Biodata

Alfredo Palacios has a PhD in Fine Arts and broad experience in teacher preparation at university and in elementary schools. He currently works as a lecturer of Art Education at Cardenal Cisneros University College, Madrid. His research focuses on the educational role of heritage and public art as well as on art education in bilingual contexts. Additionally, he is the editor of the educational journal “Pulso. Revista de Educación”.

Bilingüismo y competencia intercultural. Un proyecto educativo entre estudiantes universitarios de España y Finlandia.

This presentation is intended to show how the application of collaborative learning can enhance language acquisition and intercultural competencies in in bilingual contexts. The authors want to share the conclusions of an international project conducted over three years by two European universities of Education. This project focused on reflecting about the interaction between university students and cultural heritage. To do this, students were asked to create an artistic poster of any heritage element from the cities where the two universities are located. Then, they had to upload their creation to a blog and comment on other students’ work, using English as a vehicular language. Among the principal outcomes, the participants were satisfied with learning about cultural issues from a different country and with discovering new things about their own heritage. They also accepted the potential of visual art and cross-curricular work as a powerful tool to learn about culture and to practice their language skills.