Challenges and Support for Teaching EAL Pupils in Mainstream Secondary Classes
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Getting it right
•
Lucy, PT:
“it's very difficult, if you have lots
of competing requirements in a classroom,
to then have a young person who has very
little English language skills, that makes it
a huge challenge
”.
•
Gail, PT:
“Getting it right for every child
that does mean that one pupil, and they
(EAL pupils) all seem to go to the bottom”
.
Inclusion
•
about meeting the needs of all
children
•
dependent on teachers’ beliefs,
attitudes and actions
•
“It is no longer only the responsibility
of specialist staff to support the wide
range of learning needs of children
and young people. This support is
now regarded as being everyone’s
job”.
(HMIE 2007, 4).
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Preparedness
Marc (NQT) :
“
a lot of the teachers find it quite daunting and
are incredibly unprepared to deal with a pupil
who is using English as a second language
”.
Preparedness
(Amy, PT):
“so she speaks Portuguese and she speaks no
English whatsoever, she doesn't have any
skills, and that’s very, very difficult, because
I’ve got no idea what she’s understanding, I
can’t teach her anything, because I can't
explain anything to her.
”
Preparedness
Ben (NQT):
“particularly the lack of preparedness of a lot
of teachers to deal with pupils like that, it
might be best for them to be extracted from
the mainstream and given a more focused
form of provision
”.
Classroom support
•
Sarah, NQT:
“
and if you have a bilingual student whose English
is very poor if they don’t have a translator it can
be almost impossible to include them.
”
•
Lucy, PT:
“I have never ever had any support in my
classroom for anyone with an additional
language, I've never been offered a translator,
and it is impossible, it is absolutely impossible.”
•
Pupils can find themselves “in” but not “of”
the class in terms of social and learning
membership
(Ferguson 2008, 111).
•
Children are genuinely perplexed that it is
so difficult to ‘do’ inclusion
(Allan 2010,
200)
•
Across Europe researchers report that
teachers are increasingly talking about
inclusion as an impossibility in the current
climate
(Allan, 2010).
•
CfE, which is meant to support all
learners, can be applied in a way that
allows LAs, mainstream schools and
departments to abdicate responsibility for
bilingual learners. The assumption is that
bilingual teachers, or teaching assistants,
will fill the void
(Foley, 2012, P203
).
Classroom support
Lucy (PT):
it’s “
really difficult to give the level of support
that they need to be in mainstream all the
time. I don’t think it works very well at all
”.
Classroom support
Gail (PT):
“if you accept as given the policy is immersion
with language extraction, then we are in
essence teachers of English as a foreign
language. So, at the moment we are
essentially being asked to do that equipped
with nothing other than a couple of Polish
dictionaries, and that puts an unreasonable
expectation on a classroom teacher”
.
Curriculum potential
Steve, PT:
“
the way that the Scottish government have
tailored the curriculum, you can do anything,
as long as you're doing it in a way that you are
teaching and the pupils are learning, it's really
hard not to find something that does not
develop all the needs of the pupils in some
way
”
Effective Training
•
Greg, PT:
“
I'm not entirely sure the policy looks into in
enough detail what actually we should be
doing, how to actually teach these pupils and
what effective training we can have
”.
•
Lucy, PT:
“so yes I think if we are to be expected to make
our classrooms more equitable and more
accessible then we need to be trained
appropriately
”.
IPP
University of Aberdeen School of Education
Inclusive Practice Project (IPP) in initial
teacher education
“Specialist interventions are called upon in
the project to assist the teacher to teach
effectively instead of the teacher
relinquishing his/her responsibility for ‘hard
to teach’ children”
(Florian and Rouse 2009, 598)
.
Wider issues
•
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1. Budget reduction
•
Numbers of ASN teachers have been
cut by a sixth (need ref) in the last
eight years.
•
Provision for those who give the best
returns for the least investment?
Time and Support
•
lack of time :
attainment and curricular development
commitments which took priority
•
lack of support :
budget and training priorities being focused
on other issues:
•
Greg, PT:
“if you're a maths teacher, you're saying well I
need to get my kids through national 5 maths,
I don't have time to spend time promoting
diversity”
.
•
Sarah, NQT:
“it’s fine having a broad general education, it’s
like… all the inclusion… and including these
people, but if the provisions aren’t there how
can you support them
?”
2. Accountability
The two new priorities of the Scottish curriculum:
“raising attainment, and closing the gap in
attainment for those in the low socio-economic
bracket”
(Delivering Excellence and Equity 2016, 4).
Quality and Equality
“The Finnish comprehensive school is often
referred to as it ---seems to achieve both high
quality (being consistently at or near the top of
the OECD league tables ) and equality at the
same time”
(Halinen and Järvinen 2008, 78).
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OECD 2016 Maths
Andreas Schleicher, director of education
for the OECD:
“Scotland is ---a surprise to me, I would
have hoped and expected that some of
the efforts they have made would have
come out. But in the data there is no
evidence, rather the opposite.”
Inclusive values
Cultural as well as linguistic
barriers to inclusion
3. Multicultural focus
Secondary teachers are tasked with providing a
holistically inclusive environment that meets the
learning, social and cultural needs of immigrant
pupils
(GTC, 2012)
It is essential that attainment does not come
at the cost of flourishing together, which is
widely considered the purpose of school.
Deficit and Elite Cosmopolitanism
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deficit cosmopolitanism
elite cosmopolitanism
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dialogue
(Guilherme (2007)
Greg, PT:
“
you could just tell that these children had a
really hard time, and you want to help them,
you want to reach out to them but there's no
way to do it. They just sit in the class ….quite
often they are not included, I think… quite
passive observers
” .
Steve, PT:
“
I think a lot of bilingual pupils are in such an
unfortunate position because there is so few
of them. The reason these issues aren’t getting
raised is because, it sounds very clichéd, but
they don’t have a voice really
”.
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism does not carry
the same capital for migrants
as for native pupils.
In recognising difference it is
important to remember that while
customs and mores may differ
from one country to the next, the
requirements of morality are the
same always and everywhere .
(Brown, 1998, p108)
Nation states
•
“Even supporters of the idea of a society of
nation states acknowledge that in practice most
countries do not uphold values that deserve to be
upheld”.
•
“Quite a number of states are little more than
complicated protection rackets – sometimes
actually quite simple protection rackets – rather
than anything so grand as an expression of a
conception of the Good”.
(Brown, 1998)
Gail, PT:
“they love their parents, and it's not just the
parents, it’s extended family like their granny in
Poland and things like that. But equally they want
to fit into Scottish society, they want to fit into our
culture. I’ve caught kids hiding…. putting their
lunch in the bin because their packed lunch
consists of Polish food. And I have children who
have actually said to me: I'm ashamed to be
Polish”
.
Hybrid Identity
Lucy, PT
:
“those children wouldn't feel that level of
conflict. They would probably feel that they
would be able to have both, and not feel
guilty” .
Racist concerns
Gail, PT:
“What concerns me significantly is that just
before the summer holidays I probably filled
out 3 race related incident forms. But it’s
media driven. It’s making people feel, I guess
braver, that they can!”
4. Cultural and Linguistic knowledge
•
John, NQT:
“We’re all fairly ignorant, being brought up in
the UK with our culture. It does develop a
natural ignorance of other cultures”
.
•
Greg, PT:
“as a teacher, I feel quite embarrassed
sometimes, that I don’t quite know how to
deal with a pupil who doesn’t have any
English
.
Migrant learners who want to succeed in the
formal education system can do so only at
great cost, by sacrificing their linguistic and
cultural heritage.
(UNESCO, 2007a, p 32)
Steve, PT:
“There was a boy here last year and I'm pretty
sure he was Syrian, although I never really
found out. I never actually managed to have a
conversation with him, he just used to smile at
me when I asked him how he was getting on
and used to nod and he's just not here now, I
don't know where he's gone”
.
Active learning
Technology
Lucy, PT:
“I think actually technology will be key in
speeding up the progress that EAL kids make
in class, in essence everything's an app so
what do you really need your English for”
.
Forums for debate
•
It would allow teachers to voice their
concerns, and be a voice for their pupils
•
It would greatly enlarge the pool of ideas and
experience which could inform future practice
•
It would democratise teachers’ status allowing
them to influence decision-making.
•
Susie, NQT:
“it’s not really a debate, it’s not really about
what do you as teachers think about this, how
do you feel about inclusion. It’s more just like
this is how we’re going to do this now. This is
how things will be done
”.
•
Kate, PT:
“I would say there’s not enough time that we
get to spend talking to other staff about
anything really I think that that’s one of the
things that’s missing in education at the
moment is a chance to talk to other teachers
about strategies that work.”
.
Becoming more inclusive should be
“a matter of thinking and talking,
reviewing and refining practice.”
(Ainscow and Sandill 2010, 407)
Inclusion
Greg, PT:
“I think schools are very… positive about
inclusion, and I think the curriculum is very
positive about inclusion. I just don't think it's
actually happening in practice”
.
Three strategies
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Teaching English as an Additional Language (EAL) pupils in mainstream secondary classes poses significant challenges for educators. Issues such as teacher preparedness, classroom support, and training are highlighted, emphasizing the importance of meeting the diverse learning needs of all students. The responsibility for supporting EAL pupils is recognized as a collective effort, urging for better inclusion and support strategies in schools.
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Teaching EAL pupils in mainstream secondary classes
Getting it right Lucy, PT: it's very difficult, if you have lots of competing requirements in a classroom, to then have a young person who has very little English language skills, that makes it a huge challenge . Gail, PT: Getting it right for every child that does mean that one pupil, and they (EAL pupils) all seem to go to the bottom .
Inclusion about meeting the needs of all children dependent on teachers beliefs, attitudes and actions
It is no longer only the responsibility of specialist staff to support the wide range of learning needs of children and young people. This support is now regarded as being everyone s job .(HMIE 2007, 4).
All of the participants were supportive of the work of the EAL Pupil Support Service. Three issues in mainstream: Preparedness Classroom support Training
Preparedness Marc (NQT) : a lot of the teachers find it quite daunting and are incredibly unprepared to deal with a pupil who is using English as a second language .
Preparedness (Amy, PT): so she speaks Portuguese and she speaks no English whatsoever, she doesn't have any skills, and that s very, very difficult, because I ve got no idea what she s understanding, I can t teach her anything, because I can't explain anything to her.
Preparedness Ben (NQT): particularly the lack of preparedness of a lot of teachers to deal with pupils like that, it might be best for them to be extracted from the mainstream and given a more focused form of provision .
Classroom support Sarah, NQT: and if you have a bilingual student whose English is very poor if they don t have a translator it can be almost impossible to include them. Lucy, PT: I have never ever had any support in my classroom for anyone with an additional language, I've never been offered a translator, and it is impossible, it is absolutely impossible.
Pupils can find themselves in but not of the class in terms of social and learning membership (Ferguson 2008, 111). Children are genuinely perplexed that it is so difficult to do inclusion (Allan 2010, 200) Across Europe researchers report that teachers are increasingly talking about inclusion as an impossibility in the current climate (Allan, 2010).
CfE, which is meant to support all learners, can be applied in a way that allows LAs, mainstream schools and departments to abdicate responsibility for bilingual learners. The assumption is that bilingual teachers, or teaching assistants, will fill the void (Foley, 2012, P203).
Classroom support Lucy (PT): it s really difficult to give the level of support that they need to be in mainstream all the time. I don t think it works very well at all .
Classroom support Gail (PT): if you accept as given the policy is immersion with language extraction, then we are in essence teachers of English as a foreign language. So, at the moment we are essentially being asked to do that equipped with nothing other than a couple of Polish dictionaries, and that puts an unreasonable expectation on a classroom teacher .
Curriculum potential Steve, PT: the way that the Scottish government have tailored the curriculum, you can do anything, as long as you're doing it in a way that you are teaching and the pupils are learning, it's really hard not to find something that does not develop all the needs of the pupils in some way
Effective Training Greg, PT: I'm not entirely sure the policy looks into in enough detail what actually we should be doing, how to actually teach these pupils and what effective training we can have . Lucy, PT: so yes I think if we are to be expected to make our classrooms more equitable and more accessible then we need to be trained appropriately .
IPP University of Aberdeen School of Education Inclusive Practice Project (IPP) in initial teacher education Specialist interventions are called upon in the project to assist the teacher to teach effectively instead of the teacher relinquishing his/her responsibility for hard to teach children (Florian and Rouse 2009, 598).
Wider issues Budgets Accountability Multicultural focus Cultural and linguistic knowledge
1. Budget reduction Numbers of ASN teachers have been cut by a sixth (need ref) in the last eight years. Provision for those who give the best returns for the least investment?
Time and Support lack of time : attainment and curricular development commitments which took priority lack of support : budget and training priorities being focused on other issues:
Greg, PT: if you're a maths teacher, you're saying well I need to get my kids through national 5 maths, I don't have time to spend time promoting diversity . Sarah, NQT: it s fine having a broad general education, it s like all the inclusion and including these people, but if the provisions aren t there how can you support them?
2. Accountability The two new priorities of the Scottish curriculum: raising attainment, and closing the gap in attainment for those in the low socio-economic bracket (Delivering Excellence and Equity 2016, 4). Quality and Equality The Finnish comprehensive school is often referred to as it ---seems to achieve both high quality (being consistently at or near the top of the OECD league tables ) and equality at the same time (Halinen and J rvinen 2008, 78).
Andreas Schleicher, director of education for the OECD: Scotland is ---a surprise to me, I would have hoped and expected that some of the efforts they have made would have come out. But in the data there is no evidence, rather the opposite.
Inclusive values Cultural as well as linguistic barriers to inclusion
3. Multicultural focus Secondary teachers are tasked with providing a holistically inclusive environment that meets the learning, social and cultural needs of immigrant pupils (GTC, 2012) It is essential that attainment does not come at the cost of flourishing together, which is widely considered the purpose of school.
Deficit and Elite Cosmopolitanism Migration Mobility deficit cosmopolitanism elite cosmopolitanism fringes of society upper socio-economic levels private spaces dialogue (Guilherme (2007)
Greg, PT: you could just tell that these children had a really hard time, and you want to help them, you want to reach out to them but there's no way to do it. They just sit in the class .quite often they are not included, I think quite passive observers .
Steve, PT: I think a lot of bilingual pupils are in such an unfortunate position because there is so few of them. The reason these issues aren t getting raised is because, it sounds very clich d, but they don t have a voice really .
Multiculturalism Multiculturalism does not carry the same capital for migrants as for native pupils.
In recognising difference it is important to remember that while customs and mores may differ from one country to the next, the requirements of morality are the same always and everywhere . (Brown, 1998, p108)
Nation states Even supporters of the idea of a society of nation states acknowledge that in practice most countries do not uphold values that deserve to be upheld . Quite a number of states are little more than complicated protection rackets sometimes actually quite simple protection rackets rather than anything so grand as an expression of a conception of the Good . (Brown, 1998)
Gail, PT: they love their parents, and it's not just the parents, it s extended family like their granny in Poland and things like that. But equally they want to fit into Scottish society, they want to fit into our culture. I ve caught kids hiding . putting their lunch in the bin because their packed lunch consists of Polish food. And I have children who have actually said to me: I'm ashamed to be Polish .
Hybrid Identity Lucy, PT: those children wouldn't feel that level of conflict. They would probably feel that they would be able to have both, and not feel guilty .
Racist concerns Gail, PT: What concerns me significantly is that just before the summer holidays I probably filled out 3 race related incident forms. But it s media driven. It s making people feel, I guess braver, that they can!
4. Cultural and Linguistic knowledge John, NQT: We re all fairly ignorant, being brought up in the UK with our culture. It does develop a natural ignorance of other cultures . Greg, PT: as a teacher, I feel quite embarrassed sometimes, that I don t quite know how to deal with a pupil who doesn t have any English.
Migrant learners who want to succeed in the formal education system can do so only at great cost, by sacrificing their linguistic and cultural heritage. (UNESCO, 2007a, p 32)
Steve, PT: There was a boy here last year and I'm pretty sure he was Syrian, although I never really found out. I never actually managed to have a conversation with him, he just used to smile at me when I asked him how he was getting on and used to nod and he's just not here now, I don't know where he's gone .
Technology Lucy, PT: I think actually technology will be key in speeding up the progress that EAL kids make in class, in essence everything's an app so what do you really need your English for .
Forums for debate It would allow teachers to voice their concerns, and be a voice for their pupils It would greatly enlarge the pool of ideas and experience which could inform future practice It would democratise teachers status allowing them to influence decision-making.
Susie, NQT: it s not really a debate, it s not really about what do you as teachers think about this, how do you feel about inclusion. It s more just like this is how we re going to do this now. This is how things will be done . Kate, PT: I would say there s not enough time that we get to spend talking to other staff about anything really I think that that s one of the things that s missing in education at the moment is a chance to talk to other teachers about strategies that work. .
Becoming more inclusive should be a matter of thinking and talking, reviewing and refining practice. (Ainscow and Sandill 2010, 407)
Inclusion Greg, PT: I think schools are very positive about inclusion, and I think the curriculum is very positive about inclusion. I just don't think it's actually happening in practice .
Three strategies good classroom practice developing communication between peers providing opportunities for teachers
Constraints Attainment requirements that in practice deny a place for curricular practices that do not directly add to attainment value. Tight budgets which have reduced support (Scottish Government, 2016c). An already overcrowded curriculum which allows little time for discussing and developing successful strategies.
Enhancing learning is more than improving learning outcomes in different subjects. Growing up in a pluralistic world Acquiring the capability and right attitude to live together It is the translation of the natural dispositions of the young mind (Unesco, 2007b)
Three strategies classroom practice that includes active/cooperative learning techniques developing communication between peers a) giving native pupils strategies to interact with their EAL peers b) encouraging EAL pupils to value their home culture and language, and value the formation of a hybrid identity providing opportunities for teachers to educate pupils about different cultures by exploring commonalities
