Curriculum research review series: languages

Summary

This section outlines the impact that individual school leaders can have on languages. It gives an overview of findings from languages subject inspections in primary schools and outlines some of the choices school leaders face when considering staffing, issues of transition and CPD.

The priority that individual school leaders place on languages is a defining factor in how successfully the curriculum is planned and delivered. As mentioned above, there are many barriers that still need to be overcome for languages to flourish in English schools. Nonetheless, the decisions of school leaders can clearly help or hinder languages in individual contexts.

Between October 2019 and March 2020, Ofsted carried out 24 languages subject inspections in primary schools. We wanted to identify good practice and strong curriculum management in the subject. We selected the schools at random from schools that we graded as outstanding at their last inspection. We then published a blog on findings from these inspections.

Although we found some strengths, many primary schools were barely out of the starting block with their curriculum. The following aspects were variable in schools, which highlights the potential impact of leaders’ priorities and school culture on individual subjects in primary schools:

• level of staff expertise and succession planning for changes in staffing

• leaders’ understanding of curriculum progression (some schools were simply increasing pupils’ stock of words through different topics with little focus on helping pupils to generate their own language)

• assessment and quality of transition to secondary schools

Sometimes, there was subtle unconscious bias within wider curriculum planning. For example, in CPD programmes, languages was the last subject to be covered. Also in curriculum plans, the last subject on the list was languages. Typically, English, mathematics, science, history and geography had more exposure. In topic-based curriculums, languages was sometimes shoehorned into illogical structures.

Some of these themes are mirrored in other national studies.

Curriculum choices, including transition

Research into the position of languages in primary schools highlights the challenges that the subject faces. Only three quarters of schools report that they have taught a language as part of curriculum time for more than 5 years. This corresponds with the requirement of schools to teach languages from 2014. Many schools also report extra pressure being placed on curriculum time for languages. This is particularly the case in Year 6, when pressure from national curriculum tests is cited. Seventy-one per cent of schools that responded to a survey by Research in Primary Languages said that finding sufficient curriculum time to teach a language is a major challenge.

Transition between primary schools and secondary schools is reported to be inconsistent. In 2020, the survey report ‘Language trends’ noted that 46% of respondents from state secondaries said they had no contact with primary schools with regard to languages. In addition, 74% reported that they receive no data on pupils’ prior attainment. Almost 70% of respondents state that in key stage 3, some pupils start a different language than what they studied at primary level. Just 4% of secondary teachers say that all pupils in Year 7 continue with the same language learned at primary school. Indeed, the report states that ‘more often than not, language learning at key stage 3 starts from scratch’.

This research is mirrored in Holmes and Myles’ study, which notes that:

The lack of continuity in curriculum planning from key stage 2 to key stage 3 means that secondary teachers take little or no account of prior learning and as a result, pupils are required to start learning the language again from the beginning, which for many pupils involves repeating what they have already learned.

Research by Baumert, Fleckenstein, Leucht, Köller and Möller also showed that poor transition, namely lack of continuity of the curriculum, is likely to be the most significant aspect in pupils not seeing the benefit of learning a language at primary school.

It is also reported that disapplication from languages is widespread. In 2020, in only 68% of schools that responded to the ‘Language trends’ survey did all pupils in Year 7 access languages. Small numbers of students did not study the subject at all. The report states that:

Schools where some groups do not study a language in Year 9 are significantly more likely to have a higher proportion of students eligible for free school meals, a higher allocation of pupil premium funding, lower Attainment 8 results… and have a higher proportion of students identified as having English as an additional language.

Staffing and continuing professional development

Teachers’ expertise, CPD and teacher supply are central to meeting the challenges that schools face in relation to languages. Improving staffs’ languages proficiency and boosting their expertise and confidence are also understood to be crucial.

Research in all sectors highlights these challenges. In primary schools, over 70% of teachers have not accessed language-specific CPD in the last year. This is the case for class teachers, specialist native speakers and specialist languages teachers. Teachers also need to ensure that their level of linguistic proficiency remains strong. However, it was also noted that their CPD abroad and teacher exchange programmes remain underdeveloped. They are also financially out of reach for almost all teachers.

Recent developments in initial teacher education (ITE) bring a renewed focus on subjects. The Carter Review of Initial Teacher Training found substantial variation in how ITE programmes develop teachers’ subject knowledge. A study by Holmes and Myles also notes that ‘provision of primary modern foreign language pedagogy varies from 1.5 hours in total to 2 hours per week, depending on the course provider’.

Teacher recruitment is also pressured. The number of graduate linguists in the UK is relatively low. University languages departments are closing. In addition, almost 70% of state schools and 90% of independent schools have at least one languages teacher who is an EU citizen, according to schools that responded to the ‘Language trends’ survey. They may find that their future in teaching in England is insecure following Brexit.

Based on the above, high-quality languages education may have the following features

• School leaders committed to ensuring that language teachers have both a strong understanding of curriculum progression in languages and strong subject knowledge.

• Well-considered transition processes and a curriculum that builds step by step across key stages.