COMMUNITY LANGUAGE TEACHING

Community language Teaching

This project focussed on raising the standards of teaching and learning in the Bangla, Gujarati, and Urdu Community Language schools in Crawley. A course was developed, delivered and accredited by the Open College Network (OCN) at Levels 2 and 3 for volunteer teachers currently teaching in these language schools.

What were we trying to achieve?

Our aims focussed on three different groups, mother tongue language learners, Community Language teachers and schools and colleges:

Our aims for learners 

• Learners attending Community Languages Schools in Crawley will experience teaching of a similar quality to that of their mainstream modern languages classrooms and more students will be entered for GCSE in CL than in 2010

Our aims for teachers 

• Community Languages teachers (voluntary, untrained) to improve standards of teaching and methodology 

• To begin to develop an awareness of the need for curriculum development Our aims for schools/colleges 

• Mainstream schools involved in the project will have a greater awareness of their local communities, languages spoken and the work of the complementary schools
• To employ a wider range of strategies when working with EAL learners

What did we do?

A course trainer was employed and a 20 hour course was developed and delivered to nine Community Language teachers over a period of 10 weeks. The course was tailored to the needs of the students and focussed on lesson planning, structure and delivery. Community Language teachers were provided with the opportunity to observe Modern Foreign Language teachers in a mainstream setting. Ideas gained from this informed their own planning and practice and they were observed by the course trainer, teaching a lesson in their own school. For the final stage of the project mainstream teachers will be offered the opportunity to observe the Community Language Teachers in their setting and hopefully, the partnerships established will continue. Students compiled portfolios which were assessed and moderated by the Open College Network.

We liaised with Adult Education and the Open College Network to ensure the course met the necessary criteria for a Level 2 or 3 qualification.

How well have we achieved our aims?

Overall the aims have been achieved well and both trainee teachers and pupils have benefited from the project.

Our aims for learners 

The impact of the course was evident in the observations made by the course trainer of lessons being taught in the Community Language schools. Lessons had become more interactive and a wider range of teaching strategies were employed.

Our aims for teachers 

Of the nine trainees, eight achieved an OCN qualification at Level 3 and one at level 2. They now have a broader knowledge of the methodology of teaching language and have gained an awareness of both lesson planning and Curriculum development. The portfolios they produced upon completion of the course were of a high quality for students who were not writing in their first language.

Our aims for schools/colleges

Whilst knowledge about community schools has been improved, the final stage of the project with mainstream teachers visiting Community Language Schools is in the process of being organised.