A Collaborative Approach to Supporting EAL Learners

With over 10 years of teaching and leadership experience in Vietnam, I am currently Head of EAL and Primary English Leader at Renaissance International School Saigon. The school is a Prek-12, independent school with a large proportion of host country nationals. When I joined Renaissance in 2015, the school was in the process of gaining CIS Accreditation. After successfully gaining accreditation, we started to develop a culture where teaching language is the responsibility of all teachers.

This journey, and it really has been a comprehensive learning journey, started over five years ago. Our first steps towards realising the vision of all faculty members being language teachers started with the self-study process for CIS Accreditation. The opportunity to reflect on what we were doing well, and taking the opportunity to celebrate these things, alongside what we needed to build upon was invaluable. What became apparent was the fact that a medium-sized school with a high percentage of multilingual students required EAL support across all aspects of the curriculum. This was supported by the recommendations given by the ‘Evaluation Team’.

With these recommendations in mind it was time to reconsider our roles as teachers. Is a science teacher just a science teacher? Are maths and music teachers only focused on the skills for these subjects? When we consider the use of shared vocabulary and language across these subjects, along with the difference in meanings, it becomes apparent we must consider ourselves to be much more than subject teachers. Subject and class teachers needed to consider themselves language teachers as well. We were not the first school to come to this realisation. The cliché of every teacher being a language teacher is not unique to our setting. The question was, how can we adopt this approach successfully whilst promoting the functional use of language?

The purpose of this article is to share how we, as a faculty, have attempted to adopt this approach.

As we know, transformative change can be challenging as some staff are pushed beyond their comfort zones. In this case, we are talking about transforming pedagogy and the thought processes of faculty. First we needed to win hearts and minds through sharing the vision of language support. This is where creating a culture of collaboration really helped. The EAL team have been involved in departmental planning meetings and the running of regular workshops. A focus on the language learners as individuals and subject specific language skills was developed, with open discussions taking place. This culture of sharing, trust and support is something that takes time and is a continual work in progress.

The idea that explicit language teaching pedagogy is simply good pedagogy rings true. Taking this into consideration, the school introduced the ‘Teaching ESL Students in the Mainstream Classroom’ (TESMC) course. This programme is now offered to all staff who want to enrol, and is run once per academic year. In doing this, faculty from Early Years through to IB have received certification. This includes Teaching Assistants, Heads of Department, class teachers and subject teachers ranging from Chinese to history. With these individuals we have been able to form a core guiding coalition which was required to implement change. This core of faculty have disseminated the skills and pedagogy taught, into their individual areas of the school, promoting the idea that every teacher is a language teacher.

Stages 3 and 4 are where we are at now. Ongoing and differentiated support take the form of workshops and training. This has seen faculty take the lead, through the development of initiatives that support the teaching of language across the curriculum. These workshops and training also provide the opportunity to work with faculty who might not have the time to attend the TESMC. Moving forward, this ongoing support must be led by non-specialist staff who are demonstrating how the new skills are used across the curriculum and in our setting. In doing so, these individuals model that every teacher is a language teacher and this approach is accessible to all.

Data is not a word that fills many teachers with joy. In this instance, it has shown that with the correct support the ‘every teacher is a language teacher’ model, supports learning and can improve attainment. In turn, the data provides the opportunity to regularly review what is going well and any areas we need to focus on. The use of agile methodology in the form of A3 reviews has helped the EAL team develop short term action plans that are generated termly, with input from the teaching team. Again, this is a collaborative process that is guided by the teaching staff.

It is important to note, this journey of learning and developing as a faculty is far from over. As a school, change has been initiated and embraced by faculty. However, in a multilingual setting we must continue to help faculty support the ethos of every teacher is a language teacher. In order to do this, faculty must be supported and included in the process of change. In doing so, a collaborative approach to language teaching, when adopted, can be empowering for all members of the school community.

In the spirit of collaboration and learning, there is a need to look beyond our local context. At this stage, it would be great to learn of experiences from other international school team members. I would therefore invite fellow leaders to share their experiences over the years, promoting a network of learning and support for staff and students.