Page 296 - Karmen Pižorn, Alja Lipavic Oštir in Janja Žmavc, ur. • Obrazi več-/raznojezičnosti. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut, 2022. Digitalna knjižnica, Dissertationes 44
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n to question, exploration, challenge and (if necessary) a change of di-
rection. Alexander’s principles coincide with the learner-centred intentions
of the Primary School Curriculum, and they capture the essential purposes
and features of the pedagogical approach adopted by Scoil Bhríde.
One consequence of this approach is that lesson plans can easily be di-
verted. But if teachers are serious about including EAL pupils’ home lan-
guages and cultural experience in their lessons, they must be prepared to
follow where their pupils lead. They may well not understand the insights
their EAL pupils offer because they derive from linguistic and cultural ex-
perience to which they have no access. But the pupils’ efforts to explain
their insights increase their own understanding while supporting the de-
velopment of their proficiency in English. This is infinitely more benefi-
cial than keeping pupils “on task” simply because the task is central to the
teacher’s lesson plan. When pupils know that they themselves and their
contributions are valued, they will be motivated to participate more ful-
ly; and when they help to steer the dialogue of learning and teaching, they
cannot help but learn. Scoil Bhríde’s teachers have discovered that when
they welcome their contributions and allow them to offer and explain in-
sights, their pupils’ curiosity is engaged and they begin to observe, think
and reflect in new ways. This applies to learning across the curriculum,
and it makes the teacher’s job easier. As one of Scoil Bhríde’s teachers said:
When you bring in the home languages the lights come on! Another teach-
er described the transformative impact of the inclusion of EAL pupils’
home languages like this: It’s not always about what I bring to this group.
It’s about what I can find that they have to offer to themselves and to others.
This changes the way I approach teaching. I could never go back to the way
I used to teach before.
Sfard (2015) has argued that this style of classroom discourse has an
important consequence for individual learning. If pupils regularly engage
in dialogue that is co-constructive, it’s reasonable to suppose that they will
work “constructively” on their own: “while thinking, either in words or
with the help of any other symbol system, we talk to ourselves the way oth-
ers have always talked to us and to one another” (Sfard, 2015, p. 249). This
may help to explain the combination of ease and enthusiasm with which
Scoil Bhríde’s pupils undertake ambitious language-related projects on
their own initiative.
296
rection. Alexander’s principles coincide with the learner-centred intentions
of the Primary School Curriculum, and they capture the essential purposes
and features of the pedagogical approach adopted by Scoil Bhríde.
One consequence of this approach is that lesson plans can easily be di-
verted. But if teachers are serious about including EAL pupils’ home lan-
guages and cultural experience in their lessons, they must be prepared to
follow where their pupils lead. They may well not understand the insights
their EAL pupils offer because they derive from linguistic and cultural ex-
perience to which they have no access. But the pupils’ efforts to explain
their insights increase their own understanding while supporting the de-
velopment of their proficiency in English. This is infinitely more benefi-
cial than keeping pupils “on task” simply because the task is central to the
teacher’s lesson plan. When pupils know that they themselves and their
contributions are valued, they will be motivated to participate more ful-
ly; and when they help to steer the dialogue of learning and teaching, they
cannot help but learn. Scoil Bhríde’s teachers have discovered that when
they welcome their contributions and allow them to offer and explain in-
sights, their pupils’ curiosity is engaged and they begin to observe, think
and reflect in new ways. This applies to learning across the curriculum,
and it makes the teacher’s job easier. As one of Scoil Bhríde’s teachers said:
When you bring in the home languages the lights come on! Another teach-
er described the transformative impact of the inclusion of EAL pupils’
home languages like this: It’s not always about what I bring to this group.
It’s about what I can find that they have to offer to themselves and to others.
This changes the way I approach teaching. I could never go back to the way
I used to teach before.
Sfard (2015) has argued that this style of classroom discourse has an
important consequence for individual learning. If pupils regularly engage
in dialogue that is co-constructive, it’s reasonable to suppose that they will
work “constructively” on their own: “while thinking, either in words or
with the help of any other symbol system, we talk to ourselves the way oth-
ers have always talked to us and to one another” (Sfard, 2015, p. 249). This
may help to explain the combination of ease and enthusiasm with which
Scoil Bhríde’s pupils undertake ambitious language-related projects on
their own initiative.
296
