Bilingual Education in Poland 1

1.EU Context 2.Introduction 3.Bilingual Programs settings 4.Teachers Training – New idea but in an old way 5. Students – CLIL not for everyone 6.Challenges 7.Web references 2

EU Context Since 1990, there has been considerable interest in the implementation of variants of bilingual education throughout EU In 1994 the methodology was defined: CLIL In 2005 The Luxemburg Presidency delivered recommendations on CLIL practice in mainstream educational contexts Importance of European Commission and the Council of Europe involvement (CLIL helps national educational systems fulfill the objectives of Education & Training 2010 and long standing objective on multilingualism) 3

EU Context (2005) 1.Bilingual Programs are integral part of educational system 2.Bilingual Education available via pilot projects 3.Both (educational system + pilot projects) 4.Bilingual Programs are not available 4

Introduction The first foreign language is obligatory from primary 4, i.e. the age of 10. Younger classes are also taught languages, but this is not obligatory and depends on the schools' decision and their financial situation Poland has the lowest percentage of children under 10 taking foreign language classes Most universities do not offer foreign language teaching to the first year students and put an obligation to pass B2 level exam Learning languages outside formal school education very common - language schools are booming 5

Bilingual Programs settings Bilingual lessons offered since 1991/1992 available at general state gymnasiums (compulsory secondary education, 13 to 19) and lyceums (colleges 16 to 19); some primary schools; no CLIL in vocational schools yet. Today there are more than 100 secondary and lower secondary schools with bilingual classes Bilingual education in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Russian The legal grounds for the organization of bilingual classes were set in decrees and laws by the Minister of Education (1990, updated in 2001) A-level examination for pupils in French and Spanish bilingual classes were regulated in 1997 by bilateral agreements between the Polish Ministry of Education and the French Embassy and the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture In order to be called bilingual, a school needs to offer at least 2 content subjects taught through a foreign language. The most popular content subjects are mathematics, physics, geography, history, biology and chemistry; 13 to 15h a week required; the bilingual curricula need to cover the history and the cultural and socio-economic dimensions of the territories where the languages are spoken A-level student exams in Spanish are prepared by a Spanish partner; students who passed the exam receive the official Spanish certificate (Título de Bachiller) Pupils from Polish-German bilingual classes are allowed to take a German language test which allows them to study in Germany 6

Teachers Training – New idea but in an old way In terms of postgraduate or in-service teacher training for those who wish to get involved in bilingual teaching there are some courses available, through CODN The National Teacher Training Centre in Warsaw In terms of the language competences of the bilingual teachers the minimum qualification is B1. There is no obligation to complete any foreign language teaching courses. Materials used by the teachers range from original textbooks in a given language to magazine articles, websites and teacher-produced materials. Video from 2007 (CLIL in traditional classroom): 7

Students – CLIL in Poland not for everyone Students who wish to join bilingual classes either take an entrance test, which is often the case of English or German, or spend a year in class 'zero' on mastering the language, often the case of Spanish and French. Aptitude test consists of exercises based on modern, classical and artificial languages and assesses the ability to make associations, hypothesis, etc Since 2005 all the subjects taught bilingually may also be taken during final high school leaving exams. Also the language exam itself is obligatory taken at a much higher level than after non-bilingual courses. So not for everyone and requires more effort  8

Challenges Access to professional networks dedicated to forms of bilingual education Access to teaching resources which would be used by all teachers in order to achieve standardization; Provide teachers with opportunities to take part in teacher trainings devoted to bilingual education; enhance development of teacher work partnership provide teachers with opportunities to take part in meetings where they could share their experience (need for bilingual teachers networks), get access to materials or work on curriculum development; establish cooperation between schools (based on: Profiles Report Bilingual Education in Poland, David Marsh, Marek Zajac, British Council, CODN)Profiles Report Bilingual Education in Poland 9

Web Resources learning.codn.edu.pl/szkolenia/szkolenie3/ learning.codn.edu.pl/szkolenia/szkolenie3/ t&view=article&id=529 t&view=article&id=529 df df ents/eurybase/eurybase_full_reports/PL_EN.pdf ents/eurybase/eurybase_full_reports/PL_EN.pdf t&view=article&id=540&Itemid=

The End Thank you for your attention. 11