December 19, 2024
Do you know how many students are learning at heritage language programs in the world?
Heritage language programs (HL programs), also named “community languages schools” are the schools that primarily teach children with a migration background the language and culture of their ancestral homeland, helping maintain their linguistic and cultural heritage. According to Ken Cruickshank, an Australian professor at the University of Sydney and a founder of Sydney Institute of Community Languages Education (SICLE), there are estimated to be more than 2 million students learning at HL programs, but the exact numbers of the students, schools, and teachers are not known.
These schools are a key resource for the wider community and the country
-- Prof. Ken Cruickshank
Few government organisations or schools even know about the programs because they are run in the community by volunteer parents outside school hours. “But these schools are a key resource for the wider community and the country,” said Professor Cruickshank. At “Inspiration from Multilingual Australia”, an event held by Heritage Language Education Network (HLE Network) on December 12 in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, he explained what benefits HL programs give to the society, and how they are integrated into their local and state government in Australia.
HL programs as a bridge between migrant communities and host countries
According to Prof. Cruickshank, HL programs started in the 1800s in the U.S., England, and Australia. In many cases, the parents realized that the children lacked knowledge about their heritage language and culture after a few years of emigration from their original country, and they started the education programs on a volunteer basis on weekends or afterschool. In the beginning, it took place in the temple or church of their own culture, and their activities were advertised in their community newspapers and by spreading the word.
Although the primary purpose of the school is to pass on the heritage language and culture to the children, the role played by the school goes far beyond that.
“From much research we know that students who are strong in both their languages perform better in mainstream school. We know that students who have good knowledge of their heritage culture are more open and accepting of mainstream cultural values. In England they have evidence that children attending heritage language schools do above average in all their subjects at mainstream schools,” said Cruickshank.
Students who have good knowledge of their heritage culture are more open and accepting of mainstream cultural values.
-- Prof. Ken Cruickshank
The HL programs also play an important role in the community of parents: “The programs bring families together to support each other. They improve communication between children and their parents and grandparents. The schools provide social, health, financial and other support and advice to families. They also help new arrivals settle in." Cruickshank further explains, "HL programs function as a bridge between the newcomers and the mainstream society. And despite these important roles of the HL programs, they provide education at little or no cost to government.”
HL program is a source of teachers at mainstream schools
They serve not only for the people with foreign background, but also for the local people who would like to learn the foreign language. For an example, a Thai HL program in Australia was the only available school for a local couple who wanted to learn Thai before travelling to the country. In international marriages, people who don’t have the knowledge of the spouse's languages also learn them at HL programs with their children. The age of students ranges from 4 to age sixty-four.
What is more remarkable about the contribution of those schools to society is that the HL programs often provide teachers for the mainstream schools. Cruickshank explains:
“In Australia we have a huge teacher shortage, especially in mathematics and science, and the government is trying to get engineers, electricians -- everyone -- to go back to teaching. But they didn’t think of teachers of HL programs. We know from our studies that 60% of heritage languages teachers have earned university qualifications from overseas, and 80% of heritage language teachers also want to teach in mainstream schools. This means a benefit of hundreds of millions of dollars in education.”
In Australia, the overseas qualifications are generally accepted. According to Cruickshank, 55% of their heritage language teachers were teachers overseas, and 45% have earned teaching degrees, but even those who are engineers or journalists, have the commitment and experience to move into mainstream teaching.
“So, what we do is a strong promotion and ask them to upgrade their qualifications. Some of them are already accepted at their level, and they didn’t realize they were eligible to teach in Australia!" Cruickshank reports.
“We offer English language support, because they need to have a certain level of English for the mainstream schools. We also offer career advice and a teaching course, offered both online and part-time, to fit in with their own needs. They get a 20,000-dollar scholarship to do it.”
These measures opened the door for the HL programs teachers, who are often women teaching voluntarily and hoping for further study or work, but the pathway is blocked. Once the door is opened, they end up teaching in the mainstream schools. As a result, more than 100 HL programs teachers are now mainstream teachers in mathematics, science, and other subjects. And 3,500 HL programs teachers have completed 60 hours of training offered by SICLE.
Government supports for HL programs in Australia
In 1980s, multi-culturalism arise in Australia, and politicians realized the benefit of supporting migrant communities. It started from a very little support, 30 Australian dollars (about 16 euros) per person per year, and now it is about 200 dollars per student per year. “It is not much compared with mainstream schools, but this helps buy resources and give teachers some reimbursement,” explained Cruickshank. According to him, there are over 150,000 children in 500 HL programs being taught one of 90 languages by 7,000 volunteer teachers in the land.
Regulation and funding of education including HL programs is the responsibility of the states. In New South Wales there are three government-funded education officers who help schools get established and who help them with administration and training of teachers. HL programs get free use of government classrooms, and all teachers get free professional learning, where they can learn how to manage classes and plan lessons, how to use technology, etc.
In exchange for government support, there are also obligations imposed on HL programs. They need to register as non-profit organizations with constitutions (statutes). They also must have proper teaching programs with at least 2 hours language teaching a week with 80% attendance. The schools need to have teacher background checks and school insurance. If the schools do not adhere these regulations, they get defunded.
Applicable in the Netherlands?
The event brought together experts and community leaders involved in heritage language education, as well as officials from the Ministry of Education, Culture & Science and City Hall -- including Alderman Samir Toub and city council representatives from PvDA and GroenLinks. Also present were local educational organizations, expat support agencies, and more, allowing for a lively discussion to follow Prof. Cruickshank's presentation. One of the most noteworthy points was how HL programs can help to alleviate the shortage of local teachers.
As in Australia, the shortage of teachers is a serious problem in the Netherlands as well. According to the government report in December 2023, there was a nationwide teacher shortage of 9,800 full-time positions in primary education, and 3,800 full-time teaching positions in secondary education, especially in specific subjects such as mathematics, physics, and languages.
Dutch government supports the “zij-stromers”, or career changers, financially to become teachers, and the number increased 15% year on year to 2,300 in 2022. But apparently, it is not enough to fill the vacancies.
Kavitha Varathan, founder and CEO of Expat Spouses Initiative, which support spouses of the expats to regain her/his careers, pointed out: “The problem is that you need to have B2 level (university-entry level) Dutch to qualify for this fund, and a lot of internationals don’t have the support to get to this level.”
Cruickshank's answer is clear: “They need support, and it costs money to improve your English or your Dutch, but it’s worth it. We do not say ‘lower the standards for teaching’, but we are saying ‘support teachers to get there.’”
The successful example of supporting HL programs teachers to address the teacher shortage in Australia could serve as valuable inspiration for the Dutch government. After the event, Dr. Gisi Cannizzaro, Managing Director of the HLE Network, stated, " Our mission remains the same -- to support the providers of heritage language education -- but we hope that as we move forward from this milestone event, that we can be even more effective. With Ken's visit, we have shown the municipality of Eindhoven and various partners that HLE Network possesses valuable expertise about this educational sector that can help inform policy and practice. Ken has basically showed us that solutions are not as complicated, controversial, or costly as people think."
Many thanks to HLE Network guest writer Naoko Yamamoto for this fantastic article about Ken's visit!
Interested in knowing more about SICLE? Check out these extra links:
Open Language (SICLE Online Portal for Community Languages Resources)
SICLE video playlist, including public school principal interviews about being a HL program host location
Comments