At the planning stage I knew I would focus on equality and English as an Additional Language, I continue to reflect on how meeting the needs of learners with EAL particularly Syrian refugees that I support will improve how we get it right for these learners in our school.
After reading the other areas on enquiry as well as the recommended reading about practitioner enquiry I will continue to review my first draft question to insure it is doable, measurable and specific.
I continued my process of reflection and as I considered the other areas of enquiry I remind myself that the goal is not to meet the needs of EAL learners across education as a whole but to have a purposeful impact on improving our practitioner skills, knowledge and understanding of teachers in our school to support their Syrian EAL learners in class through approaches of differentiation and inclusive practice.
What I am finding most challenging is narrowing this focus into a a manageable project of practitioner enquiry that will improve classroom practice and empower educators to meet the needs of second language learners. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
image source: https://www.gtcs.org.uk/professional-update/research-and-practitioner-enquiry/practitioner-enquiry/why-practitioner-enquiry.aspx
I am really looking forward to following your enquiry as we have a number of children (mainly Polish & Romanian) with EAL and I find there is not a lot of support or training in supporting their development of the English language. I think your line of enquiry will be very worthwhile and beneficial to a lot of people.
Hi Rachel, thanks for commenting and sharing your school experience with EAL support and training. I appreciate the encouragement.
Hi,
Are you thinking more about how you could support the staff within your setting which will then help the pupils? If this is your line of attack, you could always start with questionnaires (maybe using Forms?), asking staff to detail what is going well and where any difficulties lie. This would allow you to provide targeted support for the areas in need of development and another questionnaire at the end could let you gather final evidence of any improvements made.
Kerry
Hi Kerry, thanks for your comment. Yes I am hoping to fill a gap in staff training particularly for our NQTs who are experiencing teaching learners with EAL for the first time and offer tips on how to include second language learners and differentiate in mainstream classes. I think that’s a great idea and I will take on that suggestion. I suppose it’s also nice to add a digital element and it will help me highlight areas to focus on. Thank you!