Teachers’ Experiences of Educating EAL Students in Mainstream Primary and Secondary Classrooms

Abstract

Many schools in Victoria, Australia, are multicultural, with students coming from a variety of cultures and backgrounds. Content area teachers often educate EAL students in their classrooms, even though they may not have specialised EAL teaching qualifications. This paper presents the experiences of primary and secondary teachers working in multicultural schools in Victoria. It explores the way in which teachers meet the needs of EAL students in their classrooms, and the support that is available to assist them to do so. This paper reports that teaching practice, school leadership, professional learning, and identity, influence the way in which teachers educate EAL students. However, this paper reveals that teachers require more support to assist them with educating EAL students. The most beneficial forms of support are professional learning, collaboration between staff, and understanding different cultures. This paper also argues that experienced teachers require relevant ongoing professional learning throughout their careers.

Exploring challenges and supports for writing in Standard Australian English for Australian secondary English as an Additional Language/Dialect Students: A scoping study

“…However, it is the responsibility of all subject area specialists to teach students the language and literacy requirements. Numerous researchers (e.g., Gilmour, et al, 2018;Premier, 2021) have found that mainstream classroom teachers may not always have the specialised knowledge and support to teach EAL/D students, especially in regard to language. Of concern to Gleeson and Davison (2019) are more experienced teachers who view their years of practice with EAL/D students as enough.…”

“…However, research findings indicate that mainstream classroom teachers may not have the specialised knowledge to support EAL/D students and need more support to do so (Gilmour et al, 2018;Premier, 2021). An initial review of the literature found only a dearth of studies in relation to writing for EAL/D learners in the secondary years.…”

Exploring teachers’ perceptions when supporting learners with dysgraphia and dyslexia in a rural school

“…Participants reported that classroom overcrowding was a barrier to supporting learners who were experiencing learning barriers in their classrooms. Premier (2021) stated that teaching in an overcrowded classroom is frustrating, overwhelming, and stressful to teachers. This can explain the claim that teachers find it challenging to give individual support to every learner.…”