Databases

COLT (Community and Lesser Taught Languages)

The project organisers worked with teachers in supplementary schools in northwest England to collect feedback, giving teachers the opportunity to voice their own individual needs and interests about what the course should offer. Routes into Languages North West then worked with their partner universities to design and run a course that teachers could attend around work and family commitments and that included lesson observations, coursework and skills workshops given by trainers at the university. This innovative project extended far beyond languages – it helped break down cultural barriers, aided community cohesion and created a network of teachers who could support one another in their work and help develop community language teaching across the region. The teachers who attended the courses found that they really gained in confidence in the classroom. Of course, in turn, this had a very positive effect on language learners across the region. Language(s): Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Urdu