• to assist schools in integrating languages (LOTE) programs within the Essential Learnings context of the school
• to enable participants to undertake a structured program of professional development in IcLL
• to strengthen links between languages (LOTE) programs and other areas of the curriculum, through collaborative planning with other teachers in the school
• to support participants to explore the ideas underlying intercultural learning across the curriculum in their own school context.

Participating schools

There were sixteen participating schools: Bothwell District High, Burnie High, Claremont High, Cosgrove High, Devonport High, Geilston Bay High, New Norfolk High, Ogilvie High, Rose Bay High, Rosetta High, Scottsdale High, Sorell School, St Mary’s District High, Taroona High, Ulverstone High, and Wynyard High.

School teams consisted of the languages (LOTE) teacher and one or more teachers from other learning areas. The involvement of a senior staff member was strongly encouraged.

Defining intercultural language learning

Intercultural language learning is an emerging approach that has strong connections to both inquiry and reflective thinking, requiring learners to adopt an inquiring state of mind, to notice and question assumptions and to reorient themselves in relation to others. A critical dimension of understanding language in use is that language cannot be separated from its social and cultural contexts.