linking parallel worlds developing bilingual learning with complementary and mainstream teachers...
TRANSCRIPT
Linking parallel worldsDeveloping bilingual learning with complementary and mainstream
teachers
Mahera Ruby, Charmian Kenner and Eve Gregory
Goldsmiths, University of London
Parallel worlds: mainstream and complementary schools
• Tower Hamlets, East London• Bangladeshi and Somali communities• Children attend after-school classes in
mother tongue• A primary teacher’s comment:
‘what happens to the children outside mainstream school is very separate and we don’t really get to see that other part of the child’
Partnerships between primary and complementary school
teachers
(funded by Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Tower Hamlets)• Collaborative action research on
bilingual learning• Teachers visit each other’s settings • Plan jointly around a topic, adapt to
own context• Deliver lessons and observe each other• Plan and deliver again• Supported by Goldsmiths and Tower
Hamlets Languages Service
Characteristics of complementary classes
• Multi-age, multi-level• Bilingual – children often stronger in
English, teacher in mother tongue• Teachers devise strategies to meet the
challenges• Zainab’s Somali class, visited by James,
primary school teacher: a learning community, everyone pools their resources
A two-way exchange
• Mainstream teachers recognise the value of complementary teachers’ strategies, as well as vice versa
• Example of James, primary teacher (music/drama) co-teaching at the primary school with Zainab (Somali class teacher)
• Children in class mainly British Bangladeshi, two Somali children, one child from Afghanistan
Somali songI am a studentI am a student, I am a
studentI am the flower of this
country!I am running, running toAttend my schoolSo I can establish who I
amAnd benefit my countryI have come to work hardMy God guide me throughMy God guide me throughAmen, Amen.
Complementary strategy
Mainstream strategy
recitation of keywords
correcting pronunciation
child as teacher
negotiating translation
children help with spelling
drama to practise meaning
expectations for behaviour
split into 2 groups, each learn half of song
fine-tune performance
child as leader with support
Recitation and pronunciation
• Zainab leads recitation, then James
• Practice, performance
• Confidence with new language
• Playing with language
• Adjusting pronunciation
Child as teacher
• Changes power relationships
• Multiple practice• Each child
highlights different aspects
• Fine-tuning learning• Synergy in teaching
and learning through exchange with peers (Gregory, 2001)
James on the child as teacher
‘It’s a more rounded use of resources, it develops the children in different ways – self-learning, self-monitoring… the understanding you get from having to teach something, to try to explain it, focusing in your head on what it should be’
Negotiating translation
• Collaborative negotiation of meaning and spelling in English – deepens understanding
• Child may have more expertise than teacher
Learning keywords through drama
Children choose keywords and build into English sentence, then act out – consolidate meaning, kinaesthetic learning
Expectations for behaviour
James (as Muna and Zainab come up to teach the song)
‘their students have a lot of respect for them…so I don’t want to have to tell you to stop talking when they’re talking’
Groupings for learning the song
• Tailoring task to new learners of Somali
• Chunks of language
• Building fluency• Muna and
Zainab take the lead
Fine-tune performance
James requires precision in words, tune, volume, tone
Complementary teachers also have high standards for children, expect all to perform
Child as leader with support
• Zainab asks for children to volunteer as leader
• She supports the leaders when they are unsure
• Vygotskyan approach: child’s capacities are extended with the help of scaffolding from adult, meanwhile child scaffolds others – ‘double scaffolding’
Children’s summary of the lesson aims
• To learn Somali language• To understand the words / know the
meaning of the words• To read it out – how to pronounce it
By the end of the lesson they were able to work out the meaning of the whole song with help from the Somali speakers
Equal status of teachers
• James introduced Zainab and Muna: ‘we’re teaching buddies’
• Co-teaching in the mainstream classroom was conducted seamlessly and with mutual understanding
• James’ comment on complementary strategies: ‘it isn’t what you do, and that’s why it’s good for you to see it’