Impact

The ERUA Advocacy Group is a key initiative of the European Reform University Alliance (ERUA). Its mission is to develop and implement actions and policy briefs that strengthen ERUA’s impact on European society, with a special focus on democracy, human rights, inclusion, and gender equality.

What we do

The group works at the intersection of academia and society, engaging with pressing issues of justice and equality across Europe. Its main activities include:

• Monitoring cases and petitions before the EU Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights, and national constitutional or supreme courts that concern the protection of fundamental rights and the rule of law.
• Assessing the merits of these cases and preparing legal briefs.
• Contributing as amicus curiae to help advance legal and policy debates at the European level.

Who we are

The Advocacy Group brings together scholars and experts from across ERUA universities and partner institutions. This international, multidisciplinary composition ensures diverse perspectives and expertise. Each member contributes specific priorities and knowledge, making the group a shared platform for action and reflection.

Why it matters

The Advocacy Group is not only a research forum: it is a platform for action. By combining academic expertise with civic engagement, it seeks to create real opportunities for social change and to strengthen Europe’s democratic values.

Members

AN ERUA EXPERIENCE TRANSFORMED INTO A NEW CONCEPT, MOTIVATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

BIANCA MANUELA SANDU

“Through the ERUA project, we came up with the concept of motivational intelligence and now we are doing research on this concept”

Bianca is an English lecturer at ULPGC since 2017. She has published in journals and books on language learning motivation and lexical availability and semantic networks in Spanish and English as foreign languages. She visited Paris 8 University two times for travelling seminars. The interview was conducted and transcribed by Jacob and Nicolas the student assistants to the Secretary General of ERUA.

Jacob: Could you please tell me more about the teaching initiative?

Bianca:  Which one do you want me talk about? Both initiatives?

Jacob: Both if you have the time.

Bianca:  The first initiative ““If you can dream it, you can achieve it” was part of an ERUA project, and we applied for the call. This project was in collaboration with Megan Lesuisse and I went to Paris to deliver a motivational program to 10 students of Paris 8. The students applied for the workshop. They decided to get involved, free of charge but also in their free time, two ten hour days at university, motivational intervention.

 We worked on 3 concepts:

• Firstly, the importance of acknowledging and valuing your life capital and your life experiences related to language learning. 
• Secondly, the importance of vision, of seeing ourselves successful in the future. They had to close their eyes and imagine that they speak English successfully. It was the first time that we implemented the idea of wisdom: our vision should have a positive impact on ourselves and others. We also worked on the idea of the learner being a person with more identities apart from that of the learner. Students imagined themselves doing their dream job and using English successfully. English was a tool that enabled them to do their dream job. 
• The third concept was growth mindset;when you have a big goal, you really need to understand that effort is essential but you also have to surround yourself with experts and apply strategies. Hard work only is not enough, reflexion is important, and to ask yourself “Am I on the right path?”. Also, we did some more practical learning, how we learn languages, what makes a good language learner.

Jacob: Ok, so it was more on technique than direct language learning?

Bianca:  Yes. We also taught them how to write a story. “At the end of the workshop the students wrote their motivational life story and shared it with us; we collected data related to their expectations of the workshop, the motivational activities done during the workshop and their stories and we explored them. Thanks to the participants’ generosity, this experience was transformed into a new concept, that of motivational intelligence, and an article published in an international journal.”  . It was a very nice experience, and it was beautiful to see how your life experiences shape your language experience.

Through the ERUA project, we came up with the concept of motivational intelligence and now we are doing research on this concept. People have the ability to learn but need to have the right attitude towards learning, they need to want to gain the knowledge. Motivational intelligence stands between the two. We focus on a series of skills that enable you to have the right attitude to learn. Some people use them to motivate themselves to have that right attitude. This is what motivational intelligence is. We came up with a list of skills that can be extended. Life capital is essential. The importance of having a clear vision, of finding the right path, as well. Also, there is the importance of grit, passion on what you learn. Having a growth mindset. Strategies are important to become a more effective language learner.

Jacob: You said that this project on the concept was done after the Teaching Initiative, but was discovered during it?

Bianca:  Yes, and it was amazing!

Jacob: Were you satisfied by the course?

 Bianca:  Extremely satisfied. More than satisfaction, very beautiful experience.

Jacob: Do you feel that you left the experience with new skills or knowledge?

Bianca:  Yes exactly, I discovered other concepts. Before I worked mainly on vision. During and after the workshop, I discovered the importance of life capital, created by a language learning motivation expert, and now we work with him. I decided to add the new concept of growth mindset, a state-of-the-art concept in language learning motivation. I also discovered the importance of other concepts, such as grit. I learned quite a lot.

Jacob: Has this experience given you motivation to take part in other ERUA activities?

Bianca:  Yes. The following year I extended the program and worked in my class with the new concepts. I am collecting data and I see that this experience has had a clear impact on my teaching. This year I have implemented motivational intelligence skills in my class and the results are significant.

I participated in a second Project called “Thriving through motivational intelligence” because the first was so good, the results were life changing and decided to implement my findings in my classes.

This year, I took my students to the language festival at Paris 8. The intervention was delivered by them directly, and they had to understand the importance of the concepts in order to explain them. They were actually the main protagonists of the experience.

Jacob: Knowing that you’ve done those two experiences, do you want to do more in collaboration with ERUA?

Bianca:  We are now doing research. I am a member of a research cluster within ERUA and next week we are organizing an international conference on multilinguism and muliculturalism, which is clearly connected to my experience. We are going to present a poster on the research cluster, with a part dedicated to motivational intelligence.

Jacob: So would you say that this teaching initiative has had an impact on the research cluster?  

Bianca:  Yes. I am also in a project for teaching innovation and I’m doing service learning. I work with local NGOs and talk about the importance of motivation when learning a language, working with different stakeholder groups.

Jacob: What about the teaching initiative was different to those activities you lead in you university?

Bianca:  I know the answer. Here we take the learning to associations like Aldeas Infantiles, Aflora, who look after children and teenagers. But in Paris, it was impossible to organize such an event. The lecturer at Paris 8 said that students here really need this intervention. They are people who both work and study, which is very challenging. They will receive the benefits themselves, without needing third parties. I said “Ok let’s do the workshop with your students”.

We realized that the reality of our students is quite rich, the wealth of their life capital is impressive. For example, there were students from multicultural families. Their life was not easy because they were told that they would not be successful because of their background, or not loved by the people who should love them. And yet, thanks to their grit and their will to get motivated and do what they dreamed of, here they were doing a degree and aiming to do one or two master’s programmes. They were attracted by English and what English meant to them: open doors, seeing the world through different lenses. They were aiming to do a master’s degree, they were extremely resilient because they had been looking to people around them and resources to overcome difficulties and social hindrance. They knew who told them what, but were also able to spot the people who could help them to overcome obstacles.

Jacob:  Hopefully they added you to the list.

Bianca: I hope so and they also helped me.

Jacob:  Would you like to add anything?

Bianca:  I think I said everything.

Jacob:  Thank you very much!