Glossary

• Author: Eurydice (European Education and Culture Executive Agency)
• Pages: 167-172

167

GLOSSARY

I. Definitions

Asylum seekers: are persons who have submitted an application for international protection or the

children of an applicant who have been included in the application.

Children and young people from migrant backgrounds: refers here to newly arrived/first

generation, second generation or returning migrant children and young people. Their reasons for

having migrated (e.g. economic or political) may vary, as may their legal status − they may be citizens,

residents, asylum seekers, refugees, unaccompanied minors or irregular migrants. Their length of stay

in the host country may be short- or long-term, and they may or may not have the right to participate in

the formal education system of the host country. Migrant children and young people from within and

outside of the EU are taken into account but the report excludes those from ethnic minority

backgrounds who have been living in the host country for more than two generations (see also

migrant students).

Compensatory education: refers here to programmes helping young people over compulsory school

age who, for a variety of reasons, never attended school or left school early, to acquire equivalent

educational attainment.

Content-based subject teacher: a teacher of any curriculum subject other than languages.

Continuing professional development (CPD): refers to in-service training undertaken throughout

teachers' careers that allows them to broaden, develop and update their knowledge, skills and

attitudes. It may be formal or non-formal and include both subject-based and pedagogical training.

Different formats are offered such as courses, seminars, peer observation and support from teacher

networks. In certain cases, CPD activities may lead to supplementary qualifications.

Differentiated teaching and assessment: (also known as differentiated learning or, within education

circles, simply, differentiation) is a teaching approach that involves providing students of different

abilities in the same class with different avenues of learning in terms of: acquiring content; processing,

constructing, or making sense of ideas; and developing teaching materials and assessment

tools/materials that enable all students within a class to learn effectively, regardless of differences in

ability.

Extra-curricular activities: are ac tivities taking place in schools or linked to schools but outside the

realm of the normal curriculum and the regular class timetable. These activities are generally

voluntary.

First generation migrant students: are children and young people born outside of the host country

(their country of current residence) to parents also born outside the host country, who participate in the

formal education system of the host country.

Formative assessment: refers to the assessment of student progress throughout a course of study.

Its main aim is to identify learning needs and to adjust teaching and learning accordingly. Formative

assessment is usually devised and administered by teachers, but it can also take the form of a

national test.

Group-based learning support: refers here to a form of additional learning support provided to

(small) groups of students in order to achieve the expected learning outcomes.

Guidance (materials): are any official documents or statements provided by top-level education

authorities to support teachers and/or schools in implementing defined objectives.