“Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom” (Oprah Winfrey).

Now that the school year is under way, the team at English Matters is looking forward to seeing all participants who are coming on the structured courses we have planned throughout the autumn. 

By means of the course ‘Structured Educational Visit to Schools/Institutes and Training Seminars’ participants will have the opportunity to discover and investigate deeper into the educational system of countries such as Sweden, Finland, Spain, Iceland, Ireland and Norway.

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In recent years we have become accustomed to hearing about other countries, their school systems and methodologies and, in most cases, how they compare to our own. We have so much to learn which can be used to enrich and help us develop our own teaching practices based on the success of others.  As teachers, we must be careful and mindful of our teaching practice and we have the responsibility to improve and learn when necessary and maintain an innovative and modern professional outlook. The world of education is striving to keep up with a society which is changing at an alarming rate. However, the constant comparison can be overwhelming when we are not familiar with the context, economic aspects, geographical location, legal framework, etc. all of which are important when studying an education system.

Participating in a structured course of this nature is having a bird´s eye view of the education system and how it works on a day to day basis. Participants will have seminars, workshops and opportunities to interact with different schools based on individual needs and interests. Teachers can observe and reflect on what they learn in the very context (society, culture, climate, etc.) which often is what makes education systems unique and, sometimes, challenging to transplant from one country to another. Participants are given the power to make their own comparisons and at the same time be enriched by the different outlook, perspective and experiences the hosting country has to offer. While at the same time participants will gain and learn from the education systems they will come in contact with throughout the course by interacting and working with fellow participants from all over Europe.