25 years of the MEFP-British Council Bilingual Education Programme: Empowering Transformational Change

Date: Friday 26 February 2021 -
11:00 to 13:00

Online seminar: examining the transformational power of education.

We invite educators, policy makers and sector experts to join Secretary of State, Mr Alejandro Tiana Ferrer and Mark Howard, Director of British Council Spain at our special anniversary seminar as they discuss the past, present and future impact of the MEFP-British Council Bilingual Education Programme in Spain.

Our seminar also offers the opportunity to hear from Lucy Crehan, International Education Consultant, on the policies and strategies which high-performing and equitable education systems implement to support successful educational outcomes. Prof Zahir Irani, University of Bradford, will also share a case study on how universities institutions can successfully engage in the economic regeneration and development of their local communities.

Seminar schedule:

TIME	SESSION / SPEAKERS
11:00 - 11:15	Seminar welcome: Mark Levy and Mercedes Hernandez Welcome to seminar and the role of the British Council School.
11:15 - 11:45	Bilingual Education Programme: past, present and future. Impact and achievements. Moderated discussion. Speakers: Mr Alejandro Tiana Ferrer, Mark Howard.
11:45 - 12:15	Setting and meeting high expectations: lessons from top-performing systems. Speaker: Lucy Crehan High performing and equitable education systems have a vision in common – that the vast majority of children will l achieve the curriculum standards, and that all children will reach their potential. This is easy to say but hard to do. In this talk, Lucy will share some policies and strategies these systems use to help them (almost) meet their ambitious goals.
12:15 - 12:45	The Education Sector Supporting Economic Recovery Post Covid: A Case Experience of the University of Bradford (UK) Speaker: Professor Zahir Irani. The role of Universities is changing, as they have an opportunity to contribute towards local economic recovery post covid. The modern civic University has a responsibility to contribute to the public good and is an institution that has a place-based strategy about how it connects to its local city area and local community. Recognising the social and economic value that they make to their region, through their vibrant student communities, research, knowledge exchange and, student employability, Universities represent strong advocates of wealth generation and economic vibrancy. This presentation will outline the approach taken by a University in supporting the economic recovery of its local region through leading the development on behalf of a local district government an Economic Recovery Strategy. A specific emphasis will then be on regional skills support through their Business School.
12:45 - 13:00	Closing remarks, questions and answers. Moderator: Mark Levy

We look forward to welcoming you to our seminar! If you are unable to join for the whole event then you are welcome to join individual sessions.

Alejandro Tiana Ferrer

Secretary of State for Education, Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional

Alejandro Tiana Ferrer is Professor of Theory and History of Education and Secretary of State for Education. He has served as rector of UNED (2013-2018) and Secretary General of Education (2004-2008), among other responsibilities. He has authored 25 books and more than 200 chapters or articles about the history of education systems, educational policy, comparative education and the evaluation of education systems.

Lucy Crehan

Lucy is an education explorer and consultant. She taught science and Psychology in London and completed a Masters in Education at Cambridge. She worked in schools in five 'top-performing' education systems. Her book ‘Cleverlands: the secrets behind the success of the world's education superpowers’ is one of The Economist’s ‘books of the year 2016’. Lucy also wrote a book on teacher career structures for IIEP UNESCO, and spent a year as part of a team advising foreign governments on education

Professor Zahir Irani

Professor Zahir Irani is Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Bradford, (UK). He is also the Chair of the Bradford and District Council Covid-19 Economic Recovery Board. He has worked across academe in senior management roles and previously worked for the UK Government as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Cabinet Office. He tweets at: @ZahirIrani1

Mercedes Hernández, Head of the British Council School

One definition of ‘authority’ is ‘prestige resulting from competence in a particular field’. It is also one of the concepts that comes to mind when you meet Mercedes. Appointed National Leader by the UK Ministry of Education, her career has been linked to British education for thirty years. She is also an expert in curriculum design, training and leadership. Two years ago, she returned to Spain to assume her current role as Head of the British Council School.

Mark Howard, Director

Mark has an adventurous spirit and has worked in countries as diverse as South Korea, Romania, Colombia and Singapore. His curiosity and passion for learning saw him start out as a teacher of history in the UK. He then switched to English and began working for the British Council, with whom he has been teaching and learning for 25 years. He is currently Director of the British Council in Spain.

Mark Levy, Head of English Programmes

Football and music are, along with education and family, Mark's great passions. His career with the British Council started back in 1994. Prior to his current role, he worked as a teacher and trainer, working with teachers across the country. In 2010, he joined the Bilingual Programme, managing relations with the Spanish Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, as well as Spain’s regional governments, in all matters relating to the implementation and improvement of bilingualism in Spain.

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