MORE LEAPS investigation Liberty CampbellSt Pauls College, Manly

An opportunity to reflect 2 days in Adelaide to reflect on the

professional standards for lead teachers of languages & cultures & discuss with others

Time to get past the “I don’t have time to do that” – false economy. Taking the time out to make changes

Focus on working with others – mentoring relationships

Analysing our situation Focus on the Stage 6 cohort – issues of

pushing them without losing them; doing all the work for them

What type of students would we like to be teaching? What type of students do we feel we usually teach?

Discrepancies between what we say we want and believe in, and what we do.

Defining the project “Lead teachers of languages and cultures have a strong knowledge

of contemporary theory, research and practice in language education, in areas including teaching, learning, curriculum, assessment and evaluation, and have a commitment to applying innovations in their own practice and sharing this with others”

“They support others in creating a culture of learning in their classrooms/schools that fosters an interest in and engagement with languages and encourages learners to accept responsibility for their own learning”

They support others in identifying and selecting appropriate ways of teaching to foster students achievements in learning languages and cultures”

Our situation Australia is a

monolingual country with a monolingual mindset

Limited opportunity for sustained & real language for students & staff

Modelling the attitudes we purport to believe in

So what did we change?In Weeks 2-6 of Term 1, Coleton has improved his vocabulary by 71 words since the last report using Language Perfect. He has a score of 178 indicating below average use of the site to revise.He has complete 1 out of 5 reading comprehension tasks issued as homestudy. This indicates below average commitment to reading practice at home.He has passed 3 out of 8 levels tests (Level 1a and 1b comprising 2 levels etc) as part of his Communication Portfolio assessment task. He should be aiming to pass 10 levels this term.During the timed writing in class sessions, he has written an average of 100 ji (Japanese letters). He should be working towards writing 150 ji in the 15 minutes sessions. Overall this suggests he is working at an average level at this stage of the course. This report is not a final assessment or formal report but is merely designed to be a guide for parents and students to recognise how much work they are doing for the Japanese course at home during any given period of 5 weeks. These will be issued twice a term. It is hoped that students will use these reports to set goals for themselves to improve areas that they have not concentrated on up to date.

Challenging the monolingual mindset of the school Took a HSIE & an English teacher on Japan

tour Set days to use Japanese in the staffroom

initially Regular awards on assembly eg 1000 points

on LP, newsletters & direct marketing to parents of good language students!

Literacy focus week in August Re Hiroshima/Nagasaki & RE liturgy with Japanese visitors

Role models in the community Mitch – dux, school

captain, law & commerce degree in finance & Japanese, Tokyo internship

Joey – heritage speaker ex-student

Mark – University graduate & volunteer

VIDEO THEM AS SOON AS YOU FIND THEM!

The process continues… Liberty.campbell@dbb.catholic.edu.au