Professional learning

A collection of online learning activities on a wide variety of areas of practice. Each learning activity is aligned to the GTCS Professional Standards and professional learning recorded here can be uploaded to your MyGTCS. Registration required or login via Glow.

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Free, online professional learning opportunities and educator communities for a range of digital platforms:

• Apple Teacher Learning - work towards Apple Teacher status
• Google Teacher Center - work towards Google Certified Teacher status
• Microsoft Educator Community - work towards Microsoft Innovative Educator status

A wide range of online offerings to support your professional learning.

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Our CLPL events support the continuing professional development of teachers and other professionals with access to high-quality learning, teaching and development opportunities.

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Whether you are looking to enhance your professional practice, change your career or get started on a new pathway, our undergraduate and postgraduate courses will help you achieve your goals.

Programmes are designed for professionals working with young people across many educational and community sectors. All programmes are delivered in a flexible way to enable you to achieve further qualifications while working.

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Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is the National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture. Based in Sleat, Isle of Skye, we are the only centre of Higher and Further Education in the world that provides its learning programmes entirely through the medium of Gaelic in an immersed, language-rich environment.

We offer a range of learning opportunities, both on campus and via distance learning, full-time and part-time, for anyone with an interest in Gaelic.

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Free apps with a wide variety of languages:

• Duolingo
• Memrise

Apps with free content for a range of languages:

• Busuu
• 50Languages

Free podcasts from Radio Lingua to learn French, Spanish, German, Italian, Chinese and Swedish. Video materials also available on YouTube.

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This Gaelic Language Learning Training Course is designed for teachers who have little or no knowledge of Gaelic. The aim of the course is that on completion, teachers are equipped with both the necessary Gaelic language skills and teaching methodology to deliver Gaelic as L2 or L3 from early to 2nd level. The course consists of 18 units covering a variety of topics and functional language.

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Free, anytime learning from the Open University. Create an account for free access:

• track your progress
• earn a statement of participation
• access all course activities
• submit a review of the course
• available in Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Welsh
• three levels – introductory, intermediate, advanced.
• length of time ranges from 6 hours to 24 hours of study
• interesting range of contexts.
  

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An open learning platform hosted by the Open University. 16 free courses from Level 0 – 3 in languages such as Scots, Gaelic, Welsh, French and Spanish. Ranging from 1 hour to more than 24 hours of notional study. The OLC courses are not OU courses, they are built by teachers, colleges, universities, organisations and individuals.

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Online languages courses for beginners Japanese lasting 6 months, tutor-supported courses and self-study cultural courses introduction to calligraphy, flower arranging and haiku lasting 3 months from the Japan Foundation.

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Find collections of online resources to support teaching and learning in a wide range of languages. Visit the Gaelic Education Wakelet and the modern languages Wakelet. Resources will be updated over the period of school closures. 

The “Plurilingual Classrooms in Action” MOOC from the Scottish Council of Deans of Education Languages Group is a free four-week course, hosted through FutureLearn at the University of Glasgow and aligned with the core principles and contexts of the National Framework for Languages: plurilingualism, diversity, policy and legislation, and transformative practices, and aims to support the teaching and learning of languages in primary classrooms.

The course consists of a series of short readings, videos, tasks, and opportunities to reflect on the role of languages in and for education. Each of the activities will take no longer than 5 or 10 minutes to complete and aim to provide an overview of language teaching and learning in the 21st century and foster and enhance the creation of effective and engaging learning approaches which support inclusive practices in the classroom.

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Repository for past webinars and registration for forthcoming webinars by languages teachers, for languages teachers on a wide range of subjects. Hosted by ALL London

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Recording of the presentation given at the Scottish Learning Festival in September 2019 by Susan Sey, Digital Skills Development Officer, Education Scotland and Sylvia Georgin, Aberdeenshire Languages Development Officer and Northern Alliance Languages Workstream Lead.

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Subscribe for recordings of webinars hosted or co-hosted by Joe Dale, independent languages and IT consultant.

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Massive open online courses on a wide range of subjects including language upskilling, pedagogy, history and culture, theory from a wide range of providers worldwide. Regular start times during the year.

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Linguascope organises weekly webinars for Modern Languages teachers on a wide range of topics. If you’d like to register for live sessions, as well as watch all previously recorded sessions on demand, simply log in to the Staffroom section of Linguascope or download the Linguascope Webinars app.

If you are not a Linguascope subscriber, you can still access the webinars by subscribing monthly or annually within the app.

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For teachers of German, covering pedagogy or cultural topics. Webinars last an hour, are free and will be interactive. Join in live or catch up on recordings.

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Hosted by Joe Dale (UK) and Noah Geisel (US): listen to episodes and download show notes for this wide-ranging podcast aimed at celebrating the voices of the modern language teaching community.  

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A podcast from the US about language teaching from the diverse perspectives of teachers.  Wide range of episodes with programme notes.

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A weekly podcast hosted by Dr Liam Printer talking all things education, language teaching, motivation and engagement.

Episodes focus on linking research to practice as well as giving teachers zero-prep comprehensible input activities to boost motivation that can be implemented into classrooms immediately.

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The MEd Gaelic Education is a three-year programme of professional learning that builds upon the success of Streap, the Postgraduate Certificate in Gaelic Medium Education which ran from 2005 to 2022 in partnership with the University of Aberdeen.

Languages Education Network Scotland (LENS) is a resource bank of studies and research findings from national and international contexts. These findings help us to unravel the complexities of language teaching and learning and why things happen the way they do in classrooms. Key messages from over 300 studies have been organised according to specific themes relating to language teaching and learning in the curriculum.

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Languages Education Academic Portfolio (LEAP) is a reflective tool to support implementation of the NFfL. Its suggested format is a portfolio for ITE and can also be used and developed further for CLPL purposes. It is built on CEFR and GTC(S) recommendations. LEAP is linked to the LENS resource which provides detailed information and guidance.

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The PDC in MFL website features resources and videos of practice. The site was recently updated with materials related to the FLEUR MFL reading study, the Primary Languages Progress and Preparedness study (both funded by the Nuffield Foundation), and The Language Magician assessment tool.

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Find out the research behind the language learning from a collection of one page summaries of research under the following themes: curriculum policy and curriculum modules; literacy and wider academic achievement; the role of age in language learning; pedagogy and teacher expertise; linguistic development and expectations; multilingualism and additional language learning; cultural competence and intercultural understanding.

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Thirty-four issues of the open access online journal from SCILT with varied articles from students, parents, educators and academics.

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OASIS (Open Accessible Summaries In Language Studies) database contains useful one page summaries of language related reports. A great resource for student teachers of foreign languages

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The Critical Connections Project is about enabling young people across the primary and secondary age range to create and share multilingual digital stories. It offers an approach to language learning, literacy and citizenship which recognises that communication is enhanced when plurilingual and digital resources are drawn upon purposefully and creatively. This asynchronous professional learning opportunity provides free to access workshops and invites educators to explore the possibilities of multilingual digital storytelling.

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Slideshow produced by Glasgow City Council EAL Service.

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Over 1,700 children, parents, caregivers and teachers from around the world took the time to share how they were coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. They have all influenced this story project. Developed for and by children around the world, the story is available in multiple languages.

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Massive open online course (MOOC) from FutureLearn starting soon:

• Multilingual Learning for a Globalised World from University of Glasgow. Explore multilingual education and how it can impact and improve education and even wider society. Notionally 4 hours of study per week across 3 weeks.

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PALINGUI – Language learning pathways of young children

Making early language learning visible: webinar recorded on 5th March 2020. Hosted by: Flore Schank, Ministry of Education, Children and Youth, Luxembourg; Ingeborg Birnie, University of Strathclyde, UK; Dana Musilova, Czech School Inspectorate, Czech Republic. Webinar powerpoint slides also available to download.

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Anytime learning module developed in partnership with Education Scotland, Glasgow City Council and SCILT, Scotland’s National Centre for Languages.

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This is an interesting and helpful article in the EAL Journal, the termly magazine from the NALDIC website. Published on 8 April 2020.

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Published on 20 March 2020 on the NALDIC blog which includes a crowd-sourced - not exhaustive - compendium of resources.

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NEW: Guidance and resources for schools and teachers to support pupils who use EAL and their families to help mitigate any learning and language loss experienced during school closures. See Parental involvement guidance.

Series of free EAL webinars aimed at providing direct access to expertise in English as an Additional Language to senior leaders and EAL staff in school, policy-makers, Ethnic Minority Achievement Service teams, teacher educators and academics. Join live or watch recordings.

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A reassuring article with some simple ideas and sensible advice by Catriona Stewart in the Evening Times on 17 April 2020.

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This is a short, easy to understand guide for parents of student who use English as an Additional Language. Available in Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese, English, Gujerati, Lithuanian, Polish, Punjabi, Romanian, Somali and Urdu. Share the link to the free download with your families and carers. 

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Up-to-date and interactive, SCILT workshops for teachers are a great way for you and your colleagues to explore aspects of languages pedagogy with our experienced Professional Development Officers.

If you are the person in your department, school, cluster or local authority with a remit to source high quality subject specific professional learning for colleagues, then you will definitely be interested in our brand new menu of CLPL workshops.

For 2024-25, our carefully designed inputs cover a variety of topics related to the learning and teaching of languages:

Primary and Early Years

• First steps in teaching primary modern languages
• Valuing linguistic diversity in schools, with families
• Bringing the languages content to primary interdisciplinary learning
• Making assessment in primary languages active and accessible
• Give careers education a languages twist for your primary pupils

Secondary

• Teaching Sprints – Small change, big impact
• Social-Emotional learning for languages
• Talking and listening
• Reading and writing
• BYOW: Build your own workshop

We are always happy to accommodate bespoke CLP requests too. Whatever your colleagues need, just ask and we will design a workshop with tailored content, just for them.

More detail about the menu, and to book one or more workshop for the group of teachers that you support:

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If you are looking for high quality professional learning related to languages pedagogy for early career teachers in your local authority, RIC or the student teachers in your university then look no further. 

Always interactive and up-to-date, SCILT workshops give you the opportunity to explore aspects of practice with your colleagues and our experienced Professional Development Officers.

Primary 

• First steps in teaching languages in primary
• An introduction to multilingual approaches to primary pedagogy
• Families on board? Developing a family friendly approach to languages in your class
• Celebrating cultural diversity through languages in primary
• Combining employability with language skills
• Getting outdoors with languages and learning
  
• Digital tools for language learning
• Target language phonics
• Planning for progression in primary languages
• Active assessment in primary languages

Secondary

• Teaching Core Skills: Reading
• Teaching Core Skills: Listening
• Teaching Core Skills: Talking
• Teaching Core Skills: Writing
• Effective classroom management
• Language café
• Support for application and interview for language posts (aimed at NQTs)

Please refer to the SCILT ECT Professional Learning Programme for further details about each of the workshops available and submit your request via the form below. 

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Scotland's Languages Leadership Programme (SLLP) is the flagship professional learning programme, and is offered in partnership, by SCILT and Education Scotland.

This sector leading leadership development opportunity takes place online, through a mix of synchronous and asynchronous elements. The course lasts eleven months, running from June one year to May the next.

The programme carries Professional Recognition: leadership in languages education from the General Teaching Council Scotland.

Visit our dedicated SLLP webpage for more information.

Professional learning partnerships (PLPs) bring together educators, SCILT Professional Development Officers and any number of other partners from the education, business or charity sectors. Every PLP is unique, with each partner bringing different understanding, expertise and professional networks to the project. Typically, over the course of 9-12 months, partners adopt a collaborative and enquiring approach, to address a specific need identified by the educators. All PLP partners commit to sharing the work and outcomes of the project in and beyond their own contexts.

Previous PLPs have focused on exploring curriculum models to support increased uptake in Senior Phase; developed challenging interdisciplinary contexts for BGE language learning; family learning; strengthening literacy skills across languages and play-based approach for language learning in EY and early primary settings.

If you have an identified need and are able to commit to this longer term, organic form of professional learning please get in touch.

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The following opportunities are open to individual educators:

• Teachers of Italian in Scotland (TOIIS) network. The next event for the network is a talk to be held on Thursday 7 November 2024. Email SCILT putting TOIIS in the subject line with any queries you have about the event, the network and joining the network.
• Open Access workshops: monthly themed workshops for primary practitioners throughout the year. To receive notification when registration opens for these events, sign up to SCILT ebulletin or follow SCILT on Eventbrite.
• Secondary Big Question series: regular themed workshops for secondary practitioners in term 4. Check back for dates, themes and booking details.
• For practitioners interested in languages in Early Years, please join our Languages in Early Years Learning Community Team in Glow. For those with a Glow account, you can access the team using the following code: ub5yxgt. If you have any issues with accessibility, please contact Karen Faulds.

The following opportunities are open to Individual students teachers and new or recently qualified teachers:

• The ECT Primary Languages Signpost Sessions take place regularly. Specifically for specifically for primary education students, newly and recently qualified primary teachers. These are informal opportunities to connect with peers across Scotland, ask questions, find support and solutions for all things primary languages. Find out more and book your place.

Additional professional learning opportunities will be offered by SCILT during the year. To keep up-to-date with these opportunities as they arise, please sign up to the SCILT weekly news bulletin.

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