EAL Support and Funding

Collaborative planning and teaching

Collaborative planning

Planning is a key element in the implementation of an EAL program. Planning can be done at the curriculum or unit planning level and should continue throughout the implementation of the program to allow adjustments for changing student learning needs.

In collaborative planning, classroom teachers and EAL teachers plan together. This can involve a single teacher and an EAL teacher working together, or a team of teachers and an EAL teacher working together. Teachers may use a common planning format or application that allows all members of the planning team to collaborate.

The EAL teacher and classroom teacher each bring important information to the planning sessions.

Classroom/subject teachers have knowledge of:

• the content and the methodology through which they teach the area content
• the EAL learners, who they have been able to observe working in many different learning contexts.

EAL teachers bring knowledge of second language acquisition and EAL teaching to:

• identify the stage of language development of the EAL learner
• set reasonable learning goals and identify effective strategies which will enhance English language learning
• plan assessment activities aligned with the levels of the Victorian Curriculum F–10 EAL that identify the learner’s competence and needs.

Collaborative planning is most successful when the roles and expectations of classroom and specialist teachers are clear. If the EAL teacher is also involved in parallel or similar-needs teaching, collaborative planning ensures that both teachers are working towards the same learning goals. It allows teachers to share knowledge about the learner’s progress and so be flexible in implementing the program.

Collaborative planning may be the best use of an EAL teacher’s time, especially where their time allocation is limited, or EAL learners are spread across several year levels. In these cases, providing EAL-informed input into the ongoing classroom program may have greater overall effect than a brief teaching session directly with the EAL learners. Collaborative planning is also particularly effective when new programs or teaching approaches are being implemented.

Team teaching

Team teaching is an effective strategy for EAL provision. In this model, the classroom teacher and an EAL teacher share responsibility for assessing students and planning, teaching, and evaluating the EAL program.

Team teaching may be effective when:

• using organisational options like cooperative groups or conferencing
• focusing on particular language items
• introducing EAL learners to new information to prepare them for a new activity or topic.

It is crucial that the teachers plan collaboratively. In the planning session, teachers should identify the tasks in which students may benefit most from having 2 teachers, and the tasks in which EAL learners may need most support.

Team teaching is most successful when both the EAL teacher and the classroom teacher have shared beliefs about language teaching and learning. The role of both teachers may change from week to week, depending on the needs of the students and the demands of the curriculum.

Parallel teaching

Parallel teaching involves both the classroom teacher and the EAL teacher presenting the same content to students, but the EAL teacher focuses on the language demands of the task with the EAL learners. While they are likely to use separate teaching locations and different activities, teachers need to plan collaboratively to ensure that they share goals, and that all students are covering the required learning.

Parallel teaching may be particularly effective at the start of a new unit, when EAL learners may need to learn new vocabulary and concepts, or when a task is particularly demanding linguistically, for example, where students need to revise the structure and features of a text type.

In secondary schools, EAL classes for a subject area may run parallel to, and in place of, mainstream English classes, or in subject areas such as Science, Mathematics or Humanities. Parallel classes work particularly well when there are multiple students in a particular year level or operating at a particular stage of EAL development.

Similar-needs teaching

Similar-needs classes may be organised in response to particular EAL learner needs.

They may be used to prepare students for the language demands across the curriculum or to recycle language that still requires more practice. Similar-needs classes are particularly effective for newly arrived students.

In similar-needs classes, teachers choose content that is most appropriate to the students at their level of development. Planning between the EAL teacher and classroom teachers is an essential element of such classes and ensures that the EAL program remains relevant to the mainstream classroom program.

Similar-needs classes can include students from more than one class. For example, when there are small numbers of EAL learners at similar stages of development in classes at the same year level, or across year levels, similar-needs classes can be used to bring these students together and maximise the time they can spend in a targeted EAL program.