Introducing bilingual education to pirivena

G H Asoka

On September 3 in 2009, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, emphasized the need for bilingual education in Pirivena education. That was the first time he used the term, bilingual education in a public addressing through media.

Consequent to this, it was possible for the Cell of Language Coordination at the National Education Institute to think about ways of supporting the Pirivena education to promote language competencies of priests through bilingual education.

Facilitating 100 participants of the Piriven education was planned and included in the annual plan, 2010.

A joint venture

In its first attempt, the National Institute of Education (NIE) conducted a four- day workshop for 40 representatives (both Buddhist priests and laymen employed in various positions) of the Pirivena sector jointly with the Pirivena Education Department at the Education Ministry. At its first stage, the Ministry has identified 60 Pirivenas of 702 to commence bilingual education.

The methodology was based on participatory approach by which nobody could ignore their active participation from the beginning to the end of the workshop. Experiential learning was used allowing participants to use their experience as the ‘living textbook’ to learn the new content, skills and practices belonged to bilingual education.

The methodology addressed androgogical principles allowing learners to study both androgogical and pedagogical principles that they are supposed to use in their actual learning-teaching process in Piriven Education. Various techniques and strategies in learner centred, activity based learning situations kept the participants enthusiastic in learning.

Based on five areas

Comprehensively arranged group activities were able to reveal their experience critically to the audience for further constructive criticism before registering the target content in the brain with possibility for correct generalizations.

They awakened learners’ curiosity to work in diverse learning contexts with diverse individuals for exploring their diverse experiences. The opportunity gained for publishing their ideas as groups among peers provided them social dignity to be recognized and opportunity to critically discuss matters exchanging ideas.

The 10 learning situations with rich learning contexts under six target learning competencies were based on the content related to five main areas: educational philosophy of bilingual education, bilingual teacher and instruction, bilingual learner and learning, promoting research culture on BE and general methods of instruction attached to bilingual education leading to professional development of bilingual teachers.

Overall goal of the first workshop was to make the participants aware of bilingual education, how it should be used in Sri Lankan education in addition to practical components especially in relation to methodology and teachers’ professional development.

Participants were directed to self-directed learning and reflective practice in their day-to-day work with the knowledge enriched by using pedagogical aspects, literature related to various outcomes and bilingual education models and how it is practised in Sri Lankan school system.

The reflective discussions practised everyday at the beginning, were also used for upgrading and updating the participants’ knowledge with critical comments on what they have learnt. These discussions were directed in such a way to use reflective practice and reflective thinking to promote the participants’ professional capacities. It was a conversation among them and a dialogue between them and the moderators. Thus those discussions provided adequate data for the moderators to encourage themselves, make modifications in their plans, extend their further support for the participants and refresh their understanding and memory.

Feedback

The NIE hopes that the new input would be used to promote bilingual education in Piriven sector with modifications in its curriculum in future.

At the beginning of the first day, the participants’ expectations in the workshop were gathered using GOPP cards (Goal Oriented Project Planning Cards) as a way of getting to know about them and for conducting the workshop to fulfill their needs without deviating from workshop objectives.

The interest in methodology related to instructional design on bilingual education vividly shows their enthusiasm of application of the input in the classroom to achieve the dual goal of bilingual education: language development and content development.

Success story

At the end of the four-day workshop, the participants; ideas and experience about the workshop were collected in feedback sheets. In analyzing their responses, it was found out that the majority of their responses (45.6 percent) reflected their great enthusiasm and interest in workshop style and resource persons.

Around 14 percent of the responses were requests of which 59 percent urge for more workshops. Nearly 13 percent of responses focus on various ideas and suggestions for moderating Pirivena education with regard to its curriculum and commencing bilingual education.

In the year 2011, this program would be expanded by conducting district/ provincial level workshops in addition to national level workshops, developing several supplementary packages and implementing action research on bilingual education in the Pirivena sector.

The NIE will extend its support to the learners of the Pirivena Sector to achieve targets by promoting bilingual education in the way it is needed for the Pirivena sector ensuring additive aspects to be achieved through balanced bilingualism. Concluded

The writer is Chief Project Officer and Head of the Unit of Langauge Coordination, National Institute of Education, Maharagama.