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EAQUALS & International House A quality partnership Sarah Aitken EAQUALS Executive Director What is EAQUALS? • Founded as a European association in 1991 • Mission: to foster and contribute to the development of language education • An international accreditation scheme for language education • 107 accredited member institutions and 27 associate members in 32 countries • Participatory status at the Council of Europe • A global network of language education professionals • 12 national quality associations are EAQUALS members Members and Partners • Founder members – the association the members involved in setting up • Accredited members – language education providers that have demonstrated in an inspection that they fully meet the EAQUALS standards • Associate members – cultural agencies, national associations, examination boards, etc. which contribute to quality language education Also: • Project partners – organisations not eligible for full or associate membership which participate in EAQUALS projects (not members of EAQUALS) An international network • British Council • CIEP, France – Centre International d’Etudes Pédagogiques • Instituto Cervantes (Spain) • National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (ACELS) • Goethe-Institut HQ (Germany) • Cambridge English Language Assessment • PASE Polish Association for Standards in Language Education • CEBS (Centre for Languages for Professional and Vocational Uses) Austria • g.a.s.t (Society of Academic Study Preparation and Test Development) • Camões, Instituto da Cooperacão e da Lingua, Portugal The EAQUALS Mission • to contribute to the development of excellence in language education • to be the internationally recognised authority for quality standards and quality assurance in language education and training EAQUALS Values • • • • Plurilingualism Intercultural understanding International cooperation Lifelong learning EAQUALS Purposes • To achieve excellence through accreditation of quality in language learning services. • To bring together providers of language education services. • To seek to encourage greater awareness of consumer rights and quality issues in language learning. • To assist national and international bodies to develop accreditation schemes. • To provide support through self assessment, management training and consultancy. Our expertise • Quality management: - design of quality accreditation schemes - inspection processes - assessment methodology - training and standardisation - help with setting up schemes • The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR): - descriptors, curriculum, assessment, - portfolio, certification • Teacher management and professional development: - profiling grid for teachers - teacher competences and development framework - teacher training and evaluation - academic management EAQUALS activities • Inspection and accreditation of educational institutions and training centres • Regular conferences, workshops on members’ special interest projects • Participation in external projects with others • Certification of CEFR levels • Pathways to quality for institutions – advisory services, selfhelp materials, training • Consultancy for national bodies on language training and quality assurance Projects with partners • Core Inventory for English (with the British Council) • With the Council of Europe: conferences on the linguistic integration of adult migrants • With ISO: developing a standard for providers of learning services and language learning services • With ALTE: the EAQUALS-ALTE and electronic ELP www.eelp.org • Current EU-funded project examples: ELP Project, Nellip Project, Quality Gudelines Project European Profiling Grid Pilot • Language and culture – proficiency; intercultural competence; language awareness • Qualifications and experience – education and training; assessed teaching; teaching experience • Core teaching competences - methodology; planning; classroom management; assessment; digital media • Professional conduct - professionalism, administration http://www.epg-project.eu/ EAQUALS Accreditation Scheme • international • plurilingual • cross- sector • consultative • based on Charters: General, Course Participants, Staff and Information Joint Inspections • 16 IH schools are members of EAQUALS • IH London and IH San Sebastian – Lacunza are founding members • Joint inspection scheme launched in 2008 • 1 EAQUALS inspector & 1 IH/EAQUALS inspector • Standard inspection covering EAQUALS/IH requirements plus elements specific to the IH Charters and Affiliation Agreement Joint inspections • 2-day joint EAQUALS/IH inspection plus an IH day • IH day timetable: - Training session for teachers - Check IH branding and compliance with our Affiliation Agreement - Recruitment advice for teachers - Additional meetings with marketing and finance - Consultancy and advice as required Further collaboration • Reciprocal agreements on exhibiting at each others events. We can promote and support each other. • EAQUALS and IHWO will inform each other about developments and projects relevant to both organisations. • Joint projects – International House and EAQUALS will seek to run joint projects especially in the area of promoting quality, accreditation and training. • Commercial projects - International House can provide the teacher training courses or teacher trainers that EAQUALS commercial projects may require. [email protected] www.eaquals.org