LinkedUp Award Scheme
Collaboration for creative learning
Where next?
Where do we go from here?
You’ve finished your project, you’ve worked closely with other teachers and other institutions, you’ve learnt a lot, you’ve got a wealth of material and experience to share – so what next to make the best of your LinkedUp experience?
Let people know what you’ve done!
Your work has been funded because we think it adds valuable new dimensions to language teaching. Taking part in this innovative project demonstrates your commitment to your subject, your own professional development and that of your profession. Collaborating with others enriches your own experience and that of your partners. So let the languages community know what you’ve done!
There are a number of ways to do this.
Keep the momentum going!
Share what you’ve done with others in your local area. You may be able to do this through cluster arrangements, regional support groups of various kinds and your Local Authority. The ethos of the LinkedUp award scheme is ultimately that teachers working together can find solutions to the challenges of language teaching and take language learning into new, exciting and stimulating territory.
Speak at events!
If you’ve never done this before it doesn’t need to be as daunting as it sounds. You can start in small ways – take part in a Show and Tell, organise an Open Day in your department and invite teachers from schools nearby or find out if there’s already an event in your area that would give you a chance to present your project. The former Links Regional Centres which have now formed the Network for Languages may be able to help you find a suitable local event.
If you’re feeling a bit more confident, there are bigger events in which you can take part – put yourself forward, don’t wait to be asked! The main events are listed here, but you can find out more in our section on professional development.
The Language Show (an annual show in London in October each year) calls for proposals in the early summer each year. Keep an eye on their website.
ALL's Language World is held annually.
SSAT Annual Language Conference is also held every year.
CILT events - keep an eye on CILT lists and website to see if there are opportunities to speak at CILT events.
Publish!
Details of your project will be published on this website and in the LinkedUp brochure (see our introduction page for more information). We encourage you to add a link to this from your own websites.
In addition, there are lots of different outlets for various types of publication, from more informal, classroom-based articles for magazines to more serious, more academic articles for publication in journals. Publications look great on your CV and are a good way of sharing your work with a big audience. ALL accepts articles for its language specific journals (French, German, Spanish, Italian and Russian) - the kind of thing that is likely to get published are professional articles based on classroom work, accompanied by resources for teachers (LinkedUp resources are Crown Copyright and this should always be acknowledged, as should the Links/LinkedUp provenance). Articles are normally accepted in English or the target language.
ALL also publishes Languages Today, a termly magazine for ALL members. This is a 32-page glossy magazine with short articles on the latest in languages education. The emphasis is on lively content with pictures and good ideas for teachers. If you’d like to explore having something published in the magazine, you’ll need to contact ALL.
If you’re a researcher and have been involved in a LinkedUp project and think there’s a research angle to investigate and write about, then you should consider the Language Learning Journal (published by Routledge on behalf of ALL). Full details of submitting articles to Language Learning Journal can be found at Taylor & Francis website.
Further study
If you’re considering further study, a Masters for example, then your experience in working on a LinkedUp project could come in very useful. Involvement in work of this kind shows that you’re passionate about your subject and that you’ve gone that extra step to improve your own practice and share your expertise with others. You may be able to negotiate some credits for the LinkedUp work that you’ve done or you may be able to use the work as a basis for a dissertation or extended study as part of an accredited programme.
Make it count!
Even if you don’t do any of the things we’ve mentioned above, you still need to make the effort that you’ve put into the project count for you and for your professional profile. Don’t forget to add your participation in a LinkedUp project to your CV and try to be explicit about what you learnt from the experience, especially in job interviews. It’s impossible to generalise here as all projects are different but some of the things you may want to emphasise are:
- The benefits of working in collaboration with other teachers
- Cross-sectoral working and what you learned from it
- The impact of the project on pupil learning
- Seeing things in a different way
- Becoming a more independent practitioner
- Recognising the value of teacher-led professional development
Project leaders will also wish to elaborate upon what they have learnt from project leadership and management.
Another project?
If working on LinkedUp has given you a taste for project work of this kind, then you may like to think about doing more. You could look into ways of taking forward the work that you’ve already done in LinkedUp, either with new institutions in your region or even in an international dimension, if your project would be suitable. There may be networks or groups you already belong to that would be keen to work on a project with you on an informal basis, even without further funding.
If you’re considering looking for funding to carry on your work, then you may wish to explore the following funding options:
The British Council coordinates a range of schemes for running a project with one or more schools in another country, and can give advice and help with your application.
There are various funding streams through the schools strand of the EU Life Long Learning Programme. These programmes might allow you to continue your project working with partners in other European countries. Programmes of particular interest might be:
Bilateral partnerships are open to all secondary and special schools, as well as sixth form and further education colleges. The partnerships last two years and include a reciprocal exchange, each lasting a minimum of ten days, between the UK institution and another European partner school. Students need to be over twelve years of age at the time of travel.
Multilateral partnerships are cross-curricular projects that involve at least three schools or colleges from at least three European countries. They enable staff and students in the UK to work together with partners in other Comenius eligible countries for the duration of the two-year partnership.
Local Authorities may know of sources of private funding in your region that could offer support.
Comenius Regio provides a great opportunity for local authority linking within Europe. You can:
- Link up with another European region with the aim of improving your educational offer to young people
- Motivate local authority staff and teachers by exchanging best practice and promoting co-operation
- Include schools and other players linked to education (e.g. teacher training, youth groups, vocational educators, community organisations and employers)
- Funding of up to €45,000 available per region for meetings, work shadowing and other activities over a two-year partnership
European Commission - funds large and smaller scale initiatives. The Comenius programme provides opportunities for schools across the EU to work together, other parts of the Lifelong learning programme deal with other sectors. There is a complex application process, with an annual call for proposals. Levels of funding are relatively high. In some programmes, participating organisations are expected to make a contribution in staff time themselves, so not all staff costs are covered. It’s a serious and time-consuming business both to apply and to manage a project, and you must have a number of EU partners to qualify, but it can be very rewarding.
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation – funds educational projects and is interested in languages. There is quite a rigorous application process.
Join your professional association
The Association for Language Learning (ALL) is the leading professional association for language teachers in the UK. Membership of your professional association is a statement of your commitment to your subject and your profession. It looks great on your CV and enhances any job application. Moreover as a body run by teachers for teachers, ALL provides many opportunities for informal networking and events where you can spread the word about your LinkedUp project and pass on your knowledge and expertise to others. If you decide to take your work further through any of the routes we’ve suggested above, then being a member of ALL will help you to extend your contacts and keep you up-to-date with all that’s happening in the world of languages.
Stay LinkedUp!
We believe that it is through working together that teachers can change languages education, ensuring that more young people have the opportunity to experience the pleasure and satisfaction of learning a new language and encountering new cultures and exciting ideas. You are the key to future success. So it’s important to link up with teachers in your local community, your region, across the country and even worldwide.
Network for Languages, as the successor network to Links Regional Centres, can help you to do this, along with ALL's own networks. Look out for the latest on LinkedUp from ALL on their website www.all-languages.org.uk – a LinkedUp forum is planned for the new term. You can also follow ALL's tweets on LinkedUp www.twitter.com/wendynewman1 or become a fan at www.facebook.com/alllanguages.org.uk.
