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This study investigates the assessment methods used in Irish immersion schools to identify students for additional teaching support. An overview is provided of the percentage of students receiving additional teaching support in this context and whether there is a higher rate of students accessing additional teaching support in Irish immersion schoo...
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... The other most frequently reported categories of SEN are Dyspraxia (DCD), ASD, EBD, and Specific Speech and Language Disorder (SSLD) [11,20]. It was estimated that for the school year 2017-2018, 16.57% of students enrolled in these primary schools received additional teaching support from the special education teacher [21]. This figure is higher than that of 13% (n = 1719) estimated previously by Nic Gabhann [22] for IM schools in the RoI. ...
... However, as with all forms of education, a percentage of students with SEN transfer from immersion education to a monolingual school due to several factors. For students with SEN, international studies have shown that these students often transfer from immersion education due to the academic challenges learning through a L2 poses for them [2,21,50]. Concerns have also been raised regarding the ability of this form of education to meet the diverse educational needs of these students [21,47,51]. ...
... For students with SEN, international studies have shown that these students often transfer from immersion education due to the academic challenges learning through a L2 poses for them [2,21,50]. Concerns have also been raised regarding the ability of this form of education to meet the diverse educational needs of these students [21,47,51]. ...
There are few professional development courses available to teachers with a focus on meeting the special educational needs (SEN) of students in immersion education contexts worldwide. The continuous professional development (CPD) needs of immersion education teachers in SEN are under researched internationally. This study investigated the CPD needs of primary and post-primary Irish immersion education teachers (N = 133) in SEN using an anonymous online survey. In this article, we provide an overview of the types of CPD that teachers have engaged with in the past and their preferences for future CPD in this area. The challenges they face in relation to CPD are evaluated and provide a context for the future development of CPD courses for this cohort. It was found that teachers want to learn more about inclusive pedagogies and assessments through a variety of interactive pedagogies. The findings of this study will be of interest to immersion educators in other contexts.
... A more detailed discussion on immersion education and bilingualism for children with these categories of SEN is provided below. A dearth of research exists on the Irish language proficiency of these students with SEN who are enrolled in an IM primary school (Nic Aindriú et al., 2020a;Nic Aindriú et al., 2021). Barrett (2016, p. 22), investigated teachers' perceptions of the challenges that students with SEN experience in IM schools. ...
... The findings of this study are from the second stage of a mixed methods doctoral study (Andrews, 2020). In the first stage of the doctoral research, a randomised stratified sample of IM primary schools (20%, N=29) completed an anonymous online survey on the prevalence and types of SEN in IM schools (Nic Aindriú, Ó Duibhir, & Travers, 2020a) and the assessment methods used in these schools to identify students with SEN (Nic Aindriú, Ó Duibhir, & Travers, 2021). At the end of the survey, schools were asked whether they were interested in participating in the case study research. ...
This study investigated the challenges faced by students with special educational needs (SEN) when acquiring Irish as a second language (L2) in Irish-medium (IM) primary schools. Case studies were undertaken on four students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), three with a specific speech and language disorder (SSLD), and three with dyslexia enrolled in four IM primary schools. Three of these schools were situated in the Republic of Ireland (RoI) and one was situated in Northern Ireland (NI). As part of the research, class teachers (N=10) and parents (N=9) undertook semi-structured interviews. These categories of SEN are listed within the five most frequently reported categories of SEN in IM schools. They were chosen as the focus of this study because students with these SEN often experience language and communication difficulties. Also, there is often a lot of debate as to whether bilingualism and/or learning through an L2 is appropriate for children with these categories of SEN. The research question addressed within this study was: what are the challenges faced by students with SEN learning through Irish as an L2? The findings of the present study suggest that some students with these categories of SEN can be slow at acquiring Irish as an L2 and that some do encounter challenges when learning through Irish. However, some of the challenges encountered by this group of students are also encountered by students learning through Irish without SEN. It was also reported by a number of parents and teachers, that the Irish language did not pose a challenge for some of the students.
... The most frequently reported categories of SEN in these schools are; (1) dyslexia (2) autism spectrum disorder (ASD), (3) dyspraxia, (4) emotional and/or behavioural difficulties, (5) specific speech and language disorder (SSLD), (6) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), (7) assessed syndromes, and (8) mild general learning difficulties (GLD) (Barrett, William, and Prendeville 2020;Nic Aindriú et al. 2020). The number of students accessing additional teaching support in Irish immersion primary schools (16.57%, n = 1,242) is reported to be similar to that for students who were receiving additional teaching support in all primary schools in the RoI (17%) (Banks and McCoy 2011;Nic Aindriú, Ó Duibhir, and Travers 2021a). In the RoI, students with SEN can apply for an exemption from studying Irish due to their learning difficulties (Department of Education and Skills (DES) 2019). ...
... A number of challenges in terms of meeting the SEN of students have been identified in Irish immersion education, such as, a lack of access to assessments through Irish, a lack of educational professionals (e.g. educational psychologists) providing their services through Irish, and the need for more Irish language teaching resources (Andrews 2020;Nic Aindriú, Ó Duibhir, and Travers 2021a). Nevertheless, some parents and teachers have perceived that there are benefits for students with SEN when learning through Irish (Nic Aindriú, Ó Duibhir, and Travers 2021b). ...
There have been many instances when parents have been advised by educational professionals against bilingualism or immersion education for their child with special educational needs (SEN). Some parents follow the advice given and decide to use only one language with their child, mainly the majority language of the community. This study investigated the reasons why students with SEN transferred from Irish immersion primary education in the Republic of Ireland. The data presented contains information from a questionnaire completed by a random stratified sample of Irish immersion primary schools (20%, N = 29). It also contains data from semi-structured interviews with the parents of six students with a range of SEN who transferred from this form of education due to their learning difficulties. Questionnaires were analysed using SPSS and the interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of this study are particularly important, as internationally, the reasons why students with SEN transfer from immersion education is under researched. Furthermore, having an understanding of why these transfers occur will enable Irish immersion education and other forms of immersion education to gain an insight as to how they can adjust their practices in order to better meet the needs of all their students and subsequently, improve their student achievement and retention rates.
'New speakers' is a term used to describe those who have learnt a minority language not within their home or community settings, but through bilingual education, immersion or migration. Looking specifically at the impact of new speakers on language policy, this book provides an authoritative and detailed examination of minority language policy in Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the Basque Autonomous Community, Navarre, Catalonia and Galicia. Based on interviews with politicians, senior civil servants, academics and civil society activists, it assesses the extent to which interventions derived from a new speakers' perspective has been incorporated into official language practice. It describes several challenges faced by new speakers, before proposing specific recommendations on how to integrate them into established minority language communities. Shedding new light on the deeper issues faced by minority language communities, it is essential reading for students and researchers in sociolinguistics, language policy and planning, language education, bi- and multilingualism.
This is an English translation of a CPD handbook developed for teachers in Irish-medium/Gaeltacht schools to help them support students with special educational needs learning through Irish.
Within the broader contexts of language maintenance, revitalisation and use, schools have an important role to play in the early transmission of minority or minoritized languages. Through effective classroom-based practices, teachers can offer rich, continuous linguistic experiences for the young people they teach that can lead to long-term, sustained engagement with language over time. How effective a given approach or practice may be in delivering a linguistic outcome in different contexts depends to a large extent on the skills and competence of the teacher involved ( Fitzpatrick et al., 2018 , p. 59), and the skills and competence of the teacher are usually rooted in their early experiences as student teachers. Initial teacher education (ITE) programmes are therefore central to the delivery of effective classroom-based practices and fundamental in generating autonomous teachers who can explore critically the different pedagogical approaches as they pertain to minority language contexts. This paper provides a comparative overview of the current issues and challenges facing ITE for primary education in two distinct minority language settings, namely Wales and Ireland. Both settings provide Welsh-medium or Irish-medium immersion education, as well as English-medium education offering Welsh or Irish as statutory subjects up to age 16. Both contexts also offer ITE programmes through the medium of Welsh or Irish, catering specifically for those student teachers wishing to teach in immersion settings. Both contexts face a number of shared challenges in terms of the content, design and delivery of an effective ITE programme for the context. We therefore highlight areas in which resources and methodologies could be shared amongst all those involved in ITE where minority language maintenance is a key component of education.
This is a short course CPD course developed to help teachers in primary and post-primary Irish-medium and Gaeltacht schools to meet the special educational needs of their students. At present it is only available through the medium of Irish but much of the content is transferrable to other immersion education contexts as well as students learning through a second language.
