Activities and results 2016-2019

In March 2016, 2017 and 2019 a total of 21 staff members from four Kazakh Universities visited ICLON for a week each. In May 2016, October 2017 and October 2018 respectively five, six and three staff of ICLON visited our Kazakh partner Universities. Additionally, and outside the financial agreements of the Erasmus project, a staff member of Leicester University and a deputy director of Wolfert van Borselen Secondary School in the Netherlands also joined the programme for a week in Kazakhstan. Our partners were four different institutes:

• KAZGUU University in Astana
• Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University in Almaty
• Morat Ospanov State Medical University in Aktobe 
• Innovative University of Eurasia in Pavlodar

In 2016 our programme concentrated on Blended Learning and Early Career Research. In 2017 and 2018 the topic was Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and Inclusive Education. 

While in the Netherlands, Kazakh staff was intensively exposed to these topics through workshops and school visits. In Kazakhstan workshops on these topics were jointly prepared, for university and secondary school teachers in Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Pavlodar and Aktobe. A total of about 30 one day to one week workshops were given over four years, in which at least 500 university,  secondary and primary school teachers participated. An example is our two day  workshop held at KAZGUU University in October 2019, during which 140 teachers from all levels of education were trained in a practical approach to Inclusive Education. (See: Facebook.com/DutchEmbassyKazakhstan )

Spin-off results

Our projects also have a range of spin-off results, including internships of ICLON students in Kazakhstan and a close cooperation, including pupils exchange, between Alfrink College in Zoetermeer and Wolfert van Borsellen College in Rotterdam and two secondary schools in Kazakhstan.

This Erasmus+ mobility project serves as a follow up to the mutual Bolashak and Erasmus training activities, which took place from 2013 onwards. It has the title: teaching and learning English language and subject content in secondary and higher education and concentrates around CLIL and ‘English as a Medium of Instruction’ (EMI). The programme also concentrates on the links and interaction between universities and secondary schools in both countries.

The current project will capitalize on the experiences and networks developed over the years and concentrate on University and Secondary School cooperation, mainly in the field of Content Language Integrated Learning and the transition of students from secondary to higher education level.

ICLON adheres strongly to the Leiden University internationalisation policy through its strong international research programme, its teacher training (World Teacher Program), training for university staff on ‘teaching and learning in the international classroom’ and through the execution of training programmes for foreign higher education institutions. The Government of Kazakhstan is pursuing the internationalisation of higher education since its independence in 1991. In this context, Kazakhstan has encouraged the implementation of the European structure of academic, a national quality-assurance system and a Western-style credit system.