IF YOU WERE NO LIMITED BY THE DEMANDS OF THE NATIONAL/REGIONAL CURRICULUM, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU WOULD TEACH YOUR STUDENTS ABOUT YOUR SUBJECT ( IN A CLIL CONTEXT)? HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS THEIR LEARNING?

As far as I am concerned, apart from the national/regional curriculum there are some important knowledges that are essential to the lifes of our students. For example, how to plant fruit trees, how to buy food in the supermarket, the prices, how to take care of animals, how to work in peers, how to help other people, ICT or cooperative work.

It is important to remember that apart from multiple focus, CLIL methodology and preschool education have also features as an active learning, authenticity, a safe and enriching learning environment, scaffolding teaching strategy and cooperation. We, as a teachers, have to do that the child be an active agent in his or her own learning and that the child's existing knowledge and environmental experience should be the starting point for new knowledge. Consequently, motivation of the student increases and this enable to progress more quickly.

As it is known, CLIL has a multiple focus: language and subject and these are the main difficulty because inevitably there are two assessment processes involved. For teachers there are a lot of questions related with assessment as “Do we assess language or content first or both? And which, when, why and how? What tools can be used for assessment? Who assess?” And it could be said that all these questions emerge from the characteristics of CLIL methodology.

Therefore, responding to some of the issues previously raised, CLIL units must have clear objectives. CLIL teachers should always have content as dominant objective so content first and then language. Also, content knowledge should be assessed using the simplest form of language and for a real purpose in a real context. When assessing it is necessary to use a mixture of formal and informal assessment and learners should be aware of it in a student-friendly format. Teachers have to understand that wait time is crucial because the students need time to think and to express and that in CLIL lessons we cannot always assess everything.