PPLI Annual Report 2022 - Flipbook - Page 32
Goal 1 - Moving Forward
The possibility of expanding Initial Teacher Education programmes to include more
provision of Spanish and provision for the lesser taught and new curricular languages
needs to be explored, and in the context of the teacher supply crisis it would be useful to
explore the provision of access to teacher education programmes for native speakers of
curricular languages.
There is good participation by teachers in Communities of Practice but local networks of
MFL teachers need consolidation and more teachers need to be engaged in each region.
Moving forward, collaboration with stakeholders needs to reinforce the importance and
value of local networks for teachers’ professional development and mechanisms for
ensuring that these networks become self-sustaining should be explored.
Schools should continue to be incentivised to participate in school exchanges but
additional means of encouraging schools and teachers to engage in school exchanges
need to be created. In this context it would be worthwhile investigating the possibility of
recognition of study abroad as part of Leaving Certificate reform and exploring ways to
overcome barriers such as differences in systems and processes in Ireland with those of
other jurisdictions e.g. in relation to garda vetting.
Mechanisms for introducing CLIL in earlier years need to be introduced and consideration
given to incorporating it with the introduction of foreign languages in the primary
curriculum.
Collaboration with stakeholders needs to continue and increase in order to share and
disseminate good practice and the inaugural Languages Connect Summit in October 2023
will be an excellent opportunity for showcasing work completed and understanding areas
for further development.
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- PPLI ANNUAL REPORT 2022 -