Plan for language and social cohesion insertion classes
1. PLAN FOR LANGUAGE AND
SOCIAL COHESION
Education and Immigration
Annex 1
INSERTION CLASS
June 2007
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2. Table of contents
Introduction
1 The insertion class in the framework of the Plan for Language and Social Cohesion
1.1 Plan for language and social cohesion
1.2 Criteria for opening an insertion class
2. The insertion class in the educational centre
3. Professionals in the insertion class
3.1 The insertion class tutor
3.2 Other professionals
4. Management of the class: Organization, Methodology and Evaluation
4.1. Organizational aspects
4.2. Methodological aspects
4.3. Evaluation
5. Training and advisement at schools with insertion classes
6. Evaluation of resources
6.1. Actions
6.2. An external perspective
7. Conclusions
Appendix
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3. INTRODUCTION:
The insertion class: a flexible and dynamic open space to receive the new pupils
The ordinary classroom is the place par excellence to develop
knowledge of the language of instruction. It is therefore necessary to
establish a welcoming system to provide accelerated strategies for
basic linguistic acquisition in order to actively integrate students there.
Ignasi Vila, Santiago Parera i Josep M. Serra (Universitat de Girona)
Welcoming is not a new job that a a new professional has to develop.
Having one tutor per insertion class
does not imply that the rest of the staff can forget this task (...).
A good welcome is not possible unless the entire school adopts a welcoming attitude.
Francesc Carbonell (teacher)
The concept of welcoming, in itself, implies a complete affective
involvement... The concepts of receiving, admitting
and accepting imply others such as knowledge and love.
Joaquim Arenas (teacher)
One of the most important and significant changes that has occurred in educational
centres around Catalonia In the last few years has been the continuous and increasing
arrival of pupils from all around the world. At the present time, we have pupils from 150
different countries in Catalonia. It has been a very quick arrival with a distribution that,
even though irregular, has covered all the Catalan regions. As an example, we only need
observe that in the 1999-2000 school year, pupils coming from foreign countries in pre-
school, primary and secondary compulsory education represented 1,76%, 2,30% and
2,38% respectively for each educational level. However, when the 2005-2006 academic
year ended, these percentages had risen to 8,05%, 12,48% and 11,94% (see annex 1).
Faced with this reality, the Department of Education started insertion classes in the year
2004-2005 as a response to this new educational challenge. The creation of insertion
classes implies dedicated teachers, dedicated computing resources with adequate
software, an initial economic investment for the acquisition of teaching materials and
specific training for the insertion class tutor and for the professionals who take part in the
welcoming process. This process is under the direction of the language, interculturalism
and social cohesion advisory group (LIC) that the Education Department has deployed
throughout Catalonia (more than 200 during 2006-2007) as part of its educational
services.
A good welcome, good integration and the guarantee that everyone should have the
same possibilities and opportunities, are elements that are necessary for the shaping of
a united Catalan society, inclusive, plural, respectful, open to the world and rooted in its
own cultural reality.
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4. 1. THE INSERTION CLASS IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE PLAN FOR LANGUAGE
AND SOCIAL COHESION
1.1 Plan for language and social cohesion
The Education Department has promoted, since the 2004-2005 academic year, the Plan
for Language and Social Cohesion (Plan LIC), which should be understood as a new tool
for confronting the question of diversity in the school and for helping all students to
achieve educational success. This plan grows out of the growing complexity and plurality
of Catalan society. The main aim of the LIC plan is to find answers to the new
educational challenges that could appear in the future as a consequence of social
changes.
The LIC Plan is made up of three tightly intertwined axes that strongly influence our
education system: the increasing incorporation of pupils with an immigrant background,
the appearance of new causes of social exclusion and the insufficient everyday use of
the Catalan Language. These three elements define the space in which advances need
to take place in order to build social cohesion:
To promote social and educational inclusion, avoiding any type of
marginalisation, guaranteeing equity and creating the appropriate conditions to
facilitate equality of opportunity and possibilities, through access to quality
education.
To consolidate the Catalan language as a vehicular language in the schools and
as the backbone of a multilingual project, adapting measures, strategies and
educational resources to the increasing linguistic and cultural diversity of the
student body.
To raise awareness of equality with dignity for all people as a prerequisite for
knowledge of, and respect for cultural differences, empowering a culture of
dialogue and coexistence in an intercultural framework.
Likewise, the LIC Plan is based in the conviction that educational success is key to
achieve social cohesion, and this educational success for all pupils requires research
into necessary strategies in order to achieve:
• Personal success, related to the development of a rich personal identity,
balanced and non-exclusive.
• Social success, linked to the development of social skills and ideal attitudes in
order to coexist in a plural society.
• Academic success, linked to the development of the capacity to turn information
into knowledge and knowledge into competencies.
• Professional success, linked to the development of the capacity to apply this
knowledge in order to satisfactorily respond to present-day professional
challenges.
All these principles, gathered together in the Plan LIC, take concrete form as three lines
of action, which will respond to the abovementioned challenges:
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5. • An insertion class to provide quality attention, both emotional and curricular, to the
primary needs of the newcomers as well as facilitating the learning of the vehicular
language of the school.
• A welcoming school, with consistent linguistic policies, that offers an intercultural
education and works for the academic success of all students; the welcoming of new
pupils should make us rethink the welcome that we give to all those who arrive at a
new school, especially at an emotional level.
• The local education plan, which has been defined as an open initiative of educational
cooperation that intends to give an integrated and community-based response to the
educational needs of children and youth, coordinating and revitalizing the educational
action in a zone beyond the school, in which different public, cultural, leisure, sports
and other entities intervene.
Language and Social Cohesion Plan
Local education plan
Welcoming school
Insertion class
It is in the framework of this integrative school and educational model, based on
coexistence and respect for diversity, that insertion classes have started to operate as a
strategy to welcome newcomers to Catalan schools.
1.2. Criteria for opening an insertion class
The authorisation to open an insertion class in a school is strictly linked to the
acceptance by the school of a series of educational and organisational commitments:
Anticipate the human and material resources necessary to offer a good welcome
to the new pupils.
Provide organizational and methodological resources related to the objectives of
integration and of language learning.
Appoint a tutor for the insertion class from amongst the permanent (titular)
faculty, whenever possible, in order to guarantee pedagogical continuity.
Review management documents with the aim of adapting them to the axes of the
LIC Plan, and specifically the welcoming plan, the social cohesion of the school
and the linguistic project.
As a result, for this class to make sense, the school has to establish a process of
improvement to the attention paid to all pupils and has to include the new resource in the
general organization of the centre.
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6. When assigning an insertion class to a school, a number of different factors are taken
into account. First of all, the number of immigrant pupils registered in the two last years,
data that is combined with the percentage of the student body that has foreign
nationality. We also take into account the social and economic situation of the
surrounding community, since, depending on the context, pupils’ access to the vehicular
language of learning and academic success can be difficult. Finally, we must consider
the balance in the education offer of the area in order to avoid concentrating new
immigrant pupils in one school or in the same type of schools.
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7. 2. THE INSERTION CLASS IN THE EDUCATIONAL CENTRE
The insertion class is a resource – an organizational and methodological strategy to take
care of newcomers when they arrive in the Catalan educational system. It has a double
objective: first of all, that pupils feel well received and valued at an emotional level and,
secondly, that they have at their disposition the basic tools to initiate, as soon as possible
and in the best possible conditions, their process of teaching-learning within the
education system in Catalonia.
The existence of an insertion class does not need to be in conflict with the principle that
the school is responsible for welcoming, planning the educational itinerary and following
up on the learning process of new pupils. Therefore, the school has to mobilize all its
resources – personnel, educational, methodological and organizational – to guaranty
success in school, as well as equality of opportunity. Regular classes are the reference
environment for these pupils, while the insertion classes are there to guarantee the
emotional welcome and accelerate the learning of the vehicular language of instruction.
According to the school curriculum of Catalonia, we need to take into account that the
main aim of education is to help pupils confront the challenges of the plural, multilingual
and multicultural society of the 21st century, which means that we must help pupils
develop those linguistic competencies that encourage knowledge, aptitude, attitudes and
representations related to languages and cultures; to act and be successful in their
environment; to communicate with other people; to share their knowledge and cultural
references; that means, that they can build the foundations of citizenship, of the
knowledge that represents the human condition, and the understanding of others. As a
matter of fact, the presence of pupils from so many different countries in our classes
should be one of the tools that teachers use to advantage in order to work on values and
content that emanate from plurilingualism and interculturalism.
All in all, the responsibility for welcoming new immigrant pupils to the school rests both
with the regular class group and the insertion class. The pupil has to attend, with his
class, the subjects that require less linguistic competency, such as physical education,
art or those areas where ICTs are systematically used. In this way, common socialization
spaces are guaranteed from the first moment of incorporation of the newcomers.
The insertion class has, by definition, the following basic characteristics:
It is an open resource since it facilitates welcoming pupils who have just arrived
together with the rest of their classmates in a context of inclusive education and it
empowers language learning. The pupils must be able to join the group anytime
during the school year, and we also need to be able to decide on the total
incorporation of a pupil within the regular class at the appropriate time.
It is a flexible resource, since it meets learning and welcoming needs of the
pupils. Considering these specific and differentiated education needs, each
centre needs to respond through different organizational models.
It is dynamic because it is one more part of the educational activity of the school
and therefore needs to be included in the pedagogical reflection process.
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8. Taking all these principles into account, each centre adapts the resource to their needs
and organizational possibilities.
Illustration Insertion class 1
To sum up, the insertion class needs to be a part of the overall programme of the centre,
both for teaching activities and for the attention received by pupils. It has to offer
personalized, quality attention, initiate intensive learning of the Catalan language and
provide a bridge from communicative language into academic language. These work
together to facilitate access to the ordinary curriculum.
1
Education Department (2006) You can find this illustration at
http://www.xtec.cat/lic/nouvingut/imatges/manipulable/cartellAA.gif. A teacher guide is also available.
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9. 3. PROFESSIONALS IN THE INSERTION CLASS
3.1 The insertion class tutor
The insertion class requirements include naming a tutor. It is recommended that the
professional occupying this post be someone with a titular post at the school, to guaranty
continuity of the resource and benefit from the person’s knowledge and experience at the
start.
When considering the appointment of a tutor, it is Important for the management team to
take into account the educational experience of the tutor in language teaching, mastery
of ICT and his/her capacity for leadership, empathy and motivation.
The duties that a tutor exercises in the insertion class are as follows:
• Management of the insertion class: plan resources and actions, programme learning
sequences, apply the most appropriate methods and evaluate processes and results.
• Perform the initial evaluation, elaborate, together with the regular class tutor,
intensive individual plans and collaborate in making individual curricular adaptations
or changes of curriculum, if necessary.
• Coordinate actions with the rest of the teaching staff in order to ensure educational
coherence and promote the integration of newcomers in their classes of reference.
• Apply methods of language immersion, develop social inclusion strategies and
integrate intercultural educational content.
• Synchronize with the coordinator of language and social cohesion of the school
(CLIC) and other professionals (translation service, LIC advisor, pedagogical
assistance team (EAP)).
3.2 Other professionals
Even though the main task of management of the insertion class is the tutor’s, there are
other professionals who have a very important job in welcoming newcomers.
• The tutor of the regular class ensures the progressive acquisition by the pupils, who
divide their schedule between insertion and ordinary classes, of basic competencies
and coordinates actions with the rest of the teaching staff to ensure educational
coherence.
• The school’s LIC coordinator collaborates in the management of actions related to
welcoming and the integrating the newcomers, which helps us define strategies of
attention to these pupils, participates in the organisation and optimisation of
resources and coordinates the actions of the external professionals who intervene in
these domains.
• The LIC advisor orients and monitors the organization of the insertion class, advises
on the strategies of teaching and learning the language with the new pupils and on
language learning resources, directs the tutorial work with these pupils as well as the
strategies that make the collaboration between the insertion class and the class
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10. group easier and, in general, on the elaboration, revision or development of
welcoming plans and the linguistic project.
Apart from these professionals who have specific jobs in connection with the newcomers,
in cases where the pupil presents special educational needs, schools need to take into
account the usual existing resources in the centre and apply them to the question of
diversity:
• In primary school, when a pupil with special educational needs comes to the centre,
the tutor, together with the special education teacher and the EAP, coordinates the
cycle team in order to formalise, in writing, curricular adaptations or, if necessary,
curriculum changes.
• In the case of secondary education, the psychology and pedagogy specialists of the
school and the EAP advise the pedagogic coordinator as well as the different
teaching departments involved in the written formalization of curriculum adaptations
or, if needed, the changes of the curriculum.
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11. 4. MANAGEMENT OF THE CLASS: ORGANIZATION, METHODOLOGY AND
EVALUATION
4.1 Organizational Aspects
• Insertion class target
The insertion class addresses pupils who have arrived in Catalonia within the last two
years (24 months) via immigration, who need a specific curricular adaptation and do not
have knowledge of the language used in school. It is important not to confuse these
pupils with those coming from other communities within the country, who follow a similar
curriculum and for whom only the Catalan language is unknown. Pupils in this category
need to follow specific orientations via individualized attention.
It is also not appropriate to use this resource for pre-school or primary education pupils.
• Number of pupils per group and timetable
The number of pupils that need to be simultaneously accommodated in an insertion class
has to be limited. This number can vary depending on the characteristics of the pupils:
the level of previous schooling, the closeness of their language to Catalan, the degree of
maturity and progress within the learning process. However, by way of guidance, it is
recommended that the number not exceed 12 pupils at the same time.
Pupils cannot remain in the insertion class during all their school hours. A recommended
option is for them to spend a maximum of half their weekly school timetable in insertion
class, and that the duration of the assistance gradually be decreased as the pupils’
learning process advances.
Work with pupils in the insertion class is therefore very intensive in order to help them
join the class group in all subjects.
• Time of stay at the Insertion Class
The time of stay of a pupil is limited (we recommend that it does not exceed 2 years). It is
a transitory resource and it will always depend on the pupil’s personal characteristics.
For this reason each school has to plan organisational and methodological strategies to
better adapt to its own reality.
• Teaching staff of the Insertion Class
The number of teachers interacting in class, apart from the insertion tutor, has to be
limited, since in a first stage of the arrival of a pupil in our education system, the referents
need to be as clear as possible.
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12. 4.2 Methodological Aspects
• Methodology
The methodology of the insertion class must take a global view of the organization of
learning, including the existence of functional activities, the encouragement of
cooperative work and the establishment of positive personal relationships.
The organizational characteristics of the insertion class and the progress of its pupils in a
second language (or even a third language in many cases) imply a specific educational
practice, which must be based on the strongest aspects of accumulated educational
experience in the Catalan linguistic immersion programme (despite the fact that our
present teaching staff does not know the language of an important number of these new
pupils).
Therefore, interpersonal relationships between pupils and teachers must be formalized,
in which pupils should feel recognized for what they contribute to the school (in the event
of pupils speaking a language that the teaching staff does not know, this recognition will
have to be symbolic, but there must be some recognition) and positive affective
relationships between teachers and pupils must be made possible. Both aspects
contribute to the creation of the conditions for acquiring a new language. In this sense, it
must be taken into account that it is a slow, gradual process, full of comings and goings;
therefore the speech mode of the teaching staff, their forms of expression, should at all
times be adapted to the communication skills of their pupils: this implies highly
contextualized speech modes, task-oriented activities, methodological proposals based
on centres of interest, more individualized interpersonal relationships in corners or in
projects, etc. All in all, the result is that pupils and teaching staff negotiate permanently
what is done and what is said in class, so that the negotiation of meanings – a key
element of pupils’ school progress – forms the backbone of all school activity.
It must be stressed, finally, that oral language work is fundamental, because most
newcomers (except for those who live in socio-linguistic contexts in which the social
presence of Catalan is quite high) have no contact with the language of the educational
centre, neither in the family, nor in their social environment. Therefore, from the first
moments of incorporation into our educational system, oral language – which is the basis
of the development necessary to deal with the linguistic specificity involved in teaching
2
activities and learning – must take precedence.
2 For more advice about methodology in the insertion class, consult conclusions in the field
Nova immersió i canvis metodològics del Consell assessor de la llengua a l'escola (New
immersion and methodological changes of the Assessing Counsel of language in school):
http://www.gencat.net/educacio/depart/pdf/llengua_escola/comissio_immersio.pdf
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13. • Intensive Individual Plan and assessment of pupils in the insertion class.
From the arrival of the pupil at school, a series of protocols and mechanisms are
established in order to guarantee a good initial welcome. First of all, information about
the pupil must be gathered and an adequate educational response to his/her needs must
be established immediately.
Info rm a tio n o n th e p up il
D ec is ion -m ak in g c o n c ern in g learn in g p lan a n d m an ag e m en t
IN T E N S IVE IN D IV ID U AL P L A N
The Intensive Individual Plan (PII) is a document that records the path followed by the
pupil from his/her incorporation into the educational centre, in the insertion class, until
his/her complete integration into the regular class. It is a procedural document that
gathers the initial information that we have on the pupil and the educational response
that we offer to him/her. PII includes:
• Initial assessment of the pupil.
Information on the pupil is gathered. This information is obtained from: the interview
with the family3, data from previous schooling and other data which may be obtained
by entities that support recently arrived families, from the initial assessment tests
given to the pupils, or from minutes of observations.
In this sense, the Education Department has provided the centres with model formats
of initial tests in 20 languages which allow the evaluation of the degree of literacy,
previous schooling of the pupils and their knowledge of mathematical principles4.
• Educational response.
Based on the information drawn from the initial evaluation, the educational
necessities of the pupil are prioritised. Measures are established which will be used
to establish mechanisms for planning, monitoring and evaluating the acceleration of
the pupil’s learning process, as well as the human, material and technical resources
needed.
PII is elaborated on the first school days of the pupil and is reviewed every three months.
The PII shall be valid for two calendar years. It should be stressed, however, that the PII
3
The Education Department provides the centres with translation services of about forty different
languages.
4
All these instruments, together with the instructions for the teaching staff are published in
the LIC space (http://www.xtec.cat/lic/nouvingut/professorat/prof_aval_instruments.htm)
13
14. shall still be implemented during the first quarter in which the pupil completely joins de
regular class in order to guarantee a good transition.
4.3 Evaluation
The evaluation of the learning process of the newcomers is carried out in relation to the
objectives established in their PII. The evaluation is continuous, with systematic
observation and a global vision of their learning progress, integrating contributions and
observations carried out in each of the areas by their corresponding teachers.
By means of a quarterly evaluation, the following information is gathered:
• The acquisition process of the language.
• The integration of the pupil.
• Progress in the different subjects studied.
The regular class tutor, as the person responsible for monitoring the pupils, pays special
attention to the progressive achievement of the basic competencies of the newcomers.
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15. 5. TRAINING AND ADVISEMENT AT SCOOLS WITH INSERTION CLASSES
In order to favourably start the insertion class, besides supplying resources, we offer
training for professionals taking part in welcoming newcomers, and more specifically, for
the insertion class tutor:
Awareness-raising activities about the LIC Plan for management teams with aims
to introduce the main lines of the Plan and to stress the importance of including
them in the school’s transformation process.
Training for LIC school coordinators as the motivating element for the centre’s
LIC plan, and to provide support for the management team.
Initial training for the tutors of insertion classes, stressing the organisational,
methodological, didactic and emotional aspects needed to start a insertion class.
Seminars with tutors of insertion classes to reflect on teaching practice in the
classroom.
Course for the faculty senate: “From insertion class to welcoming school” for
those centres that have decided to start a transformation process following the
LIC principles.
Specific training courses on teaching Catalan as a second language.
In order to guarantee the development of the Plan, the centres also receive periodic
advice from professionals of the education services LIC teams.
In the case of schools starting a insertion class, the LIC adviser guides them through
methodologies, resources and materials and contributes criteria for evaluation in order to
take maximum advantage of the possibilities that this resource offers.
Apart from this task, advisers collaborate and advise on different aspects such as:
The elaboration of the welcome plan, integration and the Linguistic Project.
Raising awareness, promoting and consolidating the Catalan language as the
main axis of a multilingual project.
Modelling addressed to the teaching staff and their planning process
Tutorial work with new pupils or with pupils risking marginalisation with the aim of
integrating them into the group.
Methodological strategies for linguistic immersion.
Raising awareness, promoting and consolidating intercultural education.
Continuous training of the teaching staff.
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16. 6. EVALUATION OF RESOURCES
The evaluative actions have been organised in different areas, taking into account the
regulatory function that has to be inherent to every evaluation:
AREAS FUNCTIONS
• facilitating the processes of personal and family follow-
up
Pupils • monitoring language learning
• adjusting the organisation of learning between the
insertion class and the regular class
• making more adequate organisational and
methodological decisions
Teaching staff • intervening in group dynamics, both in the insertion
class and in the regular class.
• assessing and, if necessary, modifying the welcoming
School
and integration processes for newcomers.
• assessing the efficiency of the insertion class as an
instrument to facilitate better reception and integration
Department of Education
of new pupils, in order to define proposals for
improvement and future intervention guidelines
6.1. Actions
According to the principles and objectives that have been decided for the insertion
classes, different evaluative actions have been established, especially in relation to the
following aspects:
• Degree of integration of the newcomers
• Language learning at school
• Organisational coherence with which the centres implement this resource.
More concretely, the actions are the following:
a) On the part of the Subdirectorate General for Language and Social Cohesion
1) Elaborating and publishing assessment instruments5
• Primary School:
• Instruments to evaluate Catalan language at A2 level
• Instruments to evaluate school integration
• Secondary School:
• Instruments to evaluate Catalan language at A2 level
• Instruments to evaluate school integration
2) Elaborating, a computerised survey of the characteristics of the new pupils
and the organisational aspects of the insertion class6. The objective is to
5
All of these instruments, together with the guidelines and instructions to administer tests, are
published in the Espai LIC. (http://www.xtec.cat/lic/nouvingut/profe_orienta.htm)
16
17. obtain data that can be related to that which is obtained through the
assessment instruments.
3) Elaborating systematic research based on the information obtained through
the different assessment instruments.
The results obtained in the centres through the use of these instruments are sent
to the Subdirectorate General of Language and Social Cohesion through a data
collecting application which is applied at the end of each school year.
b) On the part of the Education Inspectorate:
• When the insertion classes where established, it elaborated an Initial
Monitoring Report of the Insertion Classes (2005). This report showed that, in
general, the criteria with which the education centres organized the insertion
class fit the guidelines of the Department of Education, and actions were
planned to solve the detected problems.
• Every year the insertion classes are monitored in order to correct possible
problems, if necessary.
6.2. An External Perspective
The research group of the University of Gerona Cultura i Educació (Culture and
Education) elaborates a report using the data collected at the end of each school year. It
must be said that in these analyses the results to be considered are communication
competence and the pupils’ degree of integration, individually and for each part of the
respective tests and surveys. However, a global evaluation is also carried out. That is to
say, they study the relations between language learning and the newcomers’ degree of
emotional well-being in our classrooms.
Based on the research done since the 2004-2005 school year7, it can be said that:
An insertion class is a resource that produces fast conversation instruments and
supports the active integration of new pupils into the regular classroom.
According to the research carried out, pupils start learning the language in the
insertion class, but the most important part of this learning takes place in the
regular class.
Integration and adaptation prove to be the factors with the most direct influence
on the results of the language test, more than others such as age, period of
residence in Catalonia or the number of hours the pupil has been in the insertion
class. This means that pupils who show a low level of school integration and
adaptation get bad results in the tests, regardless of the time they have been
6
In this application, personal and academic information about the pupils is collected (date of birth, country of
origin, previous studies, family data, languages spoken, hours of attendance to the activities in the insertion
class…).
7
You can find a summary of the report with the data of the first year of the functioning of the
insertion classes in Vila, I. (et al.) Les aules d’acollida en l’educació primària. Algunes dades del
curs 2004-2005. (Insertion Classes in Primary Education. Some Data from School Year 2004-
2005). Caixa d’eines (Instruments’ Kit) 04, Departament d’Educació (Department of Education),
2006.
17
18. living in Catalonia and their age. (Oral comprehension is the only field among the
four assessed which does not follow this rule).
The pupils in insertion classes whose first language is a Romance language get
better results than pupils with other first languages under the same
circumstances, even though this factor is also related to the level of school
integration and adaptation, so that pupils with a non-Romance first language, but
with a high level of school integration and adaptation get higher scores than in the
opposite case (pupils with a Romance first language and a low level of school
integration and adaptation).
Previous schooling has a clear influence on the results, since new pupils with a
good education have fewer difficulties than those with a deficient education, both
in learning the language and in the level of integration and adaptation to the new
school environment.
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19. 7. CONCLUSIONS
The investment made by the Department of Education in insertion classes has meant a
very important budgetary effort. This effort has allowed us to directly tackle the arrival of
newcomers in our Primary and Secondary School classrooms. In addition to the human
resources, the money needed to run these classrooms, computers, and didactic
materials of all kinds, there has been the will to promote the figure of the insertion tutor,
who has become the reference in the process of welcoming new pupils to our education
centres.
In addition to the teaching staff, who have had specific training, teams for guidance in
language, intercultural education, and social cohesion have been created at the
Education Services. One of the main missions of these teams has been to help organise
the insertion classes in the first school years.
Both the reports of the education inspectorate and that of the University of Gerona have
provided us with positive data on the consolidation process of insertion classes. Some
aspects will obviously have to be improved, but, in general, it seems that we are moving
in the right direction. However, we still have two challenges: to make progress towards
the concept of welcoming school, where interculturalism is a transversal value, Catalan is
really the language spoken in the education centres of Catalonia, and social cohesion is
one of the basic objectives of the Catalan school in this new century.
Nevertheless, we have to keep in mind that, even if the school does its job very well, the
participation of the whole of society will always be necessary to consolidate the global
education of all boys and girls, in particular of those who are in the most difficult
situations. This is why the last step of this process must be the community environment
education plan, where the Department of Education starts a process of educational
cooperation, together with other departments of the Generalitat and of the Municipality,
with the socio-cultural organizations of the district, with sports organisations and all the
associations that wish to participate, in order to join efforts and contribute together to the
training of citizens.
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20. ANNEX 1. THE EVOLUTION OF PUPILS OF FOREIGN NATIONALITY IN
CATALONIA.
Nursery school Primary school Secondary school
School Foreign Total Foreign Total Foreign Total
% % %
year pupils pupils pupils pupils pupils pupils
1999-2000 3,678 208,820 1.76 8,002 347,457 2.30 6,338 266,467 2.38
2000-2001 4,804 216,393 2.22 9,618 346,604 2.77 8,177 267,318 3.18
2001-2002 7,519 224,892 3.34 14,656 348,665 4,20 11,103 253,340 4,38
2002-2003 11,841 237,488 4.98 22,634 354,075 6.39 15,002 254,232 5.90
2003-2004 17,693 251,419 7.03 32,760 362,872 9.032 20,267 257,031 7.89
2004-2005 20,176 264,355 7.63 40,245 368,267 10.93 23,532 258,748 9.09
2005-2006 22,297 276,743 8.05 47,020 376,585 12,48 31,160 260,966 11,94
20
22. ANNEX 3. EVOLUTION OF THE NUMBER OF INSERTION CLASSES
SCHOOL YEAR SCHOOL YEAR SCHOOL YEAR
2004-05 2005-06 2006-07
PRIMARY SCHOOL 378 558 636
SECONDARY SCHOOL 225 310 347
CONCERTED CENTRES 46 72 91
MUNICIPAL CENTRES 7
TOTAL 649 938 1.081
22
23. ANNEX 4
Percentage of pupils who passed the test. Primary Education. School year 2005-2006
90
80
70
60
50
40
percentage
30
20
10
0
n n le le cle le
sio sio yc yc cy yc
en es ec e rc te rc
re
h
ex
pr iat igh dia igh
e
mp ed nh
co or
al rm erme nh
al i nt
e sio i nt ss
io
or en
si on reh ion x pre
en mp ss ne
reh co re
xp itte
om
p
di n
g e wr
te n
gc rea rit
di n w
rea
Percentage of pupils who passed the test. Secondary Education. School year 2005-
80
70
60
50
40
30
percentage 20
10
0
n n ...
i on ssio t io
n s ensi
on sio
n
ns ac
he p re t er tio h res
re ex al
in nic
a re xp
mp oral or mu mp ne
l co co itte
ora om g wr
fc din
o no rea
ati
lic
a pp
2006
23
24. ANNEX 5.
MATERIAL RESOURCES TO ACHIEVE THE PURPOSES OF THE INSERTION
CLASS
To support these functions, the Department of Education, apart from the education and
guidance of insertion class tutors, has published and promoted didactic materials,
reflection manuals, and information books.
5.1. Functions of the integration class and examples of materials
a. Offering a high quality, personalised service
a.1. Integration
One of the first functions of the educational centre integrating new pupils is providing
them and their families with a high quality welcome.
Every centre has defined, in its Integration Plan, the procedures
to be followed, strategies to be applied, and personal resources
that will be allocated to this aim. In this document, the bases
must be laid so that the pupils and their families are accepted
and accompanied from the first moment.
In this sense, the Subdirectorate General of Language and
Social Cohesion has started a collection of books, in
collaboration with the foundation Jaume Bofill. The first book has
been published by Eumo and deals with integration.
In L’acollida (Welcome)8, we find a definition and some
guidelines on how to give a high quality welcome, in a wide sense – to everybody
belonging to the educational community – but in particular to new pupils and their
families. One of the aspects analysed is the importance of the behaviour of teachers and
of other members of the community.
a.2. Recognition of the family language
One of the factors that can contribute to making pupils feel recognized is the recognition
of the family language at different levels:
• In a symbolic way. If pupils find, in the insertion classroom, an integration poster
written in his/her familiar language, he/she sees that there is a space where
he/she can hang written texts or photographs showing his/her personal
experience, he/she can consult bilingual dictionaries, bring written materials in the
languages that he/she knows… In this way, we contribute to make the boy and
the girl feel that both the school institution and his/her classmates recognize
him/her. This surely fosters positive behaviour: feeling at ease at school and
learning the content offered.
• Inserting the family language into educational practice. A symbolic presence of
the familiar language is important, but not sufficient to recognize and “take
advantage,” from the educational point of view, of all the pupil’s language and
8
CARBONELL, F. L’acollida (Welcome). Vic: Editorial Eumo / Fundació Jaume Bofill, 2006.
24
25. cultural heritage. The teacher can use this heritage in order to enrich the whole
class with an intercultural and multilingual perspective.
• Fostering the teaching the family languages in extra-school hours: for example,
Amazigh, Arabic, Chinese… In this way, the families see that their children
continue to speak the family language and add the ones that are taught by the
educational system of the welcoming country. Those classes are not only for
newcomers; they are open to the rest of the student body, as a way to develop
multilingual pupils.
a.3. Knowledge of the pupils’ cultures of origin
In order to help the teacher plan his/her work with intercultural aspects in mind, and to
plan socio-cultural content for the welcoming country, CIEMEN, in collaboration with the
Department of Education, has started a collection of books with the generic title Diàlegs
(Dialogs)9. These books have a double function. On one side,
they explain in the language of origin the main characteristics
of the welcoming country (Catalonia), and, on the other side,
they explain in Catalan the main characteristics of the culture
and language of the various groups of newcomers.
Books about Quechua, Bantu, Amazigh and the populations of
Ecuador have already been published.
a.4. Knowledge of the characteristics of the new pupils’
languages
The knowledge of the characteristics of the languages of the new immigration allows the
understanding of the mistakes and approximations made by pupils learning Catalan.
Knowing what difficulties a pupil is going to have learning Catalan allows adjustment of
what content to teach and the kinds of activities to organize.
This is why, for example, the collection Llengua,
immigració i ensenyament del català10 (Language,
Immigration, and Teaching Catalan) is published.
10 titles have been published:
• Llengua i immigració (Language and Immigration)
• L’àrab (Arabic)
• El xinès (Chinese)
• El soninké i el manding (Soninke and Mandinga)
• El berber (amazic) (Amazigh)
• El fula i el wòlof (Fula and Wolof)
• El panjabi (Punjabi)
• El romanés (Romanian)
• L’ucraïnès (Ukrainian)
• El tagal (Tagalog)
9
Collection Diàlegs (Dialogs). Centre Internacional Escarré per a les Minories Ètniques i les
Nacions (Escarré Internacional Centre for Ethnic Minorities and Nations).
10
Col·lecció Llengua, immigració i ensenyament del català. Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament
de Benestar Social. Els trobareu en línia a la pàgina
http://www.xtec.cat/lic/nouvingut/professorat/prof_info_diverling.htm.
25
26. a.5. Knowledge of the processes of socialization of different cultural groups
One of the most frequent requests from professionals
tackling cultural diversity is the need to have resources and
materials for reflection, and for application in the classroom,
to manage socio-cultural diversity. In this field, a collection
of volumes has been started: it is about socialisation
processes of children and youngsters belonging to the main
groups of new immigrants living in our country. The first
volume of this collection has been L’Omar i l’Aixa.
Socialització dels fills i filles de families marroquines (Omar
and Aisha. The Socialisation of Children in Moroccan
Families)11.
a.6. Knowledge of the pupils’ previous education
In order to know each pupil’s academic heritage, it is important to know the educational
system of the pupil’s country of origin and its style of learning-teaching (mnemonic,
processing or critical, permissive or strict teaching, role of oral expression, “traditional”
activities, games…). Knowing these characteristics allows understanding of the reactions
of some boys and girls and their families towards activities or learning styles which are
very different from the educational activities that they have experienced.12
It is also very important to know the degree of schooling of each pupil. This is why at the
LIC space initial tests are administered in the first languages that are most represented
amongst immigrant students in our education system.
All this information will allow the elaboration of a more fitting individual intensive plan for
each pupil (PII).13
b. Initial Language Learning
The second important function of the insertion class is introducing pupils to learning
Catalan (vehicular and learning language of our education system). As in the first
function, the responsibility of this duty is not only on the insertion class, but on all the
teachers.
b.1. Language Levels
It is important to know what must be taught, what language contents
have to be planned. In this sense, the Subdirectorate General of
Language and Social Cohesion has adopted as a reference the Marc
europeu comú de referència per a les llengües (European Common
Reference Framework for Languages). Based on the guidelines of this
publication, the Nivell inicial del català (A1 – Usuari basic) (Initial Level
of Catalan – A1 – Basic User)14 has been published.
11
CARBONELL, F. L’Omar i l’Aixa. Socialització dels fills i filles de families marroquines (Omar and Aisha.
The Socialisation of the Children of Moroccan Families). Vic: Editorial Eumo / Fundació Jaume Bofill, 2006.
12
You can find information on the education systems at:
http://www.xtec.cat/lic/nouvingut/professorat/prof_info_sisteduc.htm
13
The PII have been analysed at paragraph 4 of this document.
14
You can find it at http://www.xtec.cat/lic/nouvingut/professorat/documentanivel_inicial.pdf.
26
27. Therefore, at first, the Catalan language content taught to newcomers aims at fulfilling
the most immediate communication necessities, both in the school and in society in
general.
b.2 Materials and resources facilitating communication
One of the difficulties to be dealt with first is the absence of communication. Apart from
other resources, it can be useful to have visual glossaries. For instance:
In these glossaries, in addition to offering a basic vocabulary, school expressions about
the functioning and organisation of centres and curricula are provided.
There are also audiovisual glossaries online. They can be accessed through EDU36515.
b.3 Teaching oral language
When teaching a second language, oral language is a priority. In the insertion classes,
the planning of the majority of activities should follow the communicative method. That is
to say, activities have to be planned so that the pupils get the language elements that
allow them to achieve the communicative functions described at language levels A1 and
A2. Oral language activities, thus, should facilitate the interaction between speakers as
well as communication contexts where the pupils can simulate and reproduce the
structures they are learning.
One resource that facilitates the planning of this kind of activity is visual references.
Visual references have different functions:
• Sharing the representation of reality
• Facilitating understanding
• Promoting memorisation
In this sense, a collection of sheets16 has been sent to all insertion classes. These sheets
allow working with communication contexts close to the pupils.
15
http://www.edu365.cat/agora/
16
This collection of 10 sheets has been made jointly with the Secretary’s Office of Linguistc Policy
27
28. These are the titles published:
• The town
• The professions
• The house
• The park
• The market and the supermarket
• The bar and the restaurant
• The beach and the sea
• The mountain and the country
• Transport
• The weather
In an insertion class, be it in primary or secondary school, it is important to have
manipulative materials and board games, which:
• Facilitate individual and group work
• Allow the reinforcement of lexical content and structures…
• Allow repetition because the game situations are different every time it is played
• Give security when using language elements because they are ritualised
• Promote interaction between pupils
Two resource materials expressly conceived for this purpose have been specially
promoted.
The revised reprint of Jocs Olívia (Olivia Games) has been promoted by the Department
of Education. It is a manipulative resource facilitating work with vocabulary (nouns, verbs
and adjectives) from a playful point of view (game of the
fifth, card games…). This material is provided for new
pupils not only because of its choice of vocabulary, but
also for its graphic design and choice of games (not very
complex but demanding interaction between participants
with formulas which facilitate the expression of different
language elements).
Other games conceived for new pupils are those published by Edicions Alber.17
These games, as well as the previously mentioned
ones, allow working with language content
(vocabulary, structures and short texts) at a first
level of difficulty.
17
The collection includes three volumes: Jocs de lèxic i expressió (Glossary and expression games), Jocs
d’ortografia (Ortography games) and Jocs de consciència fonològica (Phonology awaring games).
28
29. One of the most ambitious projects is the elaboration of a spoken language course. It will
be divided into 11 chapters on DVD following a line of argument that carries the pupil
through initial level linguistic content. A workbook with learning material is enclosed, as
well as an interactive CD to reinforce the lessons.
Another resource to practice the spoken language is the inclusion of theatre activities in
insertion classes. On the basis of a theatre script, teaching staff can plan a series of
activities covering different aspects of the language (listening comprehension, reading
comprehension, expressive reading – intonation, pronunciation...-, oral expression,
memorizing vocabulary and structures within a communicative context, working on body
language...). Furthermore, theatre makes it easier to deal with socio-cultural subjects and
provides cohesion within the group. In this sense, the work is aimed at finding theatre
scripts which are adequate to the newcomers, taking into consideration the subjects, the
level of difficulty of the plot, the language level…
b.4. Teaching written language
In the previous section we stressed the fact that working on the spoken language is a
priority when teaching a second language, but in a school context, especially in
secondary education, written language has to be introduced quite early on. At the same
time that the pupil learns a language, he/she has to learn the contents of the syllabus of
every subject, which are generally taught through written language.
We must not forget that some pupils join our education system without having been
provided any schooling or having received any literacy teaching.
Regarding teaching written language, several situations can be distinguished:
• Pupils who still have to begin a literacy teaching process.
• Pupils whose language uses the Latin alphabet, but with differences in the
correspondences between the written symbols and the sounds of the Catalan graphic
system and the system in their schooling language.
• Pupils who do not know the Latin alphabet, but whose written language has an
alphabetical basis.
• Pupils whose language is not based on an alphabetical scripture system.
This diversity of situations and processes means that the planning of language teaching
requires different sequences.
Using schemes with correspondences among the different alphabets can accelerate the
process of graphophonic correspondence transfer. It is also very useful to have in
classroom a reference with all the letters and the digraphs in the Catalan graphic system
with the corresponding phonetic representations.
Materials for literacy teaching to newcomers with difficulty in acquiring the written code
are now being developed.
For those pupils who have already got through the reading and writing process, the
following texts have been published for them to have access to texts which are suitable
for their language level and for their interests according to their age:
• New texts adapted to the characteristics of these pupils.
Texts by classic authors.
29
30. For example:
The books by classic authors, which have been linguistically adapted, make it possible to
work on the same book with pupils who have different language levels. The pupil gets to
the text from his/her language level. This way, literature can be worked on from an
inclusive approach.
The fact of having a library in the insertion class with texts in adapted language enables
the pupils to strengthen their language acquisition at their own pace. In addition, the pupil
will not lose the habit of reading that may have been developed during previous
schooling.
The written language in the insertion classes can also reinforce the acquisition of the
spoken language. In many of the published and disseminated materials, the written
language has this function. For example:
• Comencem (Let’s begin)
• The written language workbook from the series Vincles
• La Nàdia i el Li (Nadia and Li)
• LIC18games
• (...)
•
18
LIC games are a 7-volume collection dealing with the contents in the beginners level.
30
31. Through written language, morphosyntax activities are also developed. The
characteristics of this skill (segmentation, manipulation, visualization...) make it possible
to work on certain aspects of the functioning of a language, what would be very difficult
when working from the spoken language.
b.5. Application of ITs
From the creation of the first insertion classes, the Catalan Ministry of Education decided
to provide access to new technologies, both to work on spoken and written language.
Every insertion class has four computers with suitable programs to
diversify the pupils’ tasks
establish different types of grouping
provide different activities according to level
work on information searches
perform online activities
make presentations that they can later share with their classmates (combining
text, image, audio)
play CD, DVD, MP3
record and play spoken language activities
(...)
The creation of interactive applications to facilitate the interrelation
between the different language skills has also been promoted. This
is the approach behind the series Vincles, the CD Galí and a project
that consists of interactive sheets (the market and the library), in
which pupils will work on both the spoken and the written language.
It is important to underline the fact that the CD Galí has two
versions: one in the dialect spoken in the centre of Catalonia and another one in the
dialect spoken in the north-west of Catalonia. It is believed that it is necessary to bring
the model of language closer to the immediate reality of the pupil.
Following the same line, the use of MP3 has been recommended. Its use allows as well
the planning of receptive and productive activities. Its small size allows the pupil to go out
of the classroom and make recordings that can be
• listened to
• compared
• watched
• evaluated
31
32. a. Easing the step from communicative language to academic language to
facilitate the access to the regular syllabus.
To help the pupils acquire academic language, one can:
• Anticipate content that will later be worked on in the regular class. This way boys and
girls can follow without so many difficulties the contents that their classmates work
on.
Have at the teacher’s disposal the vocabulary of different subjects in the new pupils’
native languages. In this way pupils can transfer the concepts that they had already
acquired during their previous schooling into the new language.
Provide the pupil with adapted workbooks (using simple language and with a lot of
visual support, images and schemes that make understanding easier).
5.2. Action lines of the Subdirectorate General for Languages and Social Cohesion
on learning materials.
From the beginning of the LIC Plan, the Language and Social Cohesion Subdirectorate
has been performing several actions regarding the creation of materials and teaching
resources in its fields (language, interculturalism and social cohesion). These actions are
developed according to the following criteria:
• Create and disseminate (especially through LIC and edu365 spaces) materials for
pupils as well as orientation and support tools for teaching staff.
Foster the publishing of materials to meet the educational needs of new pupils.
Foster the dissemination and/or publishing of materials made by teaching staff who
work with newcomers.
Foster projects to collaborate with other public services, ministries or entities.
Foster and add initiatives from other agents (entities, universities, media) that can be
useful to bring linguistic and cultural diversity to schools.
Today, many publishers work on specific learning materials to teach Catalan for
beginners and the Subdirectorate General itself has published those materials which the
publishers would not deal with due to their characteristics.
32
33. ANNEX 6.
EVALUATION INSTRUMENTS
A number of evaluation instruments have been designed with the following goals:
• Provide the teaching staff with complementary instruments to evaluate the level
reached in the linguistic skills described in level A2.
• Allow the collection and treatment of data obtained from the administration of the
test, to get to a follow-up and an evaluation of the insertion classes connected to the
learning of the vehicular language and the attention to the newcomers.
• Evaluate an inclusive model of attention to the newcomers, in which the need to learn
intensively the vehicular language does not mean creating closed spaces, separated
from the regular classes.
Ev a lu a tio n
S ch o o l Com m u ni ca tiv e O rg a ni zat io n o f th e
in te g ra ti on c om p et en c e cla ss
E va lu at io n i ns tr u m en ts D at a co ll ec tio n
E va lu a tio n o f th e
in t eg ra tio n
c las s r o o m s
6.1. School integration
The goal is to provide instruments to check if the newcomers’ perceptions about their
relationships with their classmates and the adults in their environment make it easier for
them to face the schooling process with emotional confidence and with possibilities of
academic success.
Four aspects are taken into consideration:
• Adaptation to the school environment, related to the basic knowledge about the
center (spaces, timetables, habits and rules...) and the degree of socialization
achieved. The aim is to evaluate if the pupil is able to face the teaching-learning and
socialization processes in the appropriate conditions in terms of emotional factors.
• Learning strategies to determine if the pupil has enough basic strategies (working
habits, interest, attention, capacity to ask for help...) to face school tasks.
• Life together and relationship among peers, so that the strongest and weakest
aspects in the net of relationships created by the pupils can be determined.
• Life together and relationship with the adults, especially regarding the interaction
established with the teaching staff (in the insertion classes and in the regular class).
33
34. Both in primary and in secondary education, the following evaluation instruments have
been planned:
• A survey for the tutor in the insertion class.
• A survey for the tutor in the regular class.
• A survey for the pupils.
6.2. Catalan language
The Catalan language evaluation instruments have the goal of evaluating the level of
communicative competence achieved by those pupils who have taken part in the
insertion class or who have received specific teaching in this language. They evaluate
the A2 level of language according to the MECR19 indicators and following the
communicative approach for learning a second language.
Comunicative
MECR
approach
Evaluation of
communicative
competence
EVALUATION
INSTRUMENTS
LEVEL A2
For A2 level, the general objectives are:
• Understanding those sentences and expressions that are used more commonly and
that are related to those subjects which are more familiar to the pupil (basic personal
information, family, free time, leisure, subjects related to the educational field,
environment, etc.)
• Communicate in simple and common situations that require a simple and direct
exchange of information about familiar subjects.
• Describe, in simple terms, aspects about their experience, their environment and
matters related to their basic needs.
19
Generalitat de Catalunya. Marc europeu comú de referència per a les llengües: aprendre,
ensenyar, avaluar. Departament de Cultura, 2003
http://www6.gencat.net/llengcat/publicacions/marc/index.htm
34
35. Following this approach, the tests evaluate, for primary and secondary education, the
language knowledge applied to the productive communicative skills (speaking and
writing), receptive communicative skills (listening and reading comprehension) and
interactive communicative skills (conversation). In secondary education, a new aspect
has been added: it evaluates the application of communicative skills, referring to the
relationship between the writing and speaking skills which are more common in the
academic environment20.
Knowledge Skills
(what does he/she know?) (what can he/she do?)
- speaking
- linguistic - writing
- sociolinguistic - listening
- pragmatic - reading
- interaction
Comunicative
competence
Whole of knowledges and skills
That enable communication in a language
In conclusion, these are instruments which should enable the teaching staff to reach a
qualitative evaluation. So what must be kept in mind is that this test has to be considered
to be one more element in the pupil’s evaluation, but not the only one, as the
corresponding teaching team is who evaluates the learning and integration process of
the pupil and establishes, according to the integrating model of the centre, the organizing
and pedagogical measures which will guarantee the most appropriate schooling in each
case.
Analysing the marks obtained by the pupils can help, basically, to guide the teaching
staff intervention: number of hours attending the insertion class, linguistic skill on which
the teaching has to be intensified, checking the contents being taught in the insertion
class (going from restricted or communicative language to academic language...).
Passing this test does not necessarily imply leaving completely the integration class. Its
aim is to evaluate if the pupil has enough command of the language so as to interact with
his/her closest environment (school and social environment).
20
The tests with the specification of every section included for primary and secondary education,
guides and instructions for teaching staff, workbooks and sheets to work on with the pupils are published in
http://www.xtec.cat/lic/nouvingut/profe_orienta.htm
35
