6.4 Satisfaction
6.4.3 SATISFACTION WITH LANGUAGE SUPPORT PROVISION IN THE CASE-STUDY SCHOOLS
Interviews with school staff in the twelve case-study schools allowed us to explore perceptions of the adequacy of language support provision in greater detail. It was notable that views on language support often differed within the same school. Only in two of the schools, one primary (Greenway Road) and one post-primary (Ashville Lane), could staff be consistently characterised as satisfied with language support. In the other schools, opinions were mixed in nature.
The main reason for satisfaction with language support provision centred on the quality of the teaching staff and their commitment:
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And I think … there’s a strong core of excellent teachers there … who over the years have … developed it themselves. (Teacher, Ashville Lane second-level school)
Well I am absolutely thrilled because … the three teachers who provide it are three experienced teachers who are interested in doing it. … I wasn’t depending on an inexperienced teacher just out of college with limited teaching skills, curricular skills, organisational skills, all those that you build up over time, and the three teachers who took it on have been very enthusiastic … and they’ve done their own language programme, they’ve worked together. … So I just think the three are, you know, a delight to work with. (Teacher, Thomas Road primary school)
However, it was pointed out that this had required considerable effort on the part of the teachers involved:
Our children who are in language support are getting good quality language support but that’s because the people who are working with them are committed people who have undertaken courses. (Teacher, Durango Street primary school)
A number of staff highlighted the change in resource allocation by the DES as benefiting their school; this was especially evident in schools with larger numbers of newcomer students. The flexibility to request additional help for students with longer term language needs was also seen positively:
Last year there was a letter to say that if a child after two years has significant language difficulties and you have up to fourteen students, you can actually apply for more, so I thought that was good, so at least there is an extra facility too. … It has made a difference that I now know that I can ask for it, if the child hasn’t got enough English at the end of the two years, that is the biggest thing. (Teacher, Huntington Road second-level school)
A final reason for satisfaction centred on seeing the progress made by individual students:
It's very easy for me to measure I think children who came with nothing at the beginning of this year and where they are now, you know, to me that has been so rewarding because I see them happy, I see them obviously accessing the curriculum in the class because I think if they weren’t accessing the curriculum I think they would have feelings, they would have self-esteem feelings and, you know, they wouldn’t be happy really if they weren’t able to keep up with their classmates. So from that point of view I can see it's been very rewarding … for me seeing those children coming on so much. (Teacher, Durango Street primary school)
I’ve seen huge progression in a couple of students with their English from the time they come here. Some students have been with us now two or three years and I can see rapid progress and I find that it’s great to see that. (Teacher, Lowfield Street second-level school)
142 ADAPTING TO DIVERSITY:IRISH SCHOOLS AND NEWCOMER STUDENTS
A number of reasons were proffered for being dissatisfied with language support provision. First, the lack of trained language support teachers and the temporary nature of contracts was emphasised as hindering provision:
I'm not afraid of saying that there's a lot of inexperienced and sometimes non- qualified people who would end up teaching in some of those positions, absolutely. If it's a situation where there's continuity and they're in it maybe for a few years and if they're in a system where they can build up expertise of course you'll have the quality but … if you're every year wondering are you going to have that position next year, will you have two or will you have three, there's no consistency and I suppose you're not allowing the expertise to build up. (Teacher, Durango Street primary school)
Like where in [this small town] am I going to get a teacher for three or four hours just to specifically teach five or six international students without English. They are not there. (Teacher, Bentham Street second-level school)
The biggest difficulty is that it's only given on a temporary basis for one year and you have to apply each year. … I think if a school has had a number of non- nationals for a number of years there should be some provision there that the position becomes permanent provided the numbers stay up. (Teacher, Van Buren Street primary school)
Basically I suppose you know it is just we are there untrained, unqualified to help these students and I think we are doing a good job but I find you know it is very, very difficult when you are just thrown in the deep end, you know. (Teacher, Brayton Square second-level school)
Second, the nature of the allocation system was still seen as somewhat restricted, with no tapering of resources for schools just below the specified cut-offs:
Because of that circular we got an extra teacher this year. But we’re going to lose her now I think. Well it seems kind of ridiculous that you know you get a teacher for a year and then because you fall one or two pupils below the number they are gone then, you know … it is hypocritical to be honest with you, you know that 28 children deserve two teachers, while 26 only get one. (Teacher, Adams Street primary school)
Third, the lack of training for classroom or subjects teachers and the difficulty in teaching students with language difficulties in a mainstream classroom emerged as an issue:
I'd say it depends on the level of language for each child and like when they present with very little language it would be very difficult to get them where they need to be, you know what I mean. (Teacher, Van Buren Street primary school)
Finally, a number of other issues were highlighted, including the lack of teaching materials and resources (see above), the difficulty in differentiating between language and learning difficulties, the lack of co-ordination, and the delay in providing assessment tools for schools:
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That assessment has only been issued or has only been launched in the past month or two so we found that very unhelpful, that we had no standardised tests, if you like, to assess whether the programme was working or not and we still haven’t received it. … So we literally are working in the dark, even though they increased the number of teachers they gave us no guidelines to work on or no targets to meet.
(Teacher, Van Buren Street primary school)
L
anguage difficulties among newcomer students are seen by school principals and teachers as having profound consequences for their academic progress and social integration, if not addressed (see Chapter 5). In order to facilitate English language acquisition among newcomers, the vast majority of primary and second-level schools provide formal language support for their students. Provision at school is especially important given the lack of English proficiency among newcomer parents reported in this study. Language support provision generally centres on students being withdrawn from regular class for supplementary tuition, in keeping with the pattern in many other OECD countries (such as England and Denmark). The withdrawal approach is seen as having advantages in allowing students to participate in mainstream classes while at the same time receiving additional support. However, teachers indicate some difficulties in successfully managing this process in such a way as to avoid disrupting student progress in certain subjects and labelling newcomers as ‘different’. The case-study analysis indicated a potential solution to this dilemma; in some primary schools, withdrawal from class is coupled with within-class support by a specialist teacher in order to address student needs as they arise in day-to-day learning. This practice appears to provide a more holistic approach to addressing the learning needs of newcomers and it is recommended that it could usefully be extended to other schools.6.5
Conclusions
A small number of schools, almost wholly those with a greater concentration of newcomer students, organise separate base classes where newcomer students receive intensive tuition before transfer to mainstream classrooms. Teachers in these schools are very positive about this approach. However, the research findings sound a note of caution regarding the potential negative effects on social integration in the longer term.
Although withdrawal for supplementary English language classes is the most prevalent mode of provision, regular classroom or subject teachers are found to play an important role in supporting the language needs of newcomers. The bulk of a student’s day is spent in regular class so mainstream teachers are their main point of contact in day-to-day learning. However, the majority of teachers trained at a time when Ireland was less culturally diverse and only a minority of mainstream teachers have subsequently received relevant training in intercultural education and even fewer in modes of language acquisition. It is, therefore, recommended that professional development should be provided for mainstream teachers in order to facilitate the needs of newcomer students. Such provision should focus on intercultural education, approaches to language acquisition and the use of differentiated teaching methodologies.
There is considerable variation across schools in teacher satisfaction with existing language support provision. The DES Circular of May 2007 is seen as having enhanced provision across a number of schools, especially
144 ADAPTING TO DIVERSITY:IRISH SCHOOLS AND NEWCOMER STUDENTS
those with greater numbers of newcomers. In addition, a number of teachers emphasised the dedication and commitment of the language support team in their school. However, principals and teachers are less satisfied with the (lack of) availability of trained specialist language support teachers, and the dearth of professional development for mainstream class and subject teachers. Again, this highlights the importance of providing development opportunities for both specialist and mainstream teachers in order to facilitate a whole-school approach to the academic development of newcomer students.
There is considerable dissatisfaction with the teaching resources and guidelines available for language support teaching, especially the lack of books and materials suitable for older students. This issue could be addressed in a number of ways. First, appropriate teaching resources should be made available from a centralised source (for example, the DES or NCCA websites) and information distributed to schools on the existence of such resources. Second, a designated person, having received appropriate intercultural training, could act as a resource person and source of information within the school for other teachers. Useful back-up services could be provided by local libraries, in particular through the Demonstration Library project being developed as part of the DEIS programme.
Only a minority of schools are found to have access to broader language support services, such as translation and interpretation, and this situation is seen as hindering contact with parents, many of whom themselves have language needs. This highlights the importance of school-based provision being part of joined-up policy regarding adult education and training.
S
UPPLEMENTARY
T
ABLES
Table A6.1: Factors Predicting Dissatisfaction with Language Support Provision (Primary Schools)
Model 1
Constant
Perceived language needs/difficulties: Almost all
More than half
(Ref.: Less than half/only a few)
Nature of teaching provision: No language support teachers Part-time language support only (Ref.: Full-time language support)
Positive school climate
3.640*** 0.805*** 0.744*** 0.931*** 0.585*** -0.433* Adjusted R2 0.184
Note: *** p<.001, ** p<.01, * p<.05. Dissatisfaction is measured on a scale ranging from 1 to 5.
Table A6.2: Factors Predicting Dissatisfaction with Language Support Provision (Second-level Schools)
Model 1
Constant
Perceived language needs/difficulties: Almost all
More than half Less than half
(Ref.: Only a few)
Positive school climate
3.775*** 0.429** 0.328* 0.353* -0.214 Adjusted R2 0.025 Note: *** p<.001, ** p<.01, * p<.05. 145