Multilingual Early Language Transmission (MELT) - Mercator ...

Curriculum and Training for Irish Medium Preschooling
Curriculum
Preschool provision for children under age 6 has undergone major review and regulation in
Ireland in the last twenty years (Child Care Act 1991), and the naíonraí, like other part-time
services must meet the regulations governing part-time early years’ education which are
formulated, monitored and implemented by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.
The most recent innovation is the development of a national curriculum for all children from
birth to six years. This curriculum entitled Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework
(National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, 2009) is designed to be used in the range
of early childhood settings including children's own homes, with private childminders, in full
and part-time day-care settings, and sessional services, including Irish-medium preschools,
as well as the infant classes catering for 4-6 year olds in primary schools. The Aistear
curriculum highlights the critical role of play, relationships and language for young children's
learning, and aims to promote strong foundations and seamless progression from home,
crèche or preschool to school, through implicit and explicit links to the Revised Primary
School Curriculum (Government of Ireland, 1999). The values of the Aistear curriculum
framework are much in accordance with the values and priorities of the naíonraí, (whose
organisation and representatives contributed to consultations on its development) in
emphasising the importance of play and language in particular, and it is clearly intended to
be implemented in Irish-medium groups as well as English-medium ones, since its
documentation includes examples, activities and suggestions for Irish-medium groups (see
also Ní Rianaigh, 2011). However, it will be some time before equivalent resources suitable
for Irish-medium groups are available and before its implementation in this sector can be
evaluated to ensure compatibility with the specific challenges of early immersion.
Nevertheless, Aistear represents the beginning of an exciting phase in early years’ education
in Ireland in general, as well as for Irish-medium groups in particular.
Training for Early Years Provision in Ireland
Offering immersion preschooling in a minority language requires the development of
appropriate teacher training, as well as curricula and work organisations. Edelenbos,
Johnstone and Kubanek (2006) carried out a review of effective pedagogical practice in
teaching foreign languages to young learners (also relevant to different models of early
bilingual education). They identified as a central factor which contributes to successful
language learning the provision of well-trained, resourced and supported teachers with
expertise in the target language and in language pedagogy. There have, in the past, been
efforts to encourage the achievement of childcare and early education qualifications among
those working in preschools in Ireland, but the recent innovation (2010) of a national
initiative offering a free preschool year to all children aged 3-4 in a recognised provider of
Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), including naíonraí, has led to the enforcement of
certain training requirements. To qualify as preschool providers in this programme, all preschool
Leaders are required to hold a qualification from the Further Education and Training
Awards Council (FETAC, the statutory awarding body for further education and training in
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