EAQUALS & International House A quality partnership

1. EAQUALS & International House A quality partnership Sarah Aitken EAQUALS Executive Director

2. What is EAQUALS? • Founded as a European association in 1991 • Mission: to foster and contribute to the development of language education • An international accreditation scheme for language education • 107 accredited member institutions and 27associate members in 32 countries • Participatory status at the Council of Europe • A global network of language education professionals • 12 national quality associations are EAQUALS members

3. Members and Partners Founder members – the members involved in setting up the association Accredited members – language education providers that have demonstrated in an inspection that they fully meet the EAQUALS standards Associate members – cultural agencies, national associations, examination boards,etc. which contribute to quality language education Also: Project partners – organisations not eligible for full or associate membership which participate in EAQUALS projects (not members of EAQUALS)

4. An international network British Council CIEP, France – Centre International d’EtudesPédagogiques Instituto Cervantes (Spain) National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (ACELS) Goethe-Institut HQ (Germany) Cambridge English Language Assessment PASE Polish Association for Standards in Language Education CEBS (Centre for Languages for Professional and Vocational Uses) Austria g.a.s.t (Society of Academic Study Preparation and Test Development) Camões, Instituto da Cooperacão e da Lingua, Portugal

5. The EAQUALS Mission • to contribute to the development of excellence in language education • to be the internationally recognised authority for quality standards and quality assurance in language education and training

6. EAQUALS Values • Plurilingualism • Intercultural understanding • International cooperation • Lifelong learning

7. EAQUALS Purposes • To achieve excellence through accreditation of quality in language learning services. • To bring together providers of language education services. • To seek to encourage greater awareness of consumer rights and quality issues in language learning. • To assist national and international bodies to develop accreditation schemes. • To provide support through self assessment, management training and consultancy.

8. Our expertise • Quality management: - design of quality accreditation schemes - inspection processes - assessment methodology - trainingandstandardisation - help with setting up schemes • The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR): - descriptors, curriculum, assessment, - portfolio, certification • Teacher management and professional development: - profiling grid for teachers - teacher competences and development framework - teacher training and evaluation - academic management

9. EAQUALSactivities • Inspection and accreditation of educational institutions and training centres • Regular conferences, workshops on members’ special interest projects • Participation in external projects with others • Certification of CEFR levels • Pathways to quality for institutions – advisory services, self-help materials, training • Consultancy for national bodies on language training and quality assurance

10. Projects with partners • Core Inventory for English (with the British Council) • With the Council of Europe: conferences on the linguistic integration of adult migrants • With ISO: developing a standard for providers of learning services and language learning services • With ALTE: the EAQUALS-ALTE and electronic ELP www.eelp.org • Current EU-funded project examples: ELP Project, Nellip Project, Quality Gudelines Project

11. European Profiling Grid Pilot • Language and culture – proficiency; intercultural competence; language awareness • Qualifications and experience – education and training; assessed teaching; teaching experience • Core teaching competences - methodology; planning; classroom management; assessment; digital media • Professional conduct - professionalism, administration http://www.epg-project.eu/

12. EAQUALS Accreditation Scheme • international • plurilingual • cross- sector • consultative • based on Charters: General, Course Participants, Staff and Information

13. Joint Inspections • 16 IH schools are members of EAQUALS • IH London and IH San Sebastian – Lacunza are founding members • Joint inspection scheme launched in 2008 • 1 EAQUALS inspector & 1 IH/EAQUALS inspector • Standard inspection covering EAQUALS/IH requirements plus elements specific to the IH Charters and Affiliation Agreement

14. Joint inspections • 2-day joint EAQUALS/IH inspection plus an IH day • IH day timetable: • Training session for teachers • Check IH branding and compliance with our Affiliation Agreement • Recruitment advice for teachers • Additional meetings with marketing and finance • Consultancy and advice as required

15. Further collaboration • Reciprocal agreements on exhibiting at each others events. We can promote and support each other. • EAQUALS and IHWO will inform each other about developments and projects relevant to both organisations. • Joint projects – International House and EAQUALS will seek to run joint projects especially in the area of promoting quality, accreditation and training. • Commercial projects - International House can provide the teacher training courses or teacher trainers that EAQUALS commercial projects may require.

16. www.eaquals.org saitken@eaquals.org