European, global and intercultural dimension in curriculum development

Pre-primary education

In pre-primary education, article 6 of Royal Decree 95/2022 establishes the educational authorities as responsible for promoting a first approach to the foreign language in the second cycle of pre-primary education, especially during the final year.

In addition, they may decide on the use of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) methodologies. In this case, they shall ensure that pupils develop their competence in the different languages in a balanced way throughout the stage.

On the other hand, ANNEX I of Royal Decree 95/2022 defines Pre-primary Education as the beginning of the process of acquiring the key competences for lifelong learning that appear in the Recommendation of the Council of the European Union of 22 May 2018. The competences related to the European, global and intercultural dimension are:

• Multilingual competence: at this stage, contact with languages and cultures other than their own is initiated, fostering in children attitudes of respect and appreciation for linguistic and cultural diversity, as well as an interest in enriching their linguistic resources. In this way, dialogue and democratic coexistence are promoted. 
• Citizenship competence: contributes to enabling students to exercise responsible citizenship and fully participate in social and civic life, on the basis of an understanding of social, economic, legal and political concepts and structures, as well as on the knowledge of world events and the achievement of global citizenship. It includes civic literacy, the conscious adoption of the values of a democratic culture based on respect for human rights, critical reflection on the major ethical issues of our time and the development of a sustainable lifestyle in line with the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the 2030 Agenda.
• Cultural awareness and expression competence: involves understanding and respecting how ideas, opinions, feelings and emotions are expressed and communicated creatively in different cultures and through a wide range of artistic and cultural manifestations. It also entails a commitment to understanding, developing and expressing one's own ideas and sense of place or role in society. It also requires an understanding of one's own evolving identity and cultural heritage in a world characterised by diversity, as well as the awareness that art and other cultural manifestations can be a way of looking at and shaping the world.

The pre-primary stage defines three areas, in which it includes content compatible with the European, global and intercultural dimension of the curriculum: 

• Balanced Growth: it focuses on the personal and social dimensions. One of the specific competences establishes that pupils must be able to establish social interactions in conditions of equality, valuing the importance of friendship, respect and empathy, in order to build their own identity based on democratic values and respect for human rights.
• Discovery and Exploration of the Environment: the aim is to favour the process of discovery, observation and exploration of the environment. Its specific competences include the ability of students to appreciate the importance of sustainable use, care and conservation of the environment in people's lives.
• Communication and Representation of Reality: it seeks to develop in children the skills that enable them to communicate through different languages and forms of expression as a means of developing their identity, representing reality and relating to other people. The specific competences of the area are related to the ability to communicate effectively with other people in a respectful, ethical, appropriate and creative way. On one hand, a communicative perspective is addressed and, on the other hand, an interactive approach is pursued in a multilingual and intercultural context. The specific competences around which the area's learning is organised are oriented towards three fundamental aspects of communication: expression, comprehension and interaction in order to make the communicative possibilities of different languages and forms of expression visible, although priority is given to the process of acquiring verbal language. At the same time, communication allows us to interpret and represent the world where we live. For this reason, a specific competence related to the approach to cultural manifestations associated with the different languages included in the area is also included, as a first step towards the recognition and appreciation of our multicultural and multilingual reality since childhood.

Primary education

Article 7 of Royal Decree 157/2022 defines the general objectives of the Primary Education stage. It defines that pupils should, by the end of the stage, acquire in at least one foreign language the basic communication skills that enable them to express and understand simple messages and to cope in everyday situations, as well as to know, understand and respect different cultures and differences among people, equal gender rights and opportunities and non-discrimination of people on the basis of ethnicity, sexual orientation or identity, religion or belief, disability or any other conditions;    Article 6 of Royal Decree 157/2022, establishes that in the teaching of official languages they will be used only as a support in the process of learning the foreign language. In this process, priority will be given to comprehension, expression and oral interaction.

On the other hand, Royal Decree 157/2022 also includes, in article 9, the multilingual competence, citizenship competence and cultural awareness and expression competence, as defined in the Recommendation of the Council of the European Union of 22 May 2018.

ANNEX II of Royal Decree 157/2022 includes the areas of  «Knowledge of the Natural, Social and Cultural Environment» «Foreign Language» and «Civic and Ethical Values» with contents related to the European, global and intercultural dimension:

• The area of "Knowledge of the Natural, Social and Cultural Environment" defines among its specific competences:
  • "identifying the characteristics of the different elements of the social and cultural environment in order to recognise the value of cultural heritage, preserve it, improve it and take action for its responsible use";
  • "identifying the causes and consequences of human intervention in the environment, from a social and cultural point of view";
  • "observing, understanding and interpreting continuity and change in the social and cultural environment"; 
  • "recognising and valuing diversity and gender equality, showing empathy and respect for other cultures, and reflecting on ethical issues, in order to contribute to the individual and collective well-being of a society in continuous transformation and to the achievement of the values of European integration";
  • "participating in the environment and social life in an effective and constructive way on the basis of respect for democratic values, human and children's rights and the principles and values of the Spanish Constitution and the European Union, valuing the role of the State and its institutions in the maintenance of peace and comprehensive citizen security, to generate respectful and equitable interactions and promote the peaceful and dialogue-based resolution of conflicts".
• In the area of "Foreign Language", there are specific competences established in relation to:
  • "appreciating and respecting linguistic, cultural and artistic diversity based on the foreign language, identifying and valuing the differences and similarities between languages and cultures, in order to learn how to manage intercultural situations".
• In the area of «Civic and Ethical Values» the following specific competences are to be found:
  • " acting and interacting in accordance with civic and ethical norms and values, recognising their importance for individual and collective life and applying them in an effective and argued manner in different contexts, in order to promote a democratic, fair, inclusive, respectful and peaceful coexistence";
  • "understanding the systemic relationships between individuals, society and nature, through knowledge and reflection on eco-social problems, in order to actively commit to values and practices consistent with the respect, care and protection of people and the planet".  

Compulsory secondary education

In Compulsory Secondary Education, ANNEX I of Order ECD65/2015 establishes among the "key competences" the linguistic communication competence and the social and civic competences, which are the most directly related ones to the European and international dimension of education.

• Linguistic communication: this is part of a framework of attitudes and values that the individual brings into play: respect for the rules of coexistence; active exercise of citizenship; respect for human rights and pluralism; and the concept of dialogue as a primary tool for coexistence, conflict resolution and the development of affective skills in all areas.
• Social and civic competences: these involve the ability and capacity to use one' s knowledge and attitudes about society. For the social competence, it is essential to understand the intercultural and socio-economic dimensions of European societies and to perceive cultural and national identities as a dynamic and changing socio-cultural process in interaction with the European one, in a context of increasing globalisation. The civic competence is based on a critical knowledge of the concepts of democracy, justice, equality, citizenship and human and civil rights, as well as their formulation in the Spanish Constitution and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. 

There are some subjects in this educational stage that contribute to the international dimension of the curriculum.

These subjects are "Geography and History", "Language" (Spanish and co-official in some autonomous communities) and literature", "Ethical values" and "First and second foreign language".

These subjects include content relating to:

• Geography and History: knowledge of society from a global and integrating perspective and other disciplines such as Economics, Sociology, Environmental Studies and Art History, which provide different and complementary analyses for a better understanding of the social reality.
• Language (Spanish and the co-official language of the Autonomous Community) and Literature: this subject ultimately aims to create citizens who are aware of and interested in the development and improvement of their communicative competence, capable of successfully interacting in all the areas that are and will be part of their lives.
• Ethical values: contributes to favouring the ethical values on which coexistence and democratic participation should be based, recognising human rights as a universal reference. It proposes the analysis of the relationship between justice and politics in today's world, the role of democracy, the exercise of human rights and Spain's accession to the European Union.
• First and second foreign language: the curriculum of these subjects emphasises multilingualism as one of the hallmarks of citizenship in a multilingual and multicultural Europe, where diversity should not be an obstacle to mobility and cooperation but a source of personal, social and cultural wealth and a factor for progress. The effective use of foreign languages necessarily implies an open and positive view of these relations with others, a view which is embodied in attitudes of appreciation and respect for all languages and cultures.

Bachillerato

In the same way as in Secondary Education, Bachillerato has to develop competence in linguistic communication and social and civic competences, which are the key competences set out in ANNEX I of Order ECD65/2015 more directly related to the European and international dimension of education.

Among the common and modality subjects taught in Bachillerato, the ones that explore the European and international dimension of education in greater depth, according to Royal Decree 1105/2014, are the following:

• History of the Contemporary World: its contents include the current challenges the European Union is facing and the imbalances in its relations with other countries or geopolitical areas.
• Art Fundamentals: includes elements of art in different civilisations.
• Universal Literature: the reading of texts from Universal Literature is part of the process of affective, intellectual and aesthetic maturation of young people with the knowledge of this fundamental part of humankind's cultural heritage.
• History of Spain: contributes to the development of responsible citizens, aware of their rights and obligations, as well as of the inheritance received and their commitment to future generations.
• Geography: includes content related to the spatial groups with which our country is related: the EU, geographically neighbouring areas and other areas of the world with political, social and economic relations with Spain are included in a final topic that will contextualise Spain and its relations with the EU and the rest of the world.
• History of Philosophy: this subject aims to achieve most of the objectives and competences defined for Bachillerato: those related to personal and social development (autonomy, critical thinking and dialogue skills), the exercise of democratic citizenship and the development of civic awareness and the promotion of equal rights between men and women.
• Economics: there is a block of content about international economics as well as an analysis of the European Central Bank.
• Art History: studies artworks since the beginning of classicism in Greco-Roman Antiquity up to contemporary art. The subject, through its specific manifestations, must take into account the historical and cultural context in which each piece of art is produced.
• History of Music and Dance: the knowledge acquired in previous years and through the teaching of this subject will enable students to understand the evolution of music and dance, to establish associations with other artistic manifestations in the different societies in which they were produced and to temporally contextualise each work.
• In Bachillerato, as in Primary and Secondary Education, the "Foreign Language" subject makes a significant contribution to the European and international dimension of education.

Vocational training

One of the basic principles governing intermediate vocational training is the adaptation of training and qualifications to the criteria of the European Union. For this reason, one of the priority areas of training is the languages of the countries that make up the European Union.

The third additional provision of Law 5/2002 establishes that the priority areas to be included in the training provision are those related to information and communication technologies, languages of the European Union countries, teamwork, and occupational risk prevention, as well as those that are included in the guidelines set out by the European Union.

In the curriculum of the different professional branches, the professional modules of the degree in Commerce and Marketing, especially those oriented towards financing and international trade, are the ones that focus more on the European and international dimension of education.

In these modules, students learn how to:

• develop international market research;
• analyse distribution channels in export markets;
• organise the international activity of companies;
• understand the international contracting regulations that regulate sales and purchase operations.

They also study the international economic structure, Spanish international trade, the European Union and third countries, international and regional organisations, multinational companies, international financing, the foreign exchange market and international credit management.

Partnerships and networks  

The Erasmus+ 2021-2027 Program aims to offer opportunities for study periods abroad, traineeships, apprenticeships, work placements and staff exchanges in all fields of education, training, youth and sport. It is available, among others, to students and vocational training pupils. 

The new partnership networks in which both pupils and staff in pre-primary, primary, secondary education and vocational training can participate are:

• Key Action 1 (KA1) Individuals' mobility for learning purposes: 
  • Mobility project for students and staff in Vocational Training (VT). Mobility for students: up to 12 months of practical training abroad.
• Key Action 2 (KA2) Cooperation for innovation and best practice exchange. 
  • Strategic Partnerships in Education and Training: aiming to support the development, transfer or implementation of innovative practices and the implementation of joint initiatives promoting cooperation, peer learning and experience exchange at European level.

The eTwinning Project, also dependent on the Spanish Service for the Internationalisation of Education (SEPIE), is a supplementary action of the Erasmus+ Programme which is open for participation to professionals working in pre-primary, primary and secondary education, of, at least, two European countries. Its main goal is:

• to promote and facilitate contact, the exchange of ideas and partnerships between teachers and students of participant countries through the use of information and communication technologies.

The duration of eTwining Projects is not limited.