CLIL in Action: Bilingual Education for All Subjects

Why this is Erasmus+ eligible

Structured, multi-day programme (5 days) with a pre-defined schedule and learning outcomes — not a passive lecture format.

Built around interaction: participants engage directly with the trainer and with peers from other countries throughout the course.

Transnational by design — open to participants travelling from outside the host country, a core requirement of Erasmus+ mobility funding.

The Erasmus+ Programme Guide lists among the objectives of Key Action 1 mobility in school education “improving language learning and language diversity in schools” and promoting “innovative teaching methods” (Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026, Part B – Key Action 1, Mobility for pupils and staff in school education, Objectives of the action, p. 103), and states that “The promotion of language learning and linguistic diversity is one of the specific objectives of the Programme” (Part A – Important features of the Erasmus+ Programme, Multilingualism, p. 12). CLIL — teaching a subject through a second language, with a content goal and a language goal in the same lesson — takes language learning into subject lessons rather than leaving it to the language class, and works in whichever language the school uses for it. Participants from any subject leave with one CLIL lesson plan for their own teaching, checked by colleagues: a content goal and a language goal, scaffolds for the language the lesson needs, an interactive activity, an assessment that keeps content and language apart, and a plan for students who find the second language difficult.

Overview

Teaching geography in French and teaching French in a French class sound similar. They’re not — one treats language as the subject, the other treats it as the medium something else gets taught through, and that second approach has its own name.

This week you plan one CLIL lesson from your own subject, with a content goal and a language goal, and test it on colleagues. You design in the language your school uses for CLIL; the planning sheet and the feedback run in English, with an English gloss added to the language items so that colleagues working in other languages can follow.

Monday — you learn how CLIL began, choose one lesson from your own subject, and write its content goal and its language goal.
Tuesday — you work out the language a lesson needs, and plan scaffolds that carry it.
Wednesday — you design an interactive activity so that students use the language while working on the subject, on paper or with a tool.
Thursday — you plan what happens when students get stuck in the second language, and assess content and language separately.
Friday — you check your lesson against both goals with colleagues, revise it, and plan your first CLIL lesson back.

By Friday you have a CLIL lesson plan for your own subject, checked by colleagues, with a language goal, scaffolds, an interactive activity, and an assessment that keeps content and language apart. You do not need to teach in a bilingual programme already.

Description

The core idea of CLIL is dual focus: a lesson has a goal in the subject and a goal in the language, and neither is subordinate to the other. A lesson built this way is not a translated lesson plan and not a language lesson wearing a science topic as a costume; students use the second language because the subject task needs it.

The week works with one lesson from your own subject — mathematics, science, history, geography, art, physical education or any other. You write its two goals, list the language it needs (the words the topic requires, the language students need to do the task, and the language likely to come up) and plan scaffolds such as word banks, sentence starters, pictures and pair talk before whole-class talk. Then you build the activity, decide when students may use their first language, plan how to assess content and language separately, and have colleagues check the plan against both goals.

Digital tools are used where they carry a scaffold: a shared board for a word wall, a quiz with images, a live poll. They are working examples: each has a free version, creating a board or a quiz needs a free account, and every task also works on paper.

The course runs in English, while your own CLIL lesson may be in German, French, Spanish or another language; where possible, groups on Friday share a lesson language. A student who finds the target language difficult has a place in every plan: on Thursday you decide what you change for that student, and making subject content accessible to multilingual learners is part of the plan rather than an extra.

The week teaches the planning method and tests it on one lesson of yours. Improving your own English is covered in the English Language Course for Teachers and Education Staff, and choosing digital tools for language teaching in Enhancing Language Learning through ICT; this course is about teaching a subject through a second language.

Methodology

One Lesson, Two Goals

Participants plan one lesson from their own subject, with a content goal and a language goal, adding a part each day.

Short Theory, Hands-On Practice

Theoretical lessons are kept short, with most of the course spent on practical work, peer review and classroom simulations.

Tools Only Where They Carry a Scaffold

Digital tools are used for word walls, image quizzes and polls when they help students use the language, and every task also works on paper.

What you'll take home

Write a content goal and a language goal for a lesson in your own subject.

Work out the language a lesson needs, and plan at least two scaffolds that carry it.

Design an interactive activity in which students use the second language to work on the subject.

Assess content and language separately, and plan what to change for a student who finds the language difficult.

Check a CLIL lesson plan against both goals with colleagues, and plan your first CLIL lesson.

Daily programme

Icebreaker: "Explain a Term Twice" — each participant explains one concept from their subject first as they would to a colleague, then again with only simple words, and notes which words they had to search for
David Marsh's CLIL (coined 1994) and his 2002 European Commission report "CLIL/EMILE – The European Dimension": the idea of dual focus
Choosing your lesson: one topic from your own subject, and how to work in the language your school uses while the planning sheet runs in English
Writing a content goal and a language goal for your lesson

Warm-up: "Subject Taboo" — describe a term from your subject without using its key word, and note the language you reached for
The language load: the words and phrases the topic needs, the language for doing the task, and the language likely to come up
Scaffolds: word banks, sentence starters, pictures and diagrams, model answers, and pair talk before whole-class talk
Planning two scaffolds for your own lesson

Interactive activities in which students need the language to do the subject task: information-gap tasks, card sorts, describe-and-draw and jigsaw reading
Tools that carry a scaffold: a shared board for a word wall, a quiz with images, a live poll — for example Padlet, Quizlet or Mentimeter, or paper
Building your interactive activity for your own lesson topic
Trying part of it on a partner and noting where students needed the language

Classroom management in a bilingual lesson: when students may use their first language, and when the target language is required
Group work in the second language, and how to help a student who is finding it difficult
Assessing content and language with two separate criteria
Planning what you change for one student at a low level in the lesson language

Checking your lesson plan against both goals in small groups, with a short checklist
Revising your plan after the feedback
Your first CLIL lesson back: one lesson, one scaffold to test first, and what you will look for
Reflection and self-assessment
Course evaluation
Certification ceremony

Please note: sessions run from 09:30 to 15:00, Monday to Friday, with a break for lunch. Timings can shift a little to suit the venue and the group. If you'd like a specific topic covered, let us know when you apply — the confirmed day-by-day schedule is sent to registered participants ahead of the course.

Certificate: we issue the Certificate of Attendance to everyone who's present for at least 80% of the course — tracked with the daily sign-in sheet (see Certificate & assessment).

Equipment: a few of our courses ask participants to bring a laptop — check the day-by-day programme above, or ask us if you're not sure.

Need a formal invoice or proforma for your school's records? Ask us — we issue official invoices with the participant's name and course details.

Materials & tools

Worked on during the week: a one-page CLIL lesson planning sheet and a two-goal check for peer feedback, together with the lesson plans that participants produce during the course. Tools such as Padlet, Quizlet or Mentimeter can be used where they carry a scaffold; every task also works on paper.

Certificate & assessment

This is a Certificate of Attendance, not an exam-based qualification — recognition comes from completing the structured programme, not from passing a test. The real, lasting value is in the competencies listed above under What you'll take home.

Erasmus Mobility Academy

Certificate of Attendance

CLIL in Action: Bilingual Education for All Subjects · 5 days · 25 hrs

+ Europass Mobility document

Type your name above — clearly marked "SAMPLE" in the PDF, not an official document.

The real certificate is signed by your trainer and EMA's authorised signatory. Your own signature isn't on this document — it's captured separately, on the Europass Mobility document.

Need to verify a real certificate? Check it online using the serial number and participant's full name, or contact us directly — [email protected], OID E10304561.

Attendance

Tracked using a sign-in sheet with one signature per participant per day (paper or digital). This record is used to issue your Certificate of Attendance and Europass Mobility document. View sign-in sheet (PDF)

Output

Every participant leaves with a completed Dissemination & School Impact Plan — a step-by-step template for applying the course back at your school (see below).

Feedback

An end-of-course evaluation form is sent to every participant after the course ends — a chance to reflect on what you've learned and how you'll apply it, and it helps us keep improving the course for future participants.

Your paperwork

Keep your travel tickets, boarding passes and (if you used green travel) any related receipts — your school or National Agency may ask for these for their own Erasmus+ reporting.

How to prepare

Nothing needs to be prepared in advance: you choose one topic from your own subject on Day 1.

A laptop or tablet is useful on Day 3 if you want to try a tool such as Padlet, Quizlet or Mentimeter; every task also works on paper.

Practical information

Registration & documents

Not sure how registering works or what paperwork is involved? See our full Registration & Documents guide — from applying to your Certificate of Attendance, in one place.

Invitation letter

Need a formal invitation letter for your school or embassy? Request one — we send it within 2 business days. See a sample (PDF).

Learning Agreement

Prepared by our staff and sent to you and your school once your registration form is submitted — see what it looks like. See a sample (PDF).

Billing & invoicing

We issue official invoices/proformas with the participant's name and course details — ask us. Payment is due in full by bank transfer before the course start date. See a sample (PDF).

Airport transfer

Guidance on getting from the nearest airport to the venue is included in your welcome information.

Accommodation

We can recommend partner hotels close to the venue in the host city — ask us when you apply.

For your school / proposal

School impact

After completing this course, the participating staff member can transfer outcomes directly to their school: a short briefing for colleagues sharing the key takeaways, applying relevant tools or strategies from the programme in their own role, and inclusion of the course materials in the school's professional development resources — turning one person's mobility into a wider institutional gain that supports the school's Erasmus+ objectives. Use the Dissemination & School Impact Plan below to fill in your own — it saves as you go and can generate a one-page summary for your coordinator too.

Prefer a blank, course-independent version of this template? Get it here →

After the course

Participants will receive their Certificate of Attendance and the co-signed Europass Mobility document.

Participants will complete a general course evaluation and event survey.

Participants will receive course materials, videos, photos, and PDF documents in both digital and print formats.

Follow-up support: self-evaluation materials are provided. Depending on the group, an email group may be set up so that participants can keep exchanging ideas.

Frequently asked

This course is an eligible training activity under Erasmus+ Key Action 1 (School Education Mobility) — the course fee, travel and subsistence fall within the eligible cost categories. Whether it is covered depends on your own project's approved grant agreement and your National Agency's rules; we provide all the invoices, attendance records and certificates your National Agency requires for reporting.

B1 is enough — you do not need to be fluent. Trainers speak slowly and plainly, every session is built around doing something rather than sitting and listening, and groups are mixed by nationality so people help each other out. A rough test: if you could follow a staff meeting held in English and ask a question in it, you will be fine here.

Absolutely — group bookings of 3+ from one school or organisation receive priority placement, and we can schedule a dedicated session for groups of 12 or more.

Our courses run on request at our centres in Antalya, İstanbul, İzmir, Mersin, Budapest, Bremen and Rome. Tell us your preferred city and dates and we will arrange a session.

Tuition, all course materials, your Certificate of Attendance, and the co-signed Europass Mobility document. Flights, accommodation and travel insurance are booked separately — we send a vetted hotel list.

You can move to any later session free of charge. Cancellations made 30+ days before the start date receive a full refund; a reduced refund applies closer to the date — see our full Cancellation & Refund Policy for the exact schedule.

The Erasmus+ Programme Guide lists among the objectives of Key Action 1 mobility in school education “improving language learning and language diversity in schools” and promoting “innovative teaching methods” (Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026, Part B – Key Action 1, Mobility for pupils and staff in school education, Objectives of the action, p. 103), and states that “The promotion of language learning and linguistic diversity is one of the specific objectives of the Programme” (Part A – Important features of the Erasmus+ Programme, Multilingualism, p. 12). CLIL — teaching a subject through a second language, with a content goal and a language goal in the same lesson — takes language learning into subject lessons rather than leaving it to the language class, and works in whichever language the school uses for it. Participants from any subject leave with one CLIL lesson plan for their own teaching, checked by colleagues: a content goal and a language goal, scaffolds for the language the lesson needs, an interactive activity, an assessment that keeps content and language apart, and a plan for students who find the second language difficult. Frame it in your own project's terms — your National Agency's current call will confirm exactly how it applies.

No. The course introduces CLIL from the ground up — you don't need to already teach in a bilingual programme, just a willingness to try teaching your subject partly through a second language. It helps to have one topic from your own subject loosely in mind; if you arrive without one, we choose one together on Day 1. A laptop or tablet is useful on Day 3 but not required — every task also works on paper.