SOME FACTS ABOUT EDUCATION IN SPAIN, THE TEACHING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES

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SOME FACTS ABOUT EDUCATION IN SPAIN, THE
TEACHING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL
PROGRAMMES
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• Marina Ruiz
• Asesoría Técnica en Países Bajos
• Consejería de Educación
• Consulado de España
• Frederiksplein, 34 III
• 1017XN Amsterdam
• Tel -  31 (0)20 42 36 919
• Fax - 31 (0)20 62 77 159
• e-mail - asesoriaholanda.nl_at_mec.es
• http//www.sgci.mec.es/be

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Spanish Education System. Some facts.

• Basic education is compulsory and free of charge,
  and it is extended up to the age of 16, the legal
  age for starting work.
• The educational system includes general and
  special education, i.e. the different levels of
  education are adapted to suit students with
  special needs.
• All students have basic vocational training,
  which is given in secondary education. Specific
  vocational training is organized at two levels,
  the first at the end of compulsory secondary
  education, and the higher level at the end of the
  'Baccalaureate'.
• Religious instruction is must be available at all
  schools, but it is voluntary for pupils.
• Special systems are applied for artistic
  education and language learning.

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General education is organized as follows

• Nursery infant education (0 to 6 years)
• Primary education (6 to 12 years)
• Compulsory secondary education (12 to 16 years)
• Post-compulsory secondary education, including
  the baccalaureate and the middle grade of
  vocational training
• Upper grade vocational training
• University education (a university entrance
  examination must be passed)

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Foreign Language Teaching in Spain

• English is the first most widely taught foreign
  language and French the second.
• Schools may offer any language.
• Foreign languages are taught in primary and
  secondary education only by specialist teachers.
• There are special class size norms for foreign
  languages lower than the general recommendations
  concerning maximum class sizes.

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Foreign Language Teaching in Primary Education

• Foreign language teaching may start at the age of
  3, depending on the autonomous Communities but
  it is compulsory at the age of 8.
• In some Autonomous Communities, the central
  education authorities allow schools to use time
  normally allocated to other subjects for the
  purpose of teaching a foreign language.
• The Foreign Language area is compulsory from the
  second cycle of Primary Education, although all
  autonomous communities are introducing a foreign
  language, either on an experimental basis or
  definitively, in the first cycle.
• On the other hand, in some communities the
  voluntary study of a second foreign language in
  the third cycle is becoming widely extended.
• The socio-cultural aspects of the countries where
  the foreign language under study is spoken and
  the presence in Spain of this content of this area

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Foreign language teaching in secondary education

• Secondary education curricula only include one
  foreign language as compulsory subject.
• The study of a second language on a voluntary
  basis may be taken throughout the entire stage.
• Among the general objectives of the Foreign
  Language area are To value the usefulness of the
  knowledge of foreign languages in order to
  communicate with people from different cultures
  and to participate in international relationships
  and other fields of human activity.

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Foreign language teaching in vocational training

• Within Specific Vocational Training, the
  programmes that place more emphasis on the
  European and international dimension in education
  and languages are those included in the option
  called International Business.
• However the teaching of a foreign language is not
  generalised in the Specific Vocational Training
  curriculum,

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• European/International Dimension
• Some programmes

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CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning)

• The aim is improving the adaptation of the
  specialised teaching of languages to the
  different language learning levels established in
  the EU member States.
• In this sense, some autonomous communities have
  been developing for some years the concept of
  CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning).

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CLIL Examples

• The Autonomous Community of Galicia has had
  European sections since 1999. 21 establishments
  participating in the school year 2004/05. One
  subject is taught in a foreign language (French
  or English) for a specific group of pupils who
  obtained outstanding results the previous year in
  the corresponding language.
• The Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands
  has implemented a similar programme in the same
  school year (English and French as well) which is
  carried out in 17 primary and secondary
  educational establishments.

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• The Autonomous Community of Navarre also carries
  out a similar programme, although it is limited
  to the English language. Besides, it has four
  bilingual establishments Two pre-primary and
  primary education schools and two secondary
  education centres.
• The Autonomous Community of Madrid also started
  its bilingual centres programme the same school
  year. According to this programme, 110 public
  pre-primary and primary establishments will teach
  some subjects in English, except Spanish Language
  and Literature and Mathematics.
• The Autonomous Community of Andalusia has started
  a bilingual programme in 250 schools that teach
  some subjects in English or French.

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Other CLIL experiences

• There is also a CLIL agreement between the
  Ministry of Education and Science (MEC) and the
  British Council, which has been in force since
  1996.. According to it, an integrated
  Spanish-British curricular project has been
  implemented which allows students to get access
  to Post-secondary Education either in Spain or in
  the United Kingdom. Although at the very
  beginning this project was just intended to the
  second cycle of ''Educación Infantil'' (school
  year 1996/97), then it has been gradually spread,
  covering nowadays Primary Education and part of
  Educación Secundaria Obligatoria. Thus, during
  the present school year 2005/06, the agreement
  comprises 83 public centres distributed along 10
  autonomous communities 45 ''Educación Infantil''
  and Primary Education schools along with 83
  secondary establishments.

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European Classrooms Linguistic and Cultural
immersion programmes with France and the United
Kingdom

• This programme was created through an agreement
  between Spanish and French (1999) and British
  (2004) Institutions.
• It is a linguistic skills programme addressed to
  primary and secondary education teachers from
  different fields of specialization.
• The aim of the programme is, on the one hand, to
  raise teachers awareness of the importance of
  being a European Member State and, on the other
  hand, to promote the bilingual education of those
  teachers who teach non-linguistic subjects. To
  this end, the participants of this programme
  acquire communicative skills and knowledge of the
  French and British culture so as to facilitate
  their participation in European educational
  projects as well as in cultural and scientific
  exchange programmes.  

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Visiting teachers

• The Visiting Teacher programme in the United
  Sates and Canada, supported by the Ministry of
  Education and Science in collaboration with the
  participating countries, provides bilingual
  teachers from Spain the opportunity to teach at
  elementary, middle and high school levels in the
  United Sates and Canada.
• The programme is based on the Memoranda of
  Understanding signed between the Ministry of
  Education and Science and several departments of
  education and school districts across the United
  States and Canada.
• The objectives of this programme are
• To foster cultural and educational cooperation
  initiatives between Spain and the participating
  countries.
• To provide a professional and personal
  development opportunity for participating
  teachers.
• To promote and extend the knowledge of the
  Spanish language and culture, as well as the
  quality of its teaching.

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Teachers mobility

• During the 2002/03 academic year, Spain sent
  1,657 teachers abroad, becoming the third country
  as far as mobility of EU teachers is concerned,
  after Germany (2,380) and France (1,863).
  Regarding teachers coming to Spain from other
  countries, that same year (2002/03) Spain
  received 1,576 teachers, making Spain the fourth
  country as ''recipient'' one, after Germany
  (2,252), France (1,974) and Italy (1,650).

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Language Assistants

• The Language and Culture Assistant programme,
  supported by the Ministry of Education and
  Science in collaboration with several countries(
  Germany, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the United
  States, France, Ireland, Italy, the United
  Kingdom, New Zealand and Switzerland), provides
  graduates and final-year students of philology,
  translation and interpretation, as well as
  primary school teachers  from Spain the
  opportunity to assist teachers at elementary,
  middle and high school levels in the
  participating countries for a year
• In reciprocity, the language assistants from
  those countries who come to Spain must have a
  degree or be a final-year student of Spanish.
• The objectives of this programme are
• To provide Spanish schools with the opportunity
  to have foreign-language Language Assistants who
  promote the knowledge and teaching of the
  language and culture of their country.
• To provide Spanish graduates or final-year
  students of Philology the opportunity to improve
  their knowledge of the language and culture of
  the country that receives them.
• To promote and extend the knowledge of the
  Spanish language and culture, as well as the
  quality of its teaching.

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Special programme of Language Assistantships for
The Netherlands

• The Education Office of the Spanish Embassies in
  Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg invites
  on a yearly basis applications positions as
  English Language Assistants in schools of
  Andalusia (Spain).
• The main aim of the assistantship programme is to
  foster and improve the learning of oral
  communication in English of students in
  Andalusia.
• Applicants should be Dutch and have completed a
  university or higher education degree, or be in
  the final year of studies, preferably in fields
  of studies related languages and/or teaching,
  such as Modern Languages and Literature,
  Philology, Teacher Education or Translation and
  Interpretation.

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Socrates programme. Comenius.

• There is a National Agency but the different
  Autonomous Communities are responsible for
  announcing the aids and administering the
  applications, both from establishments and
  teaching staff.
• Once these steps have been taken, the Spanish
  Socrates National Agency confirms the
  participation of the candidates, approves the
  projects that have been submitted and establishes
  the financial contracts.

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Education programmes in Spain. Some helpful
addresses and links for exchange projects.

• Ministry of Education and Science.
• C/Alcalá, 36. 28071, MADRID Tel [phone]
  00
• http//www.mec.es/mecd/jsp/plantilla.jsp?areaorga
  nizacionid88
• European programmes
• http//www.mec.es/programmeas-europeos
• Sócrates Nacional Agency.
• Agencia Nacional Sócrates Paseo del Prado, 28 1ª
  planta 28014 Madrid. Teléfono 34 915065685 Fax
  34 915065689 . email a.socrates_at_mec.es .
  http//www.mec.es/programmeas-europeos.
• Information about the Autonomous Communities
• http//www.mec.es/mecd/jsp/plantilla.jsp?areaorga
  nizacionid88

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• Consejería de Educación de Bélgica, Países Bajos
  y Luxemburgo
• http//www.sgci.mec.es/be/
• Consejería de Educación de Bélgica, Países Bajos
  y Luxemburgo. Intercambio de alumnos
• http//www.sgci.mec.es/be/programmeas/alumnos.htm
• Schoolnet
• http//www.eun.org/portal/index.htm
• Partbase
• http//partbase.eupro.se/framees.htm
• National summary sheets on education systems in
  Europe and ongoing reforms - 2006 Edition.
• Content and language integrated learning (CLIL)
  at school in Europe
• http//www.eurydice.org/