Leading Languages Education
A national project to assist the implementation of the
National Statement and Plan for Languages Education in Australian Schools 2005-08
"This initiative is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training under the School Languages Programme."
National Statement forLanguages
Education in Australian SchoolsNational Plan for Languages
Educationin Australian Schools 2005–2008
MINISTERIAL COUNCIL ON EDUCATION,EMPLOYMENT, TRAINING AND YOUTH AFFAIRS
(MCEETYA)
Points to be ConsideredPolitical commitment - MCEETYA commitment- “Through learning languages our students and the broader Australian
community gain important benefits.”
National Developments & Projects (Handout)- Addressing many of the issues raised in previous years.- Indication of progress
Implications for school leaders- Jurisdictions and schools need to take into account matters relating to
quality and provision (Localised decision making)
Time of Strategic Alignment- Government; Education Departments; Universities; Principals; Staff;
Students, the Business Sector
• An initial four-year Plan
for 2005 – 2008
• The Plan focuses on six nationally agreed inter-dependent
strategic areas.
6 Inter-dependent strategic areas
• Teaching and Learning• Teacher supply and retention • Professional learning• Program development• Quality assurance• Advocacy and promotion of
languages learning
Advocacy and promotion oflanguages learning
Underpinning principle
Leadership and advocacy at all levels, including high profile community members, educational leaders, teachers and students, are required to facilitate quality improvement in languages education.
(Leading Languages Education Project – APAPDC)
Leadership1. Tony Liddicoat: “Languages and School Leaders: The place of languages in
education” “While some aspects of good programs are the province of the language teacher, many depend on school leadership. In fact, school leadership has been identified in many studies as the crucial variable in the success or failure of a language program. (Anthony J. Liddicoat University of South Australia)
2. ACSSO Languages Study“……a strong sense already shaping up that strategic leadership from the Principal is an essential fulcrum point in a successful, (participative, interactive, effective) Languages Education program.” (Source: Rupert Macgregor ACSSO)
3. MLTA“The role of the principal is pivotal in determining the success of a Languages program.” (Melissa Gould-Drakeley - President of MLTA of NSW)
4. Dr Phillip Mahnken University of the Sunshine Coast (2006) “School principals are utterly key motivators for languages. If they do not visibly endorse it, talk it up, promote it as a discipline that lifts children’s literacy skills and cultural awareness, it does not do well.”
Leadership/Lead-a-shipLeading the Learning - Principals
The Leading Languages Education Project
A Professional Learning project aimed at principals and school leaders.
The focus is leadership.
This project aims to promote greater awareness and deeper understanding among principals and school leaders of:
• The nature of languages education and the significant role it can play in preparing students for life and work in the 21st Century (IcLL);
• Factors contributing to effective & sustainable languages programmes
• Action at the national level to support languages education (MCEETYA Working Party, strategic national projects under the SLP and AGQTP, ELTF, ACSSO)
Project Components
• Face-to-face forums in states & territories
2006: ACT (2 Nov); SA (3 Nov); Vic (15 Nov); Tas (16 Nov)
2007: NSW, NT, Qld & WA
• A webpage
• Electronic and print communications.
Forum OutcomesPrincipals and School Leaders attending the state and territory forums will:
• be informed about Intercultural Language Learning;
• be provided with current information about languages in their state and territory;
• be informed about national developments in languages teaching and learning;
• hear from colleagues about “what works” and “how it works” in their schools;
• have an opportunity to discuss issues related to languages programmes in schools.
APAPDC L5 Frame
• A School Languages Leadership
Checklist/Tool
A work in progress!
FEEDBACK
APAPDC L5 Frame Building Leadership in Australian Schools
• Leadership starts from within
• Leadership is about influencing others
• Leadership develops a rich learning environment
• Leadership builds professionalism and management capability
• Leadership inspires leadership actions and aspirations in others
(Handout)
(Australian Principals Associations Professional Development Council)
Leadership starts from within
Critical Questions:
• Why do I believe that language learning is important to the education of young people?
• How will I prioritise it among the rest of my work?
(Joan Dalton’s “I Teach” – walk the walk & talk the talk.)
Leadership is about influencing others
Critical Questions:
• Who are the key players I need to influence to establish and sustain languages education in my school (such as in-school community, out-of-school community, system level and cultural associations)?
• How can I do this most effectively for each of these key players?
(Advocacy and promotion of languages learning)
Leadership develops a rich learning environment
Critical Questions:• What does a rich learning environment look and feel
like for a school committed to languages education? (Staff/Students/Families)
• What does good language teaching look like?• What resources need to be allocated to establish &
sustain languages education in the school?• How will we know that we are being successful in
developing a rich language learning environment?
(Teaching & Learning)
Leadership builds professionalism and management capability
Critical Questions:• What systems are in place to ensure the
maintenance of languages education in the school?• How do we encourage and support language
teachers to engage with language teachers’ professional association?
• How do we encourage and support language teachers to contribute to professional networks?
• How do we ensure quality outcomes?
(Sustainability Issue/Teacher Supply & Retention/Professional Learning)
Leadership inspires leadership actions and aspirations in others
Critical Questions:• What opportunities are there for inexperienced
language teachers to be supported by more experienced, successful teachers, either from in or outside your school?
• How are staff achievements acknowledged and celebrated?
• How does the leadership team demonstrate that languages education is important?
• What opportunities are languages teachers given to take leadership actions?
WORKSHOP – YOUR TURN!
1. Focus QuestionsOne per table- Discussion & Feedback
2. The L5 Frame for Leading LanguagesFeedback
3. The Challenges for LeadersAn Exercise (Reality/Hypothetical) As a Principal who is about to or who has implemented a Language Program at your school list the 5 most important factors for successful implementation on the paper provided. (Name & School)
4. Evaluation Form
ASPA/ACEL Conference Workshop FeedbackImplications & Issues
• Quality Staff• Qualified Staff• Leadership• Rural Schools & isolation effects • Importance of commitment of parents to learning languages• Importance of commitment of teachers other than Language
teachers to learning languages• KLA competition in secondary sector• The isolation of Language teachers in schools• Need to develop language understanding across the curriculum by
all staff• Leaders’ understanding of integration and immersion as critical
aspects of learning to overcome problem of Languages being seen as “one-off” learning experience
• Transition between sectors is important in sustaining students’ engagement with learning languages
• Silo effect of KLA’s in secondary sector.
REMINDERS
• Leading Languages Education Forums- State & Territory flyers
• Leading Languages Education Website
• ACSSO Surveyhttp://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=525017
Nothingness (by Aharon Amir – translated from the Hebrew by Abraham Birman)
I woke up at night and my language was goneNo sign of language no writing no alphabetNor symbol nor word in any tongueAnd raw was my fear – like the terror perhapsOf a man flung from a treetop far above the groundA shipwrecked person on a tide-engulfed sandbankA pilot whose parachute would not openOr the fear of a stone in a bottomless pitAnd the fright was unvoiced unlettered unutteredAnd inarticulate O how inarticulateAnd I was alone in the darkA non-I in the all-pervading gloomWith no grasp no leaning pointEverything stripped of everythingAnd the sound was speechless and voicelessAnd I was naught and nothingWithout even a gibbet to hang ontoWithout a single peg to hang ontoAnd I no longer knew who or what I wasAnd I was no more.
(Presented at ACT MLTA Conference 2006 by Anita Patel, Narrabundah College)
