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In spite of the multiple competencies necessary to design and deliver proper Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) lessons, the teachers’ linguistic proficiency is the primary competence considered in the accreditation of CLIL teachers in Spain. However, teachers’ competence in planning CLIL lessons is key to bilingual education. This article explores this competence and reports on the several factors that influence the level of integration of CLIL methodological principles in the lesson planning style of in-service teachers at primary and secondary education. The factors studied are the stage of education, curricular subjects, teacher education, status at school, years teaching CLIL and type of school in a sample of 383 in-service CLIL teachers. Results show statistically significant differences in all the factors studied except in the stage of education (primary-secondary) and the type of school (state-semiprivate). These results reveal a high heterogeneity in the sample, which allows the description of the CLIL teacher profiles according to the factors that influence their competence in planning and delivering CLIL lessons. It is concluded that education and training in CLIL competencies, such as planning CLIL lessons, is also necessary in order to achieve a more homogeneous competence profile of the teachers. Therefore, a review of the academic programs and of the accreditation model so as to guarantee that they include prescriptive education and training in CLIL is recommended, since the quality and sustainability of bilingual programs also depends on teachers’ competence in CLIL and not only on the students’ academic results.

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The effective implementation of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) requires teamwork among teachers in order to coordinate teaching. This study aims to determine whether learning through co-teaching significantly affects teacher trainees’ collaborative competence in three dimensions: knowledge about the foundations of co-teaching, the quality of their learning experience, and the transferability of this teaching strategy in their academic performance and future teaching practice. An ad hoc questionnaire was created and administered to 50 Education degree students before and after taking a co-taught CLIL course. Results show that learning through co-teaching did not have an effect on students’ general collaborative competence (paired samples). However, statistically significant differences were found in their learning experience. Similar results were found when comparing the sample with a control group (N=35) (independent samples), resulting in statistically significant differences in favour of the experimental group. Finally, differences in all the three dimensions studied were found in favour of those participants who perceive a greater need for training in collaborative competence. In conclusion, taking the co-taught CLIL course has not influenced on dimensions one and three, but it has led to a more effective learning experience perceived by students. The authors suggest that modelling a collaborative teaching relationship should be accompanied by explicit analysis of the theoretical foundations of co-teaching and the analysis of the influence of variables such as academic ability or language proficiency in order to ensure that the benefits reach all students in the classroom.

AICLE es mucho más que enseñar en inglés, porque enseñar en un idioma extranjero no es lo mismo que enseñar un idioma extranjero, ni lo mismo que enseñar en la lengua materna. Un buen nivel de inglés de los docentes no es una garantía de una enseñanza bilingüe de calidad. La formación metodológica en AICLE es fundamental para promover un aprendizaje lingüístico y cognitivo adecuado a las necesidades de cada alumno. Por tanto, es uno de los retos más importantes de la educación bilingüe para garantizar su sostenibilidad a largo plazo.