Transcript Future of Early Language Learning in Washington State Presentation by

Future of Early
Language Learning in
Washington State
Presentation by
Michele Anciaux Aoki, Ph.D.
WAFLT Spring Regional Conference
Fairhaven Middle School, Bellingham
March 18, 2006
Remember
Romania
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Washington State Today
Washington state has nationally
recognized early language programs,
but no system for replicating best
practices and no commitment to
making the opportunity to learn
another language a reality for all
students.
What would it take to get there?
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Let's talk about…
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What’s working
What needs to be in place
What we can do to make it
happen
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K-W-L
Know
Want to
Know
Learned
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What’s Working
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Language immersion programs
Parent-initiated before and afterschool language programs
Preschool language/culture programs
Community-based language
programs and schools
Bilingual/Bicultural families
New AP language exams
(Chinese, Japanese)
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Language Immersion

Puesta del Sol - Bellevue
• Spanish (Full Immersion)
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Woodin Elementary - Bothell
• Spanish (Dual or Two-Way)
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Language Immersion
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John Stanford International School
- Seattle
• Spanish & Japanese (Partial)
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Sheridan Elementary School of
International Languages - Tacoma
• Spanish, French, Japanese (Partial)
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Immersion Example
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Richmond Elementary - Portland
• Japanese (Partial)
Ohayo, Portland
http://www.edutopia.org/1130#
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Before and After-School
Language Programs
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Coe Elementary - Seattle
• Spanish, French, Japanese, and
Chinese at a variety of grade levels
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TOPS Elementary - Seattle
• New Chinese class filled to capacity
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Associates in Cultural Exchange
• Programs in about 100 schools
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Foreign Language Associates
Northwest
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F.L.A.N. has been offering
foreign language programs in
Bellingham area schools for 20
years!
Spanish, French, Japanese, ASL,
Russian, German, and Chinese
On the web:
http://www.flanonline.com/
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Preschool Language/Culture
Programs

Sponge School – Seattle
• Spanish, French, Mandarin and
Japanese language and culture
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Prescolar Alice Francis - Seattle
• Spanish language preschool with a
social change based curriculum for
2 - 4 year olds
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Community-Based Language
Programs and Schools
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Seattle Area German American
School (SAGA)
Seattle Japanese School
Chong Wa Benevolent
Association Seattle (Chinese)
French-American School of Puget
Sound
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Bilingual/Bicultural Families
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Growing influx of highly educated
employees from abroad
Multicultural marriages
Young families returning from
Peace Corps, living abroad
Bilingual/Bicultural Family Network
http://www.biculturalfamily.org/
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New AP Language Exams
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AP Japanese Language & Culture
• Course – Fall, 2006
• Exam – Spring, 2007
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AP Chinese Language & Culture
• Course – Fall, 2006
• Exam – Spring, 2007
• Info: Adam Ross, Lakeside School
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What Needs To Be in Place
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Shared Vision for World Languages
• Voluntary Standards can help
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Inclusion of World Languages in
the Ed Reform Agenda
• Assessments
• Rigorous High School Curriculum
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Commitment to Prepare Teachers
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World Language Standards
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Voluntary World Language
Standards adopted Dec, 2005 by
Supt. Terry Bergeson
The 5 “C’s” of the National
Standards for Foreign Language
http://www.k12.wa.us/curriculuminstruct/socstudies
/WorldLanguages/voluntarystandards.aspx
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Assessments
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How do we know how well students
are learning languages?
How can we use assessment to help
us articulate P-16?
Does learning a language help
students prepare for the WASL?
Should we try Classroom-Based
Assessments (like Social Studies)?
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Rigorous High School
Curriculum
HB 2706 introduced this session
Establishes “recommended”
graduation requirements
• 4 years of Math, 3 years of
Science, etc. etc.
• Intention to align graduation
requirements to college admissions
• World Languages NOT MENTIONED
Let’s get them added
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Commitment to Prepare
Teachers
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MA in Teaching of Languages
• Including Early Language Learning
theory and practical experience
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Certificate in Early Language
Teaching and Learning
• Help prepare Instructional
Assistants and heritage speakers
(who might become teachers)
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What We Can Do To Make It
Happen
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Work together: WAFLT, OSPI, Higher
Ed, and Washington State Coalition
for International Education
Ask for help: Business must support
the changes
Most of all, we need…
A New Way of Thinking
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A New Way of Thinking
Five Disciplines:
 Personal Mastery
 Mental Models
 Shared Vision
 Team Learning
 Systems Thinking
Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline, 1990
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Personal Mastery
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Dealing with the gap between
where you are and where you
want to be (or where the world is
and where you want it to be)
It’s what you’re doing here today
– taking charge of YOUR learning
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Mental Models
"Schools may be the starkest example in modern
society," says MIT educator and bestselling
management writer Peter Senge, "of an entire
institution modeled after the assembly line. This
has dramatically increased educational capability
in our time, but it has also created many of the
most intractable problems with which students,
teachers, and parents struggle to this day. If we
want to change schools, it is unlikely to happen
until we understand more deeply the core
assumptions on which the industrial-age school is
based."
http://www.fieldbook.com/STL/STL.html 3/17/2006
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Shared Vision (One Example)
Education for a world of opportunity.
Washington State: A place where
everyone recognizes and values the
spectrum of life in our world, and
encounters the richness of its cultural
diversity, human experience, and
physical resources.
http://internationaledwa.org/about.htm 3/17/2006
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Vision of “International School”
(courtesy of John Stanford International School, Seattle)
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Team Learning
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People learn by doing
Talk is cheap, Actions speak
Creating new spaces for problem
solving
Bringing people of diverse
backgrounds together
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Systems Thinking
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How does our present reality
shape our future?
When we think of education and
schools as a “system,” what
insight does that give us into
what needs to change?
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Next Steps
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Let’s learn about our successes
and advocate for replicating
them
Let’s personally commit to
changing the perception that
American=monolingual
How will WE do this?
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The Word Is Out About What
Students Need

Global Knowledge
• Including world history, geography, and
international economics
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Languages
• Acquiring key cognitive and academic skills, as
well as insight into another culture
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Global Perspectives
• Underlying respect for and interest in different
perspectives
Educating Leaders for a Global Society
http://internationaled.org
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