One benefit of being an EAL teacher is that we’re not in a ‘subject bubble’. We support our learners in various subjects, meaning we get a good insight into content across the KS3/KS4 curriculum (or at least phases of it).
Subject teachers don’t often have that luxury. Time constraints, lack of a collaboration within/across departments, level of experience, and so on might make it tough to see the ‘bigger picture’ – how subject content fits in/complements/relates to what’s being taught across the curriculum, and why this is important.
The interdependent nature of subject content across a curriculum is pretty clear to EAL teachers. We have the privilege of experiencing the curriculum more like the learners themselves experience it, not just through the narrow lens of some subject teachers (not intended as a dig). Micro-vignette:
Tags: CPD • Curriculum Design • eal • GCSE • General • IB • KS4 • KS5 • planning • Reflections • teacher development