Annual Report 2024 - Flipbook - Page 45
Goal 1 - Moving Forward
PPLI will continue to work with embassies to increase language upskilling and CPD
opportunities for teachers. We will also continue to make available language upskilling to
teachers who are qualified in a language but are not currently teaching it and to offer the
language teacher registration shortfall funding scheme for teachers missing credits to register
with the Teaching Council. These will all add valuable capacity to the system. Pathways for
the provision of Initial Teacher Education programmes and bridging programmes to provide
for the lesser taught and new curricular languages will also need to be explored.
As the Department of Education continue to increase the numbers of Foreign Language
Assistants, PPLI will continue to provide resources and support to ensure the continued
success and improvement in the scheme and will work with the Department to explore
innovative approaches to assist schools in remote areas with securing an FLA for their
students. Opportunities to leverage the complementary English Language Assistant
programme further as a means of building foreign languages capacity for the education
sector and beyond will also be investigated. The initial research in relation to this scheme
would suggest that there is scope for development of languages capacity and addition of
capacity to the teaching profession in the context of this programme with results suggesting
that 42% of programme participants enter the teaching profession. Almost all improved their
level of competency in the language of the country they were sent to, and 62% said they
would be interested in helping to promote the benefits of learning foreign languages so
mechanisms for leveraging this capacity do need to be worked on.
Erasmus+ funding is a means of supporting student mobility in the context of school
exchanges and is an opportunity to bring languages to life providing for authentic language
input and usage. Teacher mobility programmes facilitated by Erasmus+ are an important
means of CPD. PPLI will begin to move from provision of the Funding for School Exchanges
grant to encouraging schools to apply for Erasmus+ funding to support this important
activity and will encourage teachers to leverage grants for language upskilling.
There is good participation by teachers in Communities of Practice and PPLI has been
responding to feedback from teachers by facilitating more language and interest specific
groups. Moving forward, collaboration with stakeholders needs to reinforce the importance
and value of networks for teachers’ professional development and mechanisms for ensuring
that these networks become self-sustaining will continue to be explored.
PPLI will continue to showcase exemplars of good practice in all languages and provide
relevant resources and tutorials on digital technologies to enhance quality in teaching and
learning. AI now features significantly in this context, and we are committed to exploring the
use of artificial intelligence (AI) as a resource to support MFL teaching and learning.
CLIL needs to be expanded and introduced in earlier years in post-primary schools, and as
part of the introduction of foreign languages in the primary curriculum. This would allow
students to engage with the target language in meaningful and content-rich contexts,
accelerating language learning and leading to improved language proficiency and fluency
without negatively impacting on content learning. CLIL methodology will also support EAL
learners in accessing the curriculum which ensures a quality education for them and reduces
inequalities.
Collaboration with stakeholders that was so much part of 2024 needs to continue and
increase in order to share and disseminate good practice and in order to explore further areas
for development.
- PPLI ANNUAL REPORT 2024 -
45
