The Maison pour les Langues en Lorraine (the Lorraine Language Center for Teacher Training and Research) is an initiative led by the INSPÉ de Lorraine (Graduate School of Teaching and Education of Lorraine), with the aim of enhancing visibility, structuring, and strengthening the training of (future) language and culture teachers in Lorraine. This is achieved by building synergies in partnership with various components and research units of the University of Lorraine—such as UFR LANSAD, CREM, ATILF—as well as education partners, including the Rectorate of the Nancy-Metz Academy, the DSDEN, the Academic School for Continuing Education (EAFC), and local authorities.
It contributes to establishing a continuum between initial teacher training and continuing professional development, in line with the missions of the INSPÉ de Lorraine and the strategic framework of the EAFC.
The missions of the Maison pour les Langues en Lorraine:
- Offering professional development in languages and cultures at all levels of training: initial, ongoing, and continuous;
- Structuring training programs in collaboration with educational partners;
- Developing training projects linked to research and ensuring their follow-up;
- Promoting language teaching research across all educational levels (from primary to higher education);
- Ensuring the visibility of training initiatives, as well as institutional, national, and international representation and communication;
- Engaging in national, European, and international cooperation projects related to language teaching.
The Maison pour les Langues en Lorraine draws on the expertise of the INSPÉ’s Language Group to fulfill these missions.
A Research-Based Training Project Bridging Initial and Continuing Education
This initiative is designed, in both the short and medium term, to address urgent challenges while aligning with national and European objectives. Indeed, language learning fully engages individuals on cultural, relational, and cognitive levels, thus transforming their perception of the world and others.
Language teaching and learning are therefore inherently human-centered, requiring a genuine experience of otherness. This project seeks to embed this engagement with otherness at the core of teacher training, from primary to secondary education, for those teaching languages or teaching in a foreign language. The goal is to move beyond a ‘copy-and-paste’ teaching approach to a model centered on ‘being with’ others (Castellotti; Cnesco, 2019), fostering a holistic and humanistic approach to language learning (Martinez; Cnesco, 2019) rather than merely focusing on technical mastery.
Objectives of the Maison pour les Langues
The Maison pour les Langues focuses on several key objectives, addressing students, trainees, primary school teachers, secondary school modern language teachers, as well as teachers of other subjects who teach or wish to teach their subject in a foreign language (DNL – Discipline non linguistique or Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) subject), and finally, teachers of French and French as a foreign or second language. Its objectives include:
• Enhancing the visibility of language and culture training at the INSPÉ de Lorraine within the Nancy-Metz Academy and fostering synergies (e.g., between primary and secondary education);
• Building partnerships with local stakeholders (UFR LANSAD, Goethe-Institut, etc.) to strengthen areas of expertise;
• Structuring training programs (initial, ongoing, and continuous) in partnership with the Rectorate (EAFC, DRAREIC, etc.), contributing to both local and international educational dynamics in light of Lorraine’s border-region status;
• Submitting projects that anticipate field-based needs and reinforce links between training and research.