The training of bilingual teachers is one of the most important steps in maintaining the quality of education in another language. However, providing ongoing professional development can be challenging for any educational institution. So, how can this issue be addressed? To help you, as an educational administrator, tackle this challenge more smoothly, we’ve listed some initiatives that can be effective in training bilingual teachers. In addition, we explain how these initiatives can be structured to ensure consistency in learning and make the process more fluid and effective. Enjoy the read!

Why is it important to invest in training bilingual teachers?

In Brazil, only 16% of all bilingual teachers have not completed higher education. However, when the country’s English-language classes are evaluated, only 29.42% of them have teachers with the appropriate qualifications for the profession. The data comes from the British Council and was taken from a survey conducted in 2019. 

The National Guidelines for Plurilingual Education in Brazil, established by the National Education Council (CNE), stipulate that bilingual schools must have teachers with a minimum language proficiency level of B2. This level corresponds to the parameters of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages), the international standard for language proficiency. 

However, this is not enough to bring teachers up to an adequate level of teaching proficiency. Therefore, it is fair to say that it is the responsibility not only of the individual teacher but also of the school offering bilingual education to encourage and promote lifelong learning initiatives so that the teaching staff can meet the established standards.

How can we support the training of bilingual teachers? 

As we mentioned, it is the school’s responsibility to provide support to educators so that bilingual education can be implemented effectively. Bilingual education solutions such as Systemic Bilingual offer pedagogical guidance focused on improving and monitoring the quality of instruction provided at the school. 

This is a major benefit for institutions that have this need but don’t know how to address it. However, it’s worth noting that other lifelong learning initiatives need to be included in the teacher training schedule. To help you with this, we’ve listed some types of initiatives that are worthwhile:

Workshops

There’s nothing like promoting initiatives that build skills through hands-on experience. Workshops are perfect examples of this. Remember to focus your efforts on initiatives that offer insights into new activities and help develop skills and competencies that can be used in the classroom. 

Lectures and seminars

These training sessions are usually shorter, but when they focus on professional development or on sparking discussions about specific topics, they are extremely valuable. Ideally, this type of initiative should take place at least once a quarter and serve to provide insights and best practices to bilingual teachers. 

For example: During Mental Health Awareness Month, invite experts in mental health and educational psychology to share ideas for projects that can be presented to students. The focus can also be on discussing aspects of the methodology itself that raise questions among professionals or do not apply to the students’ reality.

Regular meetings

School administrators can also organize periodic initiatives within the school itself. At these meetings, participants can discuss their impressions, obstacles, and challenges they overcame during the period in question. In addition, they can compile a list of solutions that worked in one class and could be successfully applied to others. 

In-person or distance learning courses

How about inviting an expert in a field that is of interest to the school as a whole and offering a course to your teachers? Or perhaps offering the faculty an online course? In these cases, it’s a good idea to gather suggestions from the teachers themselves and, based on those, decide which option is most relevant to their current situation and the school’s needs.

Now that you know how training bilingual teachers can impact students’ daily lives, be sure to read more articles on the Systemic Bilingual blog and follow the program’s latest updates on social media. 

 

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