01 - Department of Education and Communities - NSW Government

EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AND LEARNINGLanguages Offered ThroughCommunity Language ProgramsArabicPersianGermanHebrewIndonesianJapaneseMacedonianPunjabiSamoanSpanishTamilTurkishChinese (Mandarin)Gamilaroi (Aboriginal)GreekHindiItalianKhmerPortugueseRussianSerbianFilipinoTonganVietnameseNumber of Students Studying LOTEThrough Distance EducationDistance EducationCentre StudentsBalranald 28Dubbo 160Karabar 145Open High School 1907Port Macquarie 200Southern Cross 147Sydney 57Walgett 5TOTAL 2649teachers at a local school leveldealing with issues ofcontinuity specific to eachsituation• the appointment of K-8Community Languagespositions to provide languageprograms in high schools thatextend the K-6 CommunityLanguage programs• Access to Languages viaSatellite materials providesthree years curriculum supportfor languages teaching andlearning for Japanese andChinese. The materials weredesigned to be appropriate assequenced learning materialsfor upper primary (Years 3 and6) and lower secondary (Years7 and 8).The Department is committed toproviding a minimum of one year’stertiary language training to 1100primary teachers between 1995-1998. In 1997, 317 teachers weresponsored to undertake one year’slanguage training at university,TAFE colleges and otherinstitutions in six targetedlanguages: Chinese (Mandarin),French, German, Italian,Indonesian and Korean.The course provided teachers withthe equivalent of up to one year’sundergraduate study. Wherefeasible the courses were offeredthrough outreach programs toensure learning occurred as closeas possible to the workplace. Thelanguage and methodology trainingprograms supported primaryteachers seeking recognition asprimary teachers with aspecialisation in languages.Community LanguageEducationIn 1997, approximately 42,000primary students from 172government primary schools hadaccess to community languageeducation.A total of 24 different languageswas being offered in 1997. Amongthese were two languages includedfor the first time in 1997: Hebrewand Tamil.The equivalent of 18 additionalabove establishment communitylanguage positions were allocatedfor 1997, with a further 36 to beallocated between 1998 and 1999.The addition of 18 new positionsin 1997 brings the total to theequivalent of 207.8 full-timepositions.Training andDevelopment forLanguages TeachersThe Community LanguagesInduction Program (CLIP) wasundertaken by 21 participants froma wide range of languagebackgrounds including Arabic,Chinese, Greek, Hebrew, Italianand Khmer. Many of the teacherswere overseas trained andappointed to the Department in1997. This training programprovided teachers with theopportunity to gain a greaterunderstanding of the structure ofthe Department and the basiclearning principles underpinningeducation in NSW schools.Participants explored many issuesof relevance to newly-appointedteachers including their roles andresponsibility, understanding theirlearners, designing, developing,implementing and evaluating asuccessful program, and classroommanagement.52 DSE Annual Report 1997