Language immersion education is a form of bilingual education in which students receive subject matter instruction through the medium of a second, foreign, heritage or indigenous language. Immersion education holds that people do not learn language and then use it; rather, they learn language by using it. Research on language immersion education consistently proclaims immersion to be a reliable method for teaching languages, for teaching content and for achieving success in these with no loss to the first language of learners.
Research suggests that the nature of immersion teachers’ experience with attempting to intertwine form-orientated and meaning-orientated pedagogy in post-primary immersion education is complex and worthy of special attention. While many Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes incorporate specific optional modules which focus on immersion and bilingual pedagogy and theory, research constantly highlights how the specific needs of student teachers in post-primary immersion contexts are not being met by current provision.
Although there is a growing recognition in the Republic of Ireland that post-primary immersion teaching is a unique profession which has higher demands in terms of disciplinary and linguistic expertise, knowledge and competence than conventional monolingual educational contexts do, immersion teacher credentials are equivalent to those of non-immersion teachers. With a focus on the Irish immersion educational context, this paper reports on the preparation and design of a research-informed professional learning initiative (i.e. a digital badge) to enhance and support pre-service, post-primary immersion teachers’ professional growth.
This digital badge is a micro credential award that recognises non-accredited achievement aligned to priority values and attributes the university seeks to foster in graduate students. This paper will explore how the digital badge learning outcomes were crafted in response to the UCC Graduate Attributes Programme and recent research on the perspectives and experiences of 80 pre-service secondary teachers carried out with the support of Teaching Council John Coolahan Research Framework funding.
This paper will firstly define immersion education and examine the importance of bespoke programme of support to address reported language demands and pedagogical challenges of post-primary immersion teachers. The challenges, opportunities and process of designing and crafting the digital badge award for pre-service teachers in providing concurrent and balanced language and content instruction in post-primary immersion education will be discussed in the context of immersion teacher knowledge. The paper will conclude with a discussion highlighting key issues that remain to be addressed in terms of developing and supporting immersion ITE in the Irish post-primary school context.