TTR0095

Written evidence submitted by Research in Primary Languages

This response comes from the Research in Primary Languages organisation, RiPL, a group of researchers, practising teachers, teacher educators and policy makers interested in Research in Primary Languages. We are submitting this evidence because we are committed to the provision of high-quality languages teaching and know from research that language learning at primary school level is very much influenced by teacher-related factors.

In our response we refer to issues of teacher recruitment and retention in relation to Primary Languages specifically and not to teacher recruitment/retention more broadly.  However, given that the study of languages at Key Stage 2 is compulsory in England and the provision of a broad and balanced curriculum is important, our response does raise wider implications for the national concern for equity and access to high-quality broad and balanced provision.  Additionally, our comments below should be set against the evidence that foreign language teachers in English schools in all sectors have above average attrition rates (similar to those for maths and science) in the first five years of service (Worth & De Lazzari, 2017). They should also be read in conjunction with the recommendations for teachers and teaching in the White Paper: Primary Languages Policy in England – The Way Forward (Holmes & Myles, 2019).

In what follows, we address the following questions, arguing that primary languages is a subject area particularly badly affected by issues of teacher recruitment, training and retention.

●        What are the main factors leading to difficulties recruiting and retaining qualified teachers?

●        How does the situation differ across the country and across different types of schools and colleges?

●        What impact does this have on pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND?

We begin by outlining the teacher factors that have been found to impact on pupil progress and motivation for primary languages. It is important to do so because while DfE figures for ITT entry indicate that 93% of the recruitment target for primary Initial Teacher Training has been reached to date, primary languages need to be taught by a very specific kind of teacher. Although it is commonly assumed that young children will be able to learn a foreign language easily and quickly, that is in fact a misconception when learning takes place at school:  the right conditions have to be in place for optimal learning to occur. 

Those conditions include being taught by a suitable teacher: Young learners need to be taught by a linguistically proficient and well-qualified teacher and to receive at the very least 60 minutes of language teaching a week. A study funded by the Nuffield Foundation (Graham et al., 2017) found that children in England learning French who were taught by teachers with strong language proficiency (around degree-level) for 60 minutes a week made the most progress. Those teachers also had higher levels of specialised training in language teaching. Findings from other countries also support those conclusions. For example, a study in the Netherlands (Unsworth et al., 2015) established that teacher language proficiency was a very important factor influencing English language development, especially where children received under 60 minutes a week of English instruction. In other words, teacher language proficiency matters the most when teaching time is short, as is often the case in England (i.e.  no more than 45 minutes a week as is the case in around 60 % of 735 primary schools in England responding to the 2022 Language Trends survey). Being taught by a teacher with limited training in language pedagogy also impacts negatively on learners’ attitudes towards and their sense of competence in learning another language (Mihaljevíc Djigunović, 2009).

The above has important implications for teacher recruitment and retention for primary languages. It means that it is not enough for there to be someone teaching primary languages to a class – that teacher needs to have a high level of language subject knowledge and languages-specific pedagogical knowledge. At primary school level, languages are frequently taught by generalist class teachers; the 2022 Language Trends survey reports that around 50% of responding schools said that was the case for them.  Given the low and declining numbers of students taking languages at GCSE, let alone at A level or as a degree, those entering the teaching profession to work in primary schools are unlikely to have the level of proficiency in a foreign language needed.  Again, that is borne out by successive Language Trends surveys that consistently show that around a third of responding primary schools report that staff available to teach languages have no more than a GCSE in the language. This evidence is also echoed in the ‘Working lives of teachers and leaders’ report (2023) which shows that languages are the curriculum area in which primary teachers are the least confident, with only 24% of those surveyed expressing confidence, some way below music and computing.

Furthermore, primary schools responding to the 2022 Language Trends survey report that there is not always a teacher available for primary languages lessons, resulting in, for example,  one year group being taught for half a year and another for the remaining half. Similarly, the second most frequently mentioned barrier to primary schools implementing the National Curriculum requirements for primary languages in the 2022 Language Trends survey is ‘staff language proficiency’ (mentioned by 52% of responding primary schools).  Issues with staffing have been thus highlighted in all Language Trends surveys since around 2015.  All these difficulties are also much more acute in schools with a higher percentage of pupils eligible for Free School Meals.

Training in pedagogy specific to language learning in primary school is a further issue impacting on the supply of suitable teachers.  A search on the DfE ITT portal shows that only five providers offer a PGCE with a Primary Languages Specialism.  All are in the South of England. The amount of time devoted to language pedagogy within general primary ITT programmes is small; for example, at the University of Reading, a provider who used to offer a languages specialism that gave in-depth training in language pedagogy as well as linguistic upskilling, generalist trainees receive only 9 hours of input on languages pedagogy over the PGCE year. Such an amount is not untypical and may even exceed what many ITT providers offer.  For in-service generalist primary teachers, professional development in teaching languages is also very limited but desired.  When asked what would aid them most in delivering the National Curriculum for Languages, primary schools responding to the 2022 Language Trends survey most frequently referred to Continuing Professional Development for teachers.  This reflects an ongoing issue regarding access to CPD: for example, in the 2020 Language Trends survey, it was reported that more than 70% of teachers had had no language-specific CPD in the previous year, rising to 86% in schools where teachers had language qualifications at GCSE level or below. Teacher understanding of pupil progression in languages and how to assess it is also an area that needs addressing, as ESRC-funded research currently being conducted suggests.

As such, teaching a language at primary school level is likely to pose considerable challenges for many teachers, especially those who lack sufficient language proficiency and training.  There is also evidence that these teachers’ job satisfaction is damaged by negative discourses about the value of their specialism, threatening their sense of relatedness to the wider school curriculum and sense of contribution to the ‘greater good’ (Seymour, 2018).

Lastly, we turn to these questions:

●        What action should the Department take to address the challenges in teacher recruitment and retention? 

●        Are there ways in which teacher training could be improved to address the challenges in recruitment and retention?

Fundamental to addressing the related issues of teacher supply, training and retention for primary languages are measures that help improve the linguistic proficiency of pre-service and in-service teachers and also their expertise in language-specific pedagogy. 

Technology has the potential to address both of these issues, through, for example the provision of:

-          Accessible digital CPD resources (we have already shown that a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) can improve the pedagogical knowledge of primary languages teachers. With ESRC funding we are researching the impact of online CPD on teacher motivation and hence their willingness to continue as teachers of primary languages

-          Online subject-specialism resources for primary ITT to diminish regional disparities

-          Online resources for development of teacher linguistic proficiency

-          Online, ‘one-stop-shop’ for languages education resources and advice that meets the needs of primary languages teachers and not just secondary teachers.  The new National Consortium for Languages Education is well-positioned to provide them, having primary languages in its remit.

Finally, more needs to be done to raise the status of primary languages in the primary curriculum, to encourage key stakeholders such as headteachers to address the development needs of teachers who are called upon to teach primary languages and also improve their morale.  With that aim in mind, we are currently undertaking ESRC-funded research that seeks to establish the additional benefits language learning can bring to young learners over and above linguistic proficiency (such as creativity and empathy).  Digital stakeholder toolkits would be a useful tool to develop from that research in order to guide the provision of primary languages and show how it can contribute fruitfully to the primary curriculum as a whole.

April 2023