, are liable to make uninformed decisions about the education of their children based on mere impressions and partial information from the social environment. The BiMo project, with the help of secondary school headmasters and teachers, has deepened the views, impressions and needs of the parents in monolingual societies with implemented bilingual education programmes, and has established synergies from societies with greater experience in everyday bilingualism and bilingual education programmes in a foreign language. As a consequence, the project has set in motion several lines of action that has allowed the transfer of information and sharing of experiences between typically bilingual social contexts (in Lithuania and Romania) in an international and/or foreign language towards typically monolingual social contexts (in Spain and Italy). The above-mentioned transfer was possible because families and teachers living in societies with a bilingual/multilingual social context, as in Lithuania and in Romania, shared their experience related to bilingualism and bilingual education with the families and teachers in Spain and Italy, where bilingual programmes are currently being implemented. The information gathered through the BiMo project has contributed to the design of various tools and materials to develop the necessary competencies so that secondary school management teams, bilingual programme coordinators, and teachers in bilingual secondary schools following a CLIL-based model can inform and help families before they enrol their children in bilingual schools and also once they have. BiMo has proposed solutions for the current situation in monolingual contexts in places like Spain and Italy, where teachers and families are starting to question the positive effects of bilingual programs for the cognitive development of youngsters and their capacities in their first language. More specifically, the BiMo project: 1. Carried out an important survey involving, school managers, teachers and families to gather information on their expertise and experience on bilingualism. 2. Designed 3 MOOCs (in five different languages) addressed to headteachers, content subject teachers and families. 3. Elaborated a Policy Recommendation Book targeted mainly at policy makers. 4. Gathered a collection of best practice sources in bilingual education to help stakeholders in secondary schools in monolingual contexts. .
Consistently with the context described and the needs identified, the objective of the BiMo project was, with the help of secondary school headteachers and teachers, to deepen the views, impressions and needs of parents in monolingual societies with implemented bilingual education programmes, and to establish synergies from societies with greater experience in everyday bilingualism and bilingual education programmes in a foreign language. BiMo’s specific objectives were to: - Gather information and get a better understanding of the needs of all the involved stakeholders of the school communities with a multilingual/bilingual contexts, about the current situation related to existing expertise and experience on bilingualism. - Explore the full potential of MOOCs to address the needs and expectations and raise awareness and motivation of headmasters, content subject teachers and families with reference to bilingual education at school - Gather best practices sources and recommendations in bilingual education to help stakeholders in secondary schools in monolingual contexts.
Main motivation of BiMo project was the identification within contemporary society of the importance of the learning and mastering of a foreign language as a necessary and indispensable skill for the new generations to develop their full potential, both in social and professional environments, in which to have linguistic competences in more than one modern language is becoming a must. Also, multilingualism is one of the qualifying elements of the overall strategy and a key priority of the Erasmus+ programme as foreign languages are recognised as having a prominent role among the skills that will help prepare people better for the labour market and make the most of the available opportunities. For this reason, the European Union has set the goal that every citizen should have the opportunity to acquire at least two foreign languages from an early age. Despite the efforts of public administrations, schools and families to achieve these goals, the results are still not enough very often due to a lack of coordination between the different stakeholders involved in bilingual education. The BiMo project delved into this situation addressing the needs of the main stakeholders in schools with a special focus on those involved in bilingual programmes.