Maria Ellison

Teacher education

Drawing on her own initial training and experience as a primary teacher in the UK and teacher of English to young learners in Portugal, Maria has become actively involved in pre- and in-service teacher education for English as a foreign language for young learners at FLUP. She is the director of the Master’s in Teaching English in the 1st Cycle of Basic Education (primary education). This Master’s includes a 6 ECTS curricular unit on CLIL. Maria is also the director of the Master’s in Teaching English and another foreign language (Spanish/German/French) in the 3rd Cycle of Basic Education and Secondary Education (lower and upper secondary education). She teaches a large range of subjects on these degrees and supervises student teachers who are conducting their teaching practice in primary and secondary schools in and around Porto. She is also involved in the supervision of students’ final reports for masters’ degrees in teaching, doctoral theses, and post-doctoral studies in teaching.

Pedagogic coordination/external advisor of CLIL projects

Maria Ellison has been involved in the coordination of CLIL projects at various levels of education in Portugal, namely:

• the GoCLIL project at Escola Secundário Joaquim Ferreira Alves, Valadares, Gaia, Portugal (since 2013). In the initial stages of the project, she advised on and monitored the implementation of CLIL in classes within the 2nd and 3rd cycles, and provided teacher education on CLIL.
• Implementing a Whole School Approach to Language Awareness across the Curriculum. She was involved in the creation, coordination and monitoring of a teacher development course for subject teachers at Escola Secundário Joaquim Ferreira Alves, Valadares, Gaia, Portugal in conjunction with the Centro de Formação Aurélio da Paz dos Reis in 2019.
• Higher STEPS (Supporting teaching through English in Plurilingual Settings – for academic staff of the University of Porto) from 2013 – 2015. She designed course programmes, coordinated teaching staff, invited contributions from experts in CLIL in higher education and academic writing, and conducted observations of academic staff teaching through English.
• STEPS – UP (Support for Teaching English in Primary Schools – University of Porto) – grew from a partnership between FLUP and Porto City Council (2005 – 2009) at the time when English was introduced into primary schools in Portugal as an ‘enrichment activity’. She was responsible for the recruitment and pedagogic support of primary English language teachers in schools around the city of Porto. By 2009, there were 87 teachers working in 56 schools with over 5,000 children per academic year.  The STEPS-UP project was the recipient of the European Language Label award (Selo Europeu) in 2008 and Label of Label awards in 2012 for its fostering of CLIL practices in primary schools in Porto.

 

 

Maria Ellison’s main areas of expertise and interest are: CLIL; reflective practice in teacher education; action research in pre-service teacher education; teaching English as a foreign language to young learners (primary-aged); academic language and literacies development; the affective dimension in teaching and learning.

STEAM Tales: Enhancing STEAM education through storytelling and hands-on learning. https://cesie.org/en/project/steam-tales/ Erasmus project 2023 – 2025

COST action: CLILNetLE. CLIL network for Languages in Education: Towards bi- and multilingual disciplinary literacies. Management committee for Portugal. https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA21114/

Towards and Integrated Bilingual Model IBModel https://ibmodel.org/   Erasmus project Sept 2019 – Aug 2023.

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). 

Her research interests in CLIL span all cycles of education from primary to tertiary. Early research in primary contexts resulted in a set of criteria for monitoring evidence of scaffolding in planning and administering of CLIL lessons. Her doctoral research examined the foci and types of reflection of primary English language teachers who carried out CLIL projects in Portuguese primary schools (thesis – “CLIL as a Catalyst for Developing Reflective Practice in Foreign Language Teacher Education”).

Reflective practice and action research in pre-service foreign language teacher education. 

Maria has conducted research related to student-teachers’ perspectives on action research during the teaching practicum. More recent research has been about the dimensions of teachers’ reflections, and has involved the development of a rubric/tool for analysing types of reflection. She is interested in students’ ‘emotional journey’ through the practicum, and teacher resilience.

Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL). 

She is particularly interested in: literacies development; developing reflective practices and cognition; tender English language learning (TELL) – awareness-raising strategies for young learners to notice and support the learning of others in the classroom.

Teacher language awareness

Here she has conducted research at a secondary school into teachers’ understanding of and perspectives on academic language in their school subjects and across the curriculum.  This may lead to the implementation of a whole school approach to language awareness across the curriculum of this school.

The affective dimension in English-medium instruction in higher education

Whilst pedagogic coordinator of Higher STEPS – English for Academic Purposes for teaching staff of the University of Porto through which she conducted research into teachers’ perceptions of ‘need’. She is currently exploring the affective dimension in English Medium Instruction in higher education.

 

 

Couto-Cantero, P. & Ellison, M. (2023). InfanCLIL: A Model for Implementing Plurilingual Projects in Pre-Primary Education in Spain and Portugal. In A. Otto & B. Cortina (eds). Handbook of CLIL in Pre-Primary Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education.pp. 133-151.

Ellison, M., Morgado, M. & Coelho, M. (eds) (2022). Contexts and Conditions for Successful CLIL in Portugal. Porto: U. Porto Press.

Ellison, M., Morgado, M. & Coelho, M. (2022). CLIL across schools in Portugal. In M. Ellison, M. Morgado & M. Coelho (eds) Contexts and Conditions for Successful CLIL in Portugal. Porto: U. Porto Press. Pp. 31-103.

Ellison, M. (2022). In the right frame of mind: core issues in professional development for CLIL in Portugal. . In M. Ellison, M. Morgado & M. Coelho (eds). Contexts and Conditions for Successful CLIL in Portugal. Porto: U. Porto Press. Pp. 279 – 302.

Auf der Maur Tomé, S., Hurst, N., Pazos Anido, M., Lorenzo, M., Domingues Almeida, J., Henriques da Silva, M., Nicolás Martínez, P., Valente Rodrigues, S., Ellison, M., Teixeira, M. Construção de uma rubrica de avaliação para defesa pública: da definição de critérios ao protótipo. Revista Lusófona de Educação Vol. 53 Nº. 53 p. 99-117

DOI: 10.24140/issn.1645-7250.rle53.06

Franco, C. & Ellison, M. (2021). Geometria em Inglês – oportunidades para a articulação curricular no 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. Estreiadialogos, 6, 93-112.

Ellison, M. (2021). Identifying and supporting reflection in pre-service teacher education: A rubric fit for purpose. Linguarum Arena, 12, 45-62.

Ellison, M. (2021). Understanding the affective for effective EMI in higher education. In F. Rubio-Alcalá & D. Coyle (eds.). Developing and Evaluating Quality Bilingual Practices in Higher Education. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Pp. 181 – 200.

Pavon Vazquez, V. & Ellison, M. (2021). Implementing EMI in higher education: language use, language research and professional development. In D. Lasagabaster & A. Doiz (eds). Global Perspectives on Language Aspects and Teacher Development in EMI. New York & London: Routledge. Pp.193-212.

Díaz Pérez, W., Ellison, M., Harumi, I., Kärkkäinen, K., Langé, G., Lee, J., Mahan, K. R., Marsh, D., Osorio, P., Pavón Vázquez, V., Schmidt, T.  (2019). Implementing Internationalization of Academia: Teaching, Learning and Research through English. The Guadalajara Colloquium Shape Report. Guadalajara: University of Guadalajara.

https://riudg.udg.mx/handle/20.500.12104/79771

Ellison, M. (2019). CLIL in the Primary School Context.  In S. Garton & F. Copland. (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Teaching English to Young Learners.  Pp247 – 268.  Abingdon: Routledge.

Ellison, M. (2018). Introduction. e-TEALS Special Edition on Content and Language Integrated Learning. 9, 1-3.

Ellison, M. (2018). (main ed). e-TEALS Special Edition on Content and Language Integrated Learning.

Ellison, M. (2018). (Net)Working CLIL in Portugal and beyond. Special Edition eTEALS on Content and Language Integrated Learning. 9, 4-22.

Ellison, M. & Almeida Santos, A. (2017). Implementing CLIL in schools: The Case of the GoCLIL Project in Portugal. e-TEALS. 8, 43-72.

Ellison, M., Anido, M., Nicolás, P., & Valente Rodrigues, S. (eds.) (2018). As línguas estrangeiras no ensino superior: propostas didáticas e casos em estudo. Porto: Universidade do Porto. Faculdade de Letras.

Pazos Anido, M., Valente Rodrigues, S., Tomé, S., Nicolás Martínez, P., Hurst, N., Ellison, M., Lorenzo, M., Henriques da Silva, M., José Domingues de Almeida, J. & Carvalho, Â. (2017). Construção de um referencial de avaliação de desempenho do estudante de línguas em estágio pedagógico: problemas e desafios. Sensos-e: revista multimédia de investigação em educação 4 (1), 3-11.

Ellison, M., Araújo, S., Correia, M. & Vieira, F. (2017). Teachers’ Perceptions of Need in EAP and ICLHE Contexts. In J. Valcke & R. Wilkinson (eds.). Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education: Perspectives on Professional Practice. (pp. 59-76). Frankfurt: Peter Lang.

Ellison, M. (2015). CLIL: The Added Value to Foreign Language Teacher Education for Young Learners. Linguarum Arena, 6, 59-69.

Pavón, V. & Ellison, M. (2013). Examining teacher roles and competences in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). Linguarum Arena, 4, 65-78.

Ellison, M. (2012). CLIL: From Practice to Visions. A Reflection on the International CLIL Conference 2012. APPI Journal Year 12. Nº 2, 37-39.

Ellison, M. (2012). Ofelia Garcia. Bilingual Education in the 21^st Century: A Global Perspective 2009. Linguarum Arena, 3, 135-138.

Ellison, M. (2010). Make them think! Using stories in the primary English language classroom to develop critical thinking. E-Fabulations, 7, 21-31.

Ellison, M. (2010). (De)Constructing CLIL in the primary context: Primary practice revisited and reconsidered. APPINEP Bulletin, 22, 8-11.

Ellison, M. (2008). Making and Doing (In) English: Incorporating ELT into Best Primary Practice. APPINEP Bulletin, 18, 6-11.

Ellison, M. and  Hurst, N. (2007).Towards appropriate methodology in cross-cultural educational contexts. In Bizarro, R. (org.) Eu e o Outro, Estudos Multidisciplinares sobre Identidade(s), Diversidade(s) e Práticas Interculturais. Porto: Areal Editores.

Hurst, N. and Ellison, M. (2004). The Use of Foreign Languages in the Metropolitan District of Porto. In Greenfield, J. (org.) Ensino das Línguas Estrangeiras: Estratégias  Políticas e Educativas. Porto: FLUP.