Hello All!
I created this blog for the dual purpose of displaying my
professional learning as a result of completing the workshop series Teaching
Learners of English as an Additional Language (LEALs) in Mainstream Classrooms
and providing other mainstream teachers with a digital 'go-to' hub for
gathering basic information and getting directive information for further
learning on this topic area.
One of the most surprising (and disheartening) things I
learned through my participation in the above-mentioned workshop series is that
despite policy 2.5.1 of the Ministry’s (2007) “English Language Learners/ESL and ELD
Programs and Services” policy and procedures document outlining that all teachers share the responsibility
for the development of the English language skills of their students, information
relevant to and strategies for teachers teaching LEALs are not discussed in any
teacher education programs in Ontario. When I thought about my own formal teacher
education I knew this was certainly true in my case.
It wasn’t, however, getting involved with this workshop
series that brought it to my attention. Instead, it was my experience last
summer teaching at a summer camp in an area of Ontario with a high number of
LEALs. During my time spent trying to
teach students who were learning English as an additional language to their
native language, and had less developed English language skills than their native
English peers, it became very apparent that I had not been prepared for such a
scenario through my teacher education. Thank goodness I found myself in that
situation during a role in a summer camp where the academic learning was not
the primary focus, but thinking that a classroom teacher - a person in society
who is entrusted with the primary task of furthering a student’s academic
wellbeing - could (and likely would) find themselves in the exact same
situation haunted me.
My experiences at that summer camp certainly encouraged me to jump at the chance to be involved with this workshop series when the opportunity came up, and now that the series is wrapping up I must say I could not be happier about my decision. I hope this final assignment for the workshop series of preparing a ‘toolkit’ for mainstream teachers teaching LEALs will highlight some of my learning and help share the knowledge and resources I have gained with other teachers so that we can better serve all the students in our classrooms!
