Parental evaluation of ‘success’ and its influence on the implementation of bilingual education programmes in Australian primary settings

ABSTRACT

In this paper we consider parents as unofficial evaluators of success in primary bilingual programmes that are not subject to any standardised bilingual outcomes. Small-scale, opt-in programmes that are reliant on parental buy-in are increasing in Australia. Given the importance of parental choice on the sustainability of these programmes, we seek to understand parents’ evaluation of success in their implementation. We apply Mehisto’s ([2015]. “Forces Mechanisms and Counterweights.” In Building Bilingual Education Systems: Forces Mechanisms and Counterweights, edited by X. Mehisto, and X. Genesee, Xv–xxvii. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.) framework of forces, mechanisms and counterweights to two Australian studies, and explore the parents’ discourse around the success of four primary bilingual programmes as a counterweight to the degree of commitment at the school (force) and the perceived affordances (mechanisms). The implications of the parental evaluations of success on the implementation of the programmes are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Bilingual education
• principals
• parents
• implementation
• evaluation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 We note here that Clyne drew on the work of Gogolin in using the term ‘monolingual mindset’.

2 The focus of this paper is foreign language programmes – Indigenous programmes have a very different history and context (see Devlin et. al. 2017 for a review).

3 NAPLAN is the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy in Australia. It involves national testing of literacy and numeracy in English at Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. See www.nap.edu.au/NAPLAN for more details.

4 It is noted that NESB was the term used by the principal in this interview, and that it is the terminology used within the standardised reporting that schools undertook at that time, however the term EAL (English as an Additional Language) is also used in some jurisdictions now.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ruth Fielding

Dr Ruth Fielding is Senior Lecturer in Language Education and TESOL at Monash University's Faculty of Education within the School of Curriculum, Teaching and Inclusive Education. She researches multilingual identity, bilingual education within the Australian context, and the intersection of multilingualism with intercultural understanding.

Marianne Turner

Dr Marianne Turner is Senior Lecturer in Bilingual Education and TESOL at Monash University's Faculty of Education within the School of Curriculum, Teaching and Inclusive Education. She researches bilingualism, bilingual education, CLIL and works closely with teachers.