Rethinking Quality Assurance in Plurilingual Education

Panel discussion: Rethinking Quality Assurance in Plurilingual Education

We invite you to take part in our panel discussion around quality assurance in plurilingual education. Our panel, Catrin Redknap, Sara Pampín García and Mercedes Hernández Estrada will provide short input sessions but panel content will be centred around the debate and questions posed by our audience.

Our three ‘rethinking’ panels aim to start a conversation around these key areas involving all of the people with a stake in plurilingual education, and especially teachers. The panels are just the start of this rethinking process and we hope that you will join us to keep the conversation going. Mark Levy.

Synopsis

All schools want to offer the best education possible to their pupils, but how do we define “Quality” in plurilingual and bilingual education? What steps are necessary to help ensure we understand the impact and success of our schools? How can we celebrate and build on what is working and focus effectively on what could be better?

Our Speakers

Dr. Catrin Redknap, Principal Research Officer (Welsh Language) Knowledge and Analytical Services, Welsh Government
Catrin will open her discussion with a brief exploratory overview of how ‘quality assurance’ in the context of plurilingual education can be interpreted. She will then set the scene for the development of two interrelated ‘Welsh’ / ‘Welsh language’–specific areas: Welsh-medium provision and paths to Welsh language proficiency, and plurilingualism in the context of curriculum reform.

Mercedes Hernández Estrada, Head, British Council School, Madrid.
Mercedes will explore the question: Why should schools want to be involved in their own quality assurance? She will make the case for the importance of self evaluation on the road to improvement and that this starts with articulating what "good" looks like.

Sara Pampin Garcia, Head, Instituto Ferrari de Valladolid.(Secondary School in Bilingual Education Programme).
Sara will focus on the best educational experiences taking place in her high school and will outline how her team works to ensure quality. She will also talk about her experience in a working group of Heads of Bilingual Schools to develop a self-reflection QA ‘tool’ for the MEFP-British Council bilingual programme.

Chair: Mark Levy, Head English Programmes, British Council Spain

Mercedes Hernández, Head of the British Council School

One definition of ‘authority’ is ‘prestige resulting from competence in a particular field’. It is also one of the concepts that comes to mind when you meet Mercedes. Appointed National Leader by the UK Ministry of Education, her career has been linked to British education for thirty years. She is also an expert in curriculum design, training and leadership. Two years ago, she returned to Spain to assume her current role as Head of the British Council School.

Sara Pampin Garcia

Becoming a teacher and encouraging teenage students to strive and pursue their dreams makes me feel useful and fulfilled. I have a degree in Environmental Sciences and a Master in Geophysics and Meteorology. I am passionate about nature and my main concern is the protection of the environment and the fight for a fairer society. I joined IES Emilio Ferrari five years ago and work with my Bilingual Education Programme team daily as we seek to improve the bilingual experience of our students.

Mark Levy, Head of English Programmes

Football and music are, along with education and family, Mark's great passions. His career with the British Council started back in 1994. Prior to his current role, he worked as a teacher and trainer, working with teachers across the country. In 2010, he joined the Bilingual Programme, managing relations with the Spanish Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, as well as Spain’s regional governments, in all matters relating to the implementation and improvement of bilingualism in Spain.