OB3, in partnership with Arad and Dateb undertook a detailed review of the support provided to develop Welsh-medium provision in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) on behalf of Welsh Government.
The report’s key findings include:
· There has been a general decline in the number of ITE trainees participating in Welsh-medium secondary ITE provision recently, despite ITE provider efforts.
· The majority of trainee teachers and new teachers who contributed to the evaluation had already decided to undertake Welsh-medium ITE provision prior to enrolling on the course and very few were aware of the financial incentive available via the Welsh-medium Improvement Scheme prior to enrolling on to the course.
· The extent to which ITE provision is delivered through the medium of Welsh differs across ITE providers.
· ITE providers find it difficult to provide Welsh-medium provision due to the low number of ITE trainees enrolled at their institution and the lack of Welsh language skills amongst staff.
· Welsh language (gloywi iaith) lessons are considered to play a significant part in improving the Welsh language skills of trainees.
· Positive feedback was provided where trainees had experienced more differentiated Welsh language skills provision.
· School placements play a vital part in developing and improving trainees’ Welsh-medium teaching skills and the role played by language mentors was thought to make an important contribution to this.
The report concludes with a number of recommendations for the Welsh Government, in collaboration with its stakeholders, to consider across five key issues:
· the continued decline in the number of prospective trainees and the difficulties associated with recruitment to Welsh-medium ITE
· the complexity and fragmented configuration of current provision and the need to simplify and develop greater consistency across Welsh-medium ITE
· the need to increase Welsh language capacity of ITE secondary provision and explore opportunities for closer collaboration between providers and schools
· making the most effective use of financial incentivisation to attract trainees and retain teachers to teach through the medium of Welsh
· the need to consider on-going opportunities for new teachers to develop their Welsh language skills and their pedagogical understanding and knowledge in relation to different Welsh-medium and bilingual settings.
For a copy of the full report click here.