Receive a warm welcome on behalf of the Generalitat of Catalonia and of our Ministery of Education, to this International Study Visit 2013. We wish you a stimulating and rewarding experience.
Catalonia in an Autonomy in Spain and it has two official languages: Catalan and Spanish.
Schools offer different possibilities for immigrant students to maintain their family language too, as a common richness that can benefit the whole Catalan society. Plurilingualism and European dimension are main targets in our educational system, for developing professional, social and academic skills.
Headmasters in state schools receive specific training for implementing plans and projects for dealing with diversity, school autonomy and leadership in education. Results are measured comparatively, according to context and sociocultural complexity.
Our main challenge is to help students to increase their competencies. We also target to develop a plural identity by accepting contextual plurilingualism, as a pathway towards social cohesion in diversity. To reach EU 2020 aims, Catalonia is developing specific programmes for improving general results and reading skills. Implementing CLIL approaches in language teaching and generalising practices during Vocational Studies are also main issues at this moment.
We have developed several projects for inclusion, community building and cultural interaction through volunteering, practices in enterprises, and learning in service. During this Study Visit you will have the opportunity to visit actively involved schools and to converse with the teachers and advisors who are dealing with language learning in both formal and informal environments.
Visiting schools in Barcelona you will learn more about the Catalan educational system, its main strengths and major purposes.
The aim of a study visit is generally to generate an exchange of experience and good practice between the country you visit and the country you come from. Thus, participating in a study visit can be an exciting experience and an important learning tool for you and your colleagues, as well as for the organisers.
During the visit you are invited to prepare a group report summarising your experience, with pictures and short comments. This will help us disseminate to others what you have learnt, and reach colleagues who share your interest but did not participate in this particular study visit: feel free to share this information with other people!
