Monthly Archives: March 2020

bilingual, EAL, mindset, Perceptions, Uncategorized

Update 3

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Since writing the last blog post, I have finalised the staff questionnaire and nine diamond nine for learners. I know that my enquiry will not be over by the time of the final submission for the purposes of this course, and that’s ok. I have allowed myself to not feel pressure to be ‘finish’ and to remember that the impact on the learners and staff is the important part, not the final outcome for our learning festival in June. In fact, I feel that this is an issue that I will revisit and revise each year to ensure the best for my learners and the whole school community.

Questionnaires will be sent out to all the schools in my learning community this week and results will be collated. From that data, I will make an action plan for staff development for each participating school, perhaps even offering different CPD opportunities across the learning community. If you fancy a sneak peek it, you can be accessed here.

Pupil diamond nines and word cloud activities will be implanted over the next few weeks. I am also finalising the plans for our eTwinning Picnic project with teachers in the UK and in Europe. Exciting times ahead…..

Oh and I had a small win – parents night is fast approaching in one of my schools and teachers for the first time didn’t need a prompt to order interpreters to ensure our bilingual families get the best from their meeting. Progess!

Uncategorized

Update 1 & 2 – better late than never…..

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Recently life has been a bit hectic, personally and professionally, but the good news is I’m here and ready to make progress with my enquiry.

After the recall day, I did spend time second guessing myself and my enquiry focus. However, after some good reflective discussions with a colleague, I have decided to stick with my original theme, as its something close to my heart. I find things are always more enjoyable and manageable when your doing something you care about.

Part of the reason I have been delayed in writing my blog posts is I have recently been seconded to Glasgow’s International Education Service as a Leader of Learning. I am loving new role and the opportunities it presents. It has also helped me remember my ‘why’ – why I love teaching; helping learners to be the best they can and giving them opportunities to explore their potential. It has helped to remind me how celebrating diversity in our classes and school communities is vitally important for all our learners, not just my bilingual pupils.

In terms of my enquiry, I am currently preparing a questionnaire for staff to gather their views of bilingual learners and more important where they feel the CPD and gaps in their teaching practice are. From this information I hope to be able to offer schools bespoke training and guidance to help enhance their provision for our bilingual learners.

As for the pupils, I feel its impotent to gather their views too. I have prepared a diamond nine activity for classes to use. They will be asked ‘What makes a good school?’. Statements involving bilingual learners, using home language and international education will be included along with other general statements. Classes that have higher percentage of EAL leaners will be sampled, as well as those with few EAL, and therefore less exposure to bilingual learners and their impact will also repeat the task. I will also ask my groups of EAL learners to discuss the task and video these interactions. Younger pupils will be asked the question ‘What makes a good school?’ and we will make a word cloud with their answers. These will serve as my base line assessments. After all the data is collected, I will be able to see what the learners think and make an action plan to continue what works well and what gaps we ned to address as a school.

Each year, we participate in a whole school international project, using eTwinning. This year’s stimulus is World Picnic Day. We are working with schools in Italy, Spain and Tanzania. After this international work, which our bilingual pupils help to organise and play a central role, I will repeat the above activities with the pupils and compare the results. I hope that after the exposure to other cultures and languages, the pupils will recognise the advantages of celebrating diversity in their classes.

Wish me luck!