What are the challenges posed by a globalized international scene in the education sector? This question was answered by Carmen Pérez and Mireia Trenchs, lecturers with the UPF Departments of Translation and Language Sciences and Humanities, respectively, and Neus Lorenzo, Education Inspector of the Department of Education of the Catalan Government. 

The main conclusion is that, in compulsory education, beyond ensuring the acquisition of a foreign language, multilingualism and multiculturalism must be guaranteed for all students since these skills are necessary for everyone’s professional development. Therefore, teaching must ensure “language for internationalization and internationalization for all students alike”. These observations are framed in the “2015 Yearbook. The challenges of education in Catalonia”, produced by the Jaume Bofill Foundation.

At the same time, they argue that the label “international school” is currently being applied with an elitist bias, and is not applied in schools with environments that include schoolchildren with different languages and cultures, ranging from English to Mandarin or Arabic, among others. However, they have identified examples of good practices in secondary and tertiary education.

The authors of the report claim that “there is a need to design a model of school favouring internationalism, accessible to everyone, by way of international mobility or by way of internationalization at the centres themselves, taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the internet”. They stress that “our education system’s pedagogic culture must be provided with strategies to incorporate the wealth and the potential for internationalization of the students coming to our classrooms from all over the world”.

Future ways forward for a language model favouring internationalization in Catalonia

Aware that educational success is not just the responsibility of the student, but also of the policies that facilitate their study and learning contexts, Catalan citizens’ multilingualism depends to a great extent on upholding these education policies and itineraries that provide sustainability to the achievements attained.

In this respect, the authors of the chapter of the Yearbook highlight three proposals for successfully tackling the challenge.

To generalize the actions that have proved successful, such as the increase in the time devoted to languages, particularly quality time, the addition of native staff and conversation assistants (for example ERASMUS students), as well as the teaching of non-language subjects in a foreign language, etc., transnational projects with schools in other countries via the internet, school exchanges. 

To develop a digitally-based plan to strengthen the action of the centres: socialization of experience banks, promotion of collaboration networks between teachers, etc.

For each centre to define its model of multilingualism based on the profile of its students: valorizing the languages they speak (for example, Mandarin or Arabic) and attending to their specific language needs (shortcomings in Catalan, Spanish, etc.). Multilingual environments promote a positive attitude of the students towards learning and internationalization.