Support for Welsh in Initial Teacher Education: How initial teacher education partnerships support student teachers to improve their Welsh language skills, including teaching through the medium of Welsh
This report is written in response to a request for advice from the Minister for Welsh Language and Education in his annual remit letter to Estyn for 2022-2023. The report aims to provide an overview of how initial teacher education (ITE) partnerships support student teachers to develop their Welsh language skills and those of pupils, including teaching through the medium of Welsh. This review was postponed from the Minister of Education's remit letter for 2020-2021 due to the pandemic.
Initial Teacher Education partnerships should:
R1 Plan purposeful opportunities to develop students’ Welsh language skills and pedagogy in all aspects of ITE programmes to ensure consistent support throughout the programme, including when on school experience
R2 Ensure that provision to support the Welsh language focuses on the development of students' personal skills and teaching to develop pupils’ Welsh skills; this should include language acquisition pedagogy in Welsh-medium, English -medium and bilingual schools
R3 Monitor and evaluate the impact of provision for Welsh language development taking into account how students use their Welsh language skills and language acquisition pedagogy to support pupils' progress in schools
R4 Create opportunities for collaboration between ITE partnerships to develop and expand support for teaching through the medium of Welsh
Leaders in partnership schools should:
R5 Prioritise and develop a strategy for the development of the Welsh language in response to the expectations set out by partnerships and Welsh Government policies
The Welsh Government should:
R6 Ensure clarity of expectation in the professional standards for teaching and leadership to focus on how teachers and leaders develop practice that impacts positively on pupils' Welsh skills
R7 Ensure that ITE partnerships collaborate with school improvement partners to develop a more consistent, coherent and specialised provision for the development of the education workforce’s Welsh language skills and pedagogy as part of the professional learning continuum