Upcoming event
The importance of languages and international communication has grown exponentially in an increasingly globalized world, yet the numbers of students studying a language (other than compulsory English or Welsh) to qualification level at school and to degree level at university is, despite minor fluctuations, very low compared even with the start of this century (British Academy, 2020). This has resulted in an overall contraction of provision in secondary schools and at degree level in universities. Recent surveys (British Council, 2019) have shown that young people from less affluent backgrounds are the least likely to have access to language learning, at least in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This event brings together educators from all four nations of the UK to explore creative approaches to language learning. Where are the examples of good practice, and what directions should policymakers take in future? We hope to engage a wide audience in conversation: current teachers of ancient and modern languages, teachers of English as an additional language, teacher educators, student teachers, school leaders, curriculum advisors, academics, policymakers and employers.
Watching a BERA Virtual event
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Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Classics at University of Oxford
Dr Arlene Holmes-Henderson is a Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Classics at the University of Oxford where she specialises in Classics education. After studying Classics at Oxford, Harvard and Cambridge, Arlene qualified as a...
Senior Lecturer Education Studies (with Modern Languages) at Stranmillis University College
Sharon Jones is senior lecturer in education studies at Stranmillis University College, Queen's University Belfast.
Senior Lecturer in Modern Languages Education at Queen’s University Belfast and Director of the Northern Ireland Centre for Information on Language Teaching (NICILT)
Dr Ian Collen is currently Senior Lecturer in Modern Languages Education at Queen’s University Belfast and Director of the Northern Ireland Centre for Information on Language Teaching (NICILT). He leads Northern Ireland’s only PGCE pathway in...
Director at Scotland’s National Centre for Languages (SCILT) and the Confucius Institute for Scotland’s Schools (CISS) at the University of Strathclyde
Fhiona Mackay is the director of Scotland’s National Centre for Languages (SCILT) and the Confucius Institute for Scotland’s Schools (CISS) at the University of Strathclyde. Joining SCILT in 2012 from her previous role at Education Scotland,...
Senior Lecturer and Course Leader of PGCE Secondary, Modern Languages at St Mary’s University
Lisa Panford is a Senior Lecturer and the Course Leader of PGCE Secondary - Modern Languages at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. She is an active and committed member of SMU’s Race Equality Charter Self-Assessment Team. Lisa is a former...
Cardiff University
Lucy Jenkins is the Project Director of the MFL Mentoring Project funded by the Welsh Government. Lucy has led on the development of the project since 2017, expanding the scope and size of the project team and programmes substantially. Lucy has...
The British Curriculum Forum aims to bring together all those with an interest in collaborative curriculum, research and development. Through events, awards and grants, the BCF supports...
Providers of initial teacher training (ITT) in England are inspected by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). As members of a university ITT primary English team, we were prompted to...
With the easing of pandemic-related restrictions for UK schools, educators’ focus has turned to mitigating the impacts of Covid-19 on children’s learning and wellbeing (see Kumar Jha & Arora,...
Every year BERA hosts seminars, symposia and workshops at colleges, universities and schools across the UK. Find out about our upcoming events below.