EXPLORING THE TERRAIN: SCHOOL LANGUAGE CHANGE, CHANGE AGENTRY AND SUSTAINING CHANGE
2.2 Part A: Literature Review
2.2.3 Change agentry and Sustainability of change
2.2.3.3 Sustaining Language Change Initiatives at School Level
about and monitor change, and that boards themselves should be engaged in self- improvement.
It is the role of parents in school governance structures leading change within schools and being capacitated to support change within schools that the study contemplates. In this respect the study interrogates the language change initiatives of a school governing body chairperson who is one of the change agents and his call for greater capacitation of parents to increase their input in school language change.
The implications of Fullan & Stiegelbauer‟s (1991) new meaning of educational change for this study lies firstly, in his conceptualisation of teachers, principals, parents and superintendents as agents leading educational change, and secondly, by deliberating on sustainability of change through encouraging systemic change i.e. change at all levels of the education department - the local, regional and national levels.
Fullan & Stiegelbauer‟s (1991) conceptualisation of teachers, principals and parents as agents leading educational change finds resonance with Skutnabb-Kangas & Garcia‟s (1995) identification of educational agents (educators, parents, administration staff and students) as critical to sustaining multilingual education in schools. These authors‟
guiding principles for education leading to multilingualism, which encompass the role of these educational agents as well as the development of a context and culture for multilingual education, are reviewed in the next sub-section.
To achieve full multilingualism certain guiding principles, according to Skutnabb-Kangas
& Garcia (1995) have to be followed by agents involved, developed by the educational context in which the action takes place, and supported by the surrounding society.
Planning for multilingualism through schooling requires the active involvement of agents from the community as well as the school. Furthermore, these agents must be engaged in developing a school culture that supports multilingualism beyond that which exists in the societal culture but it must also be supported by society at large. Skutnabb-Kangas &
Garcia (1995) provide guiding principles for within-school conditions for multilingualism. Among the important characteristics that are seen as desirable or required of educational agents and the educational culture are contemplated by these guiding principles.
2.2.3.3.1 Educational Agents
The educational agents critical for supporting the shift to and sustaining multilingual education are the administration staff, teachers, parents and students. The characteristics required of these agents are captured below.
Multilingual administration and staff
The administrators, teachers and clerks must be multilingual or minimally bilingual and should be of different ethnicities and/or nationalities. All first languages of the students should have native language speakers as well as second language speakers among the staff who should be committed to (and be economically rewarded for) developing their own bi- or multilingual proficiency as well as that of their students. The career patterns (workforce profile) of the school should reflect appreciation of diversity.
Bi- or Multilingual Teachers
Teachers who are multilingual should actively teach only through the medium of one language even when the teacher gives translation equivalents in the other language when
needed. This encourages student responses in the language in which input is received.
Multilingual teachers should have very high levels of linguistic competence in the language in which they teach or that they teach (in reality high competence in one language and a bit lower in the other/s). This ensures rich linguistic input from the teacher and equally rich output from the students. Multilingual teachers should differ from monolingual ones in linguistic capacity and formal education (subject matter, pedagogical principles, language, history and culture of the group whose language is used in instruction and taught) and knowledge (theories of L2 and mother tongue instruction and multilingual education, strategies for teaching second and foreign languages, sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic principles of multilingualism).
Committed parents (bi- or multilingual or monolingual)
Parents must make the choice of multilingual schooling for their children and be committed to the multilingualism and multiliteracy of their children. Parents should be well informed at all times and be encouraged to participate actively in the multilingual school bringing their language, history, culture and values into the school. Parents should be interested in the development of their own bi or multilingual proficiency. Parents must direct the school‟s educational and language policy.
Progressively Multilingual students
Progressively all students are expected to become multilingual and multiliterate and be responsible for their own multilingualism. They must be well informed of the school‟s vision of acquiring multilingual status and encouraging high levels of multilingualism and how to cope with possible negative outsider attitudes.
2.2.3.3.2 Educational Culture/Context
Skutnabb-Kangas and Garcia (1995) recommend, in addition to characteristics of educational agents desirable for multilingual education, the creation of an educational
context and culture in which the change to multilingual education can be sustained. A description of this culture and context is captured in the following principles.
Multilingual Educational Context
The school system must be designed to promote (minimally) bilingualism for all, multilingualism for most (or some initially) and monolingualism for none. The bi- and multilingual school system must encompass the whole of primary and secondary education and should encourage a multilingual language surround in the entire school, also outside the classrooms, in practice. The staff should be encouraged to use all languages everywhere. Correspondences/notices should always be written in all languages, school signs should be posted in both or all languages, bulletin boards should be devoted to each language, school assemblies should be conducted alternately in both or all languages.
Multilingual language policy
The students‟ mother tongue should be expanded and developed and students should be made to feel secure in their mother tongue. The students‟ second language should be expanded and developed and students should be made to feel secure in their second language. The students‟ mother tongue should be the basis for the acquisition and development of the students‟ second and further languages and for developing full bi- and multilingualism.
Multilingual educational strategies
All languages should be used as instruments for knowledge. Whole language strategies should be used, including reading of authentic literature in all languages, writing in all languages, particularly journal writing and communicating in all languages.
Multilingual materials
Materials should be varied and reflect multilingualism and multiculturalism. Teachers should generate materials where none exists in a particular language. Materials from oracy-oriented cultures should be used on an equal basis with “literacy-oriented” cultures.
Authentic and fair multilingual assessment
Students should be allowed to take exams in their mother tongue or a second language – results should be of equal value. Assessment should be criterion-referenced with different measures for native speakers and second language learners. Portfolio-based assessment should be used extensively.
Skutnabb-Kangas & Garcia (1995) are conscious that it is not possible to find all these conditions prevalent in one multilingual school and therefore offer the principles as guidelines of the main conditions necessary for encouraging and sustaining multilingual education. These authors indicate that it is more realistic to assume that some of these conditions might be evident in a particular school and as the school becomes increasingly multilingual in its character, language policy and practices, more of these characteristics would manifest themselves.
The guidelines suggested by Skutnabb-Kangas & Garcia (1995) are incorporated in the theoretical and conceptual framework to guide the analysis and interpretation of data reflecting school language change initiatives in the study.