READING 5.

Extract from Teacher Training for CLIL

(Ball, P. & Lindsay, D. 'CLIL in Spain' 2010, Cambridge Scholars Publishing)

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Looking back at the basic tenets for CLIL, it is clear that most of the work done to ensure a CLIL
approach in the project is done at the level of materials and task design. Materials provide the
catalyst for change and innovation. Since the materials have been described in some detail, we
will now look at how the teachers are trained to use them.
For Subject Projects (a content based language programme described above for 12 - 14 year
olds), the teachers are English specialists. Some have followed the students up from Primary.
Others carry on with the students into upper Secondary. In preparing teachers for this cycle, we
need to build up the subject teacher profile of the language teacher since much of the
conceptual content comes from subject areas.
SSLIC, Social Sciences in English (14 - 16), as previously stated, is supported by an adjunct
English programme, but the profile of the teacher is different. The ideal combination is a Social
Science specialist competent in English and working closely with the English teacher responsible
for the complementary programme. However, in the absence of Social Science teachers able to
teach through English, in several schools the English language teachers have been responsible
for both the Social Science and the English classes. This was especially true in the early stages
of the project. Subject specialists obviously have a better grasp of the subject content but may
lack pedagogical training (as described above), and have little knowledge of the demands made
for language support. English teachers are more confident with the language and often have
more methodological awareness of how to organise the classroom and tasks to promote
communicative competence. However, they may have problems with the more detailed
demands of the subject content and with some of the specific skills related to the discipline.

Compulsory training
Training is offered, and is obligatory according to the contractual obligations of the schools on
the project, for all teachers joining any stage of the project (any two year stage). Teachers often
have experience of more than one stage. This is a bonus not a prerequisite. The principles
remain the same, and only the content for the different age group will change.

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Initial training beginning of academic year.

During the academic year

Meetings
The teachers then meet after three or four weeks to garner initial reactions and field doubts and
questions. A subsequent meeting is organised before the inception of each new unit. This takes
place on average five or six times per academic year.
The format of these meetings is fairly generic. In one of the teachers' schools, the participants
are given the opportunity to feedback on the unit, the materials, the students, the teaching
procedures in the didactic guide and so on. At some point during the morning, all the teachers
will observe a class at the relevant level. This may be taught by the teacher or the trainer or a
mixture of both. The trainer will choose an activity or teaching technique that s/he would like to
highlight and discuss - e.g. promoting oral production in group work, questioning techniques and
language support to promote higher level cognitive thinking. This will be followed by a guided
discussion on related issues such as assessment and differentiation. The third aspect covered is
the presentation of the new unit. Usually the trainer will demonstrate the more complex
activities and explain the more straightforward ones. Minutes are kept of the meetings, which
provide an opportunity for more reflection by the trainers on points raised in the sessions.
The only difference between the training offered to Subject Projects and SSLIC teachers is that
with the latter group, meetings are divided up into 'didactic' and 'presentation' where the former
type focuses on pedagogic issues and is structured around team observation of a lesson, and the
latter type focuses on the presentation of the content of the new unit to come.

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The training aims to give the teachers a taste of the methods and materials rather than an
exhaustive coverage of the content and its theoretical underpinnings. To this end, the teachers
are first given an experiential feel of the project from the students' point of view, (Ellis, R. 1986)
allowing the teachers to approach the activities as if they were students. The trainers then
present the materials often looping the input (Woodward, T. 1986), explaining the rationale for
the contents and sequencing. Teachers are then asked to prepare an activity to micro-teach to
their colleagues. The preparation is usually done in pairs and gives trainers feedback on the
accessibility of the guide, and on which teachers will need more immediate help or closer followup. Teachers are invited to feedback on their own performance and on their colleagues' in an
initial effort to foster reflective practice and positive collaborative development. From this more
practical approach, questions that emerge on more theoretical issues are addressed.

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All teachers should have some previous idea of the project either, internally from colleagues in
the school or if they are newly appointed, from the materials and rationale on the Website. At
the beginning of the school year, teachers new to each cycle of the project meet up with trainers
for three intensive days.

Visits
A third facet of the training involves personalised visits. Here the trainer will observe the teacher
structure the learning around the materials and will sometimes lead a class him/herself. Teachers
are asked to ensure that they have some free time available after the class to discuss the lesson
and issues arising from it. This is seen as confidential and developmental between trainer and
teacher, although a record is kept by trainers of schools and teachers visited. The trainer will
however, use the opportunity of being in school to meet and discuss any issues with other
teachers and directors to reiterate conditions, give praise where it is due or air any grievances.
Lesson teaching notes, minutes of meetings, calendars and other information is posted on the
Project's Website and communication lines are open and accessible between trainer and
teachers. A teacher is deemed to have fulfilled conditions for training for the project if they have
attended sessions for the two year stage. All cases are different and sometimes attendance at
further sessions is recommended.

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Optional training
Extra seminars
Every year, the team of trainers, in response to teacher demands or perceived needs offer some
'special issue seminars' to all teachers, new or with experience of the project. The sessions are
generally divided into age specific groups: Pre-Primary and 1st stage of Primary, Middle and
Upper Primary, and Secondary when dealing with age specific topics such as reading and
writing, assessment, oral production, classroom management etc. Other topics are generic for
all teachers e.g. new curriculum standards, use of ICT etc. Sessions are usually led by one or
more of the trainers, sometimes with other in house experts e.g. on curriculum design or ICT,
and occasionally with invited outside collaborators.
Conferences and workshops
Teachers are informed and encouraged to attend any conferences and workshops relevant to
their work. Information is given at training meetings and posted on the Website. These have
recently included initiatives from the UPV, the Basque Government, and teachers' associations
offering talks, conferences, workshops and courses.
Language support
Teachers, despite working through English on an almost daily basis, understandably feel that
they need opportunities to maintain and develop their language competence. Some attend
courses locally or abroad on their own initiative. The project offers other measures to help
respond to this need. For example, training meetings and minutes are done in the target
language. Language courses are offered to English teachers; one or two-week intensives or
weekends away where the focus is on oral fluency through communication tasks and exponents
of classroom English.

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Courses are also devised for subject teachers. These focus on subject specific language, more
general academic language and language functions needed to develop cross curricular thinking
skills, and classroom management language: instructions, questions, as well as more informal
interaction.

Conclusions and recommendations

Although the initial picture painted of the conditions in which teachers are initially trained was
rather bleak, it should be clear from the above-mentioned description of the Ikastolas project that
the atmosphere in which training is carried out is resolutely upbeat and the results of the
teachers' work have been extremely positive. For a description of results in English and Social
Science see Arzamendi et al (2003) and /or Elorza and Muoa (2008). Further improving plans
for teacher development is an integral part of this ongoing innovatory cycle.

1.

At an institutional level, we would hope for improved initial training. In a multilingual

environment, the move may be away from language specialists to working with a more
composite model, training teachers who are functional in the two official languages and
in one additional language.

2.

Training institutions should include modules that sensitize all teachers to the importance
of language across the curriculum and should also include a more widespread offer of
CLIL modules on Masters courses as described by colleagues in this volume.

3.

More hours of tutored teaching practice are required on pre-service courses and during
the initial year of teaching. More opportunities to observe models outside the teacher's
own immediate environment, and more incentives to travel and experience other
systems as a student or as a teacher are also recommended.

4.

There is an urgent need for the establishment of a government service dedicated to the
development of educational standards. Their remit would include evaluation, inspection
and regulation which could feed into the improvement of teaching and learning. At
present, there only exists a cosmetic evaluation of management practices of schools,
offering plaques for excellence without ever having entered a classroom.

5.

A set of clearly stated professional standards for teachers. These standards should
provide a framework describing the attributes, skills, competences and knowledge
necessary to develop as a teacher. If a general framework exists, then specific
competences can be outlined for the CLIL teacher and the CLIL teacher trainer. The
standards can be also broken down into stages so that each and every teacher has an
officially recognised and ratified trajectory to follow in the school system. These
standards would provide an obvious benchmark with transparent, fair and consistent
criteria for performance evaluation carried out in schools. They would also determine
continuous professional development, since it would be thereby stipulated what areas of
professional profile each teacher needs to develop.

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Top down reform

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What proposals and recommendations would we make, drawing on the expertise of the global
educational community and the lessons learned from the project itself?

1.

Each language venture should be considered part of an integrated whole language

project. This avoids the lack of coherence in the programming and teaching of different
languages that is prevalent in many schools. Subject content can be distributed among
the different languages with common thinking skills picked up across the curriculum and
in all languages. All teachers should be exposed to 'language across the curriculum'
sensitising sessions.

2.

Teachers who are teaching through another language need regular opportunities to
maintain and improve their language skills. This is often their most keenly felt need.
Specific language courses for English and subject teachers need to be provided both
locally and abroad.

3.

We will continue to work in the way described with teachers; building up their expertise
as reflective practitioners by engaging them with the materials in their classroom
context and encouraging related discussion with colleagues in an ongoing cycle of
experimentation, reflection and innovation.

In summary, the experience of the Eleanitz project suggests that in-service training is more
effective when it is stems from practice, which in turn permits a more coherent understanding of
the theoretical underpinnings of the materials used. It is also crucial for the continuation and
development of a project that good practice is identified and that the teachers are eventually
incorporated into the system as trainers, master practitioners, materials writers, and the
curriculum designers of tomorrow. Ongoing training with a judicious mix of teaching practice,
presentation of new materials, observation, feedback, and discussion of principles seems a
sound enough basis for successful practice.

Phil Ball & Diana Lindsay 2010

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At grassroots level

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