Gaelic-Medium Education in Scotland – Challenges for the 21st century

Ingeborg Birnie, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the challenges and opportunities provided by the continued growth of immersion Gaelic-medium education in the Western Isles, the last remaining heartland of the language in Scotland. Gaelic language policies and strategies, both at a national and local level, will be evaluated through the eyes of educators, parents and the wider bilingual community in terms of linguistic outcomes and language use. Recent initiatives to support both students and parents of students in Gaelic-medium education will be identified and links to language use ideology explored, and challenges for the education system will be identified.

ACHOIMRE

Sa pháipéar seo, pléitear na dúshláin agus na deiseanna a bhaineann le fás leanúnach an oideachais i nGaeilge na hAlban sna hOileáin Thiar, croíthailte deiridh na teanga in Albain. Déanfar measúnú ar bheartais agus ar straitéisí na teanga ar leibhéal náisiúnta agus áitiúil araon trí dhearcadh oideoirí, tuismitheoirí agus an phobail dhátheangaigh níos leithne i dtéarmaí torthaí teangeolaíocha agus úsáid na teanga. Luafar tionscnaimh le déanaí chun tacú le daltaí agus tuismitheoirí daltaí san oideachas i nGaeilge na hAlban. Féachfar freisin ar naisc leis an oideolaíocht maidir le húsáid teanga, agus aithneofar dúshláin atá le sárú ag an gcóras oideachais.

1. HISTORICAL CONTEXT Gaelic-Medium Education (GME) is a relatively recent development in the Scottish Education system, having started in the early 1980s. This is not the first time that Gaelic has featured as a medium of instruction in the education system; it had been used in parish and charitable schools in the Gàidhealtachd1, where the language was still spoken by a majority of the population, throughout the 19th century. The inclusion of Gaelic as a medium of instruction at that time was not aimed at educating children in their mother tongue, but instead as a mechanism to accelerate the process of anglicisation and evangelisation of these communities (Durkacz, 1983, p. 220). This came to an abrupt halt in 1872 with the Education (Scotland) Act which nationalised and secularised elementary education and made it compulsory for children aged five to thirteen to attend school (Campbell, 1945). This Act made no reference to Gaelic at all; neither as a medium of instruction nor as a subject and, in an example of ‘no policy is also a policy’ (Baldauf, 1993), the previous ad hoc practice of using Gaelic to facilitate learning and for bible studies in Gàidhealtachd areas was neither condoned nor explicitly prohibited. Robertson (2018) has suggested that the lack of provision for Gaelic in this Act marked another phase of decline of the language, but it is more likely that the Act was simply a reflection of the attitudes of the authorities towards the language at this time. This period might be characterised as the era of ‘benign neglect’, with the language neither promoted nor actively discouraged (McLeod, 2010), unlike the previous centuries where the authorities had been openly hostile to the language, resulting in Gaelic effectively disappearing from the education system, except as a subject, until the late 20th century.

2. THE “GAELIC RENAISSANCE” OF THE LATE 20TH CENTURY

Gaelic continued to have a limited presence in the education system until the latter part of the 20th century when a number of initiatives were established in the Gàidhealtachd to support pupils for whom Gaelic was their L1. The first of these was the Inverness-shire Education Scheme which aimed to ‘provide for the Gaelic-speaking pupil a fuller and more appropriate education by making as much use as is reasonable of his mother tongue’ (Macleod, 1966, p. 326). This was followed in 1975 by the Bilingual Project in the newly-formed local authority of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (CnES) – until 1997 known as the Western Isles Council – which was the last stronghold of the language. This scheme aimed to create ‘situations and activities which stimulate children to use Gaelic as a natural language for the exploration and description of experience’ (Murray & Morrison, 1984, p. 5). This was a very successful local scheme, growing from 20 schools in 1975 to cover all 54 primary schools in the authority, as well as two secondary schools, by the early 1980s. This bilingual education scheme can be considered the pilot of what was to become GME, however, the extent to which it can be described as a truly bilingual education model can be questioned. There were large variations from school to school in terms of Gaelic input. This variation is, perhaps, not surprising, as without specific training for teachers and with only limited teaching resources the emphasis was very much on teachers’ individual competences and interpretations of the scheme (MacLeòid, 2007). These initial schemes to introduce Gaelic as a medium of instruction in the formal education system were aimed at pupils who were already familiar with the language and did not consider the language’s changing sociolinguistic position. Although at this point there were still a small number of children for whom Gaelic was a L1, ongoing language shift meant that the number of children without any prior knowledge of Gaelic was growing, even in the heartland of the language. These schemes had not been developed as a mechanism for language acquisition and this dichotomy resulted in parents of Gaelic-speaking children raising concerns that their children entered school with more of the Gaelic language than they left with, whereas parents of monolingual English speakers identified that their children did not leave the education system speaking the language (MacLeòid, 2007).

3. A NEW PARADIGM IN EDUCATION

By the early 1980s, there was an acknowledgement at both governmental as well as community level that ongoing language shift had resulted in a decline in intergenerational transmission and therefore the numbers of young people for whom Gaelic was a L1. This resulted in a new model for Gaelic in the education system in what became known as Gaelic-Medium Education (GME). GME is modelled on the bilingual education model first developed in Canada in the 1960s. This model includes total immersion stages, typically the first three years of primary education. This is then followed by a bilingual model, which aims to ensure that children ‘feel equally confident in the use of Gaelic and English’ and ‘are able to use both Gaelic and English in a full range of situations within and outwith school’ (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (Scotland), 2011, p. 4).

The first GME units opened in 1985 in Inverness and Glasgow with 24 students (MacLeòid, 2007) and throughout the last two decades of the 20th century saw a rapid growth, both in terms of the number of pupils involved as well as the locations in which it was offered. This growth, especially in terms of new locations and schools, tapered off in the 21st century and in the academic year 2018-2019 there were 60 primary schools across fourteen local authorities in Scotland offering GME. In the majority of instances (53 schools) Gaelic is delivered in a number of classrooms (known as Gaelic units) in an otherwise English-medium school. In six instances2 GME is delivered in a stand-alone Gaelic school, and in one instance it is delivered in a Gaelic school with an English unit3. The total number of pupils involved in 2018-2019 was 3,471, around 0.9% of the total primary school cohort (Galloway, 2019). The majority of children enrolled in GME do not have Gaelic as a L1, and come from households where the language is not spoken by either or both parents (National Records of Scotland, 2015) (Scottish National Records, 2013).

4. FACTORS AFFECTING GROWTH OF GME The ongoing language shift has resulted in GME having been identified by Bòrd na Gàidhlig (BnG), the executive nondepartmental public body responsible for the promotion of Gaelic development under the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act of 2005, as the prime mechanism for language acquisition in children (Bòrd na Gàidhlig, 2012). The National Plan for Gaelic 2012-2017 aimed to ensure that the number of children entering GME each year doubled from about 400 to 800 over the course of the five-year plan in order to stabilise the numbers of Gaelic speakers in Scotland (Kandler, Unger, & Steele, 2010). This target was not reached however, and the growth of GME seems to have plateaued in recent years. There are a number of factors which have contributed to this, mainly associated with teacher recruitment and retention and the way parental demand is managed.

4.1 Teachers

One of the main factors which have affected the initiatives to increase GME has been the availability of teachers able to teach through the language. In the early stages of GME, many of the teachers who transferred from English to Gaelic medium were L1 speakers of the language. The changing demographic profile of Gaelic speakers has meant increasingly teachers in GME are new speakers of the language. This changing teacher profile has had implications for the way initial teacher education (ITE) for GME is imagined. New entrants to the profession need to be proficient in the language on entry to an ITE institution as, especially on the post-graduate programmes, there is limited time for Gaelic language development during these courses. Immersion education places significant demands on the linguistic skills of the teacher, with the expectation that children will quickly acquire the target language, in this case Gaelic. Research by Pollock (2010) has indicated that both L1 speakers and new speakers of the language can be effective teachers in GME, each group with their own particular strengths. L1 speakers of the language can typically provide a Gaelic-speaking environment that is rich in idiom, with knowledge of traditional rhymes and songs leading to a creative use of the language in the classroom. New speakers, on the other hand, tend to have stronger literacy and grammatical skills, as well as an understanding of what it means to be a language learner in a minority language context. Research conducted by McPake, McLeod, O’Hanlon, Fassetta, and Wilson (2016) identified the need for opportunities to enable new speakers of the language to achieve high levels of fluency in the language, with the recommendation this be targeted at individuals who are willing and able to become teachers of Gaelic. The recommendations of this report resulted in a programme4 to support experienced teachers who are currently in English-medium education (both at secondary and at primary level) and have some competences in Gaelic to transfer to GME. This programme, supported by local authorities and BnG, allows these teachers to return to their substantive post after completion of a year-long course. This course not only develops the linguistic competences of this group of teachers but also includes input on the pedagogical approaches specific to immersion settings and the late development of bilingualism in children. The number of new teachers which enter the profession, both through ITE programmes and through professional development opportunities for practising teachers, continues to be smaller than the number of vacancies for GME positions, resulting both in a lack of growth in GME provision and also in a weakening of the immersion experience, with English-medium teachers used to fill gaps in recruitment.

4.2 Parental demand for GME

A further contributing factor which has affected the growth of GME has been that of parental demand. Various local authorities formulated their own requirements based on ongoing parental demand to ensure the sustainability of any

2 Bunsgoil Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis (Inverness), Sgoil Gàidhlig Glaschu (Glasgow), Glean Dàil (Glasgow), Taobh na Pàirce (Edinburgh), Bunsgoil Gàidhlig Loch Aber (Fort William) and Bunsgoil Gàidhlig Port Righ (Portree, Isle of Skye)

GME provision. In 2016 BnG issued Statutory Guidance on Gaelic Education (see: Bòrd na Gàidhlig, 2016). This guidance is specifically aimed at parents and explains how to request GME for their child(ren) and the procedures relating to making a request to have their children educated through the medium of Gaelic. This statutory guidance also outlines the process a local authority has to follow when considering a request made by parents. Research by O’Hanlon, Mcleod, and Paterson (2010) and O'Hanlon (2014) has shown that parental demand for GME is based on a number of factors. The strongest of these factors was that of heritage; family links to the language, general cultural, heritage of the Highlands and Islands and Scottish heritage. The second most cited reason was that of advantages associated with bilingual education; both in terms of personal language acquisition and the (perceived) quality of GME education, either through smaller class sizes or the reputation of the school. Opportunities beyond the education system in terms of opportunities to participate in cultural events and future employment were also named as reasons by parents to enrol their children in GME. An awareness of the sociolinguistic position and a desire to contribute to language revitalisation initiatives were only minor factors in the decisions made by parents. The ongoing language shift means that it is increasingly likely that parents will not have a personal link to the language. Even where there is a personal link to the language, this does not necessarily mean that parents enrol their children in GME as can be seen in the CnES where Gaelic is offered in 20 out of the 22 schools but where only 39.0% of all children were enrolled in GME (Galloway, 2019)

5 . It is also likely that a lack of awareness among parents without personal links to Gaelic or a lack of knowledge regarding the possibility of GME for children without any previous knowledge of the language might be contributing factors to the decline in parental demand over the last decade or so. GME has remained a niche part of the education system (McPake et al., 2016) and its promotion focused on areas with existing provision for the language. This means that a lack of parental knowledge about the possibility of having children educated through the medium of Gaelic, or a lack of awareness around the processes to request GME be established in a local authority, might also influence the level of parental demand. Recent national campaigns by Bòrd na Gàidhlig to promote the benefits of a bilingual education have been used in an attempt to increase the number of children enrolled in GME. Enrolment figures would suggest that the impact of these initiatives has not led to an obvious increase in demand for GME provision across the country, although individual local authorities might have experienced an increase in demand, especially in those areas where the provision has been successful. An example of this would be Glasgow. Glasgow was one of the first places to establish GME in what was to become Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu (Glasgow Gaelic School). This stand-alone school provides GME education at both primary and secondary level on a single campus. The continued growth of Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu resulted in the opening of a second stand-alone (primary) school in the city, and discussions are ongoing surrounding the establishment of a third, and even a fourth, Gaelic school in Glasgow.

5 GME AND THE REVITALISATION OF GAELIC 5.1 Overview

The number of students in GME currently represents only a small proportion of the overall primary cohort, but against a backdrop of ongoing language shift it has been acknowledged that the education system is the prime mechanism for children to acquire Gaelic (Bòrd na Gàidhlig, 2012). Education Scotland, an executive agency of the Scottish Government has described GME as ‘the best way of achieving a sustainable future for the Gaelic language’ (2015, p. 8) and the most recent census data would, in the first instance, appear to endorse this. In the 2011 census around 57,000 individuals, 1.1% of the population, indicated that they could speak the language, a decrease of around 1,200 compared to the results from the census a decade earlier (General Registrar of Scotland, 2005). The self-reported competences in the language decreased in every age group, with one notable exception –those aged between 3 and 17. In this age category, the numbers of speakers increased from 0.53% to 0.70% for all 3 and 4 year olds, from 0.91% to 1.13% for 5 to 11 year olds, and from 1.04% to 1.10% for 12 to 17 year olds between 2001 and 2011 (General Registrar of Scotland, 2005; National Records of Scotland, 2015). This can almost certainly be attributed to the influence of GME, as the same census data indicated that 80% of GME pupils do not have Gaelic as their main home language, and herein lies the first difficulty in transferring the language from the classroom to the wider community. Education Scotland, in its Advice on Gaelic Education, has stated that the fluency of the children is ‘enhanced by using the language outwith school’ (2015, p. 12), with parents having an important role to play in supporting this.

5.2 The home and family The choice to enrol in GME requires an active opt-in on the part of the parents and therefore it can be assumed that they are positively disposed towards the language. This does not, however, mean that the language is used in the

home, even where one or all care-givers can speak the language, as research by Birnie (2018) has shown: My husband does not speak Gaelic, but I have two young daughters and a young son, they do Gaelic at school, so no, I don’t use Gaelic at all, but we sent them to the Gaelic school, we want them to have Gaelic. (Translation of transcript BP10_01 from interview with Informant BP10, Birnie (2018)). This study supports the findings of Munro, Mac an Tàilleir, and Armstrong (2011) which showed a reliance on the education system as a mechanism for language acquisition, even where the language is present in the family. In many instances this is because of the ‘inertia condition of language choice’ (Spolsky & Cooper, 1991, p. 146) where the language first established between individuals, whether that be Gaelic or English, is the language in which future conversations are more likely to be conducted. Smith-Christmas (2014) has identified that this means that children are socialised into the norms of language shift, identifying and copying the patterns of language use they see the adults in the family use. This ‘inertia condition’ is also likely to play a role in situations where parents, as recommended by Education Scotland (2015), learn the language to support their children through GME; even where parents reach a level of proficiency in the language, this need not mean that Gaelic will be established as the main language of the home. Birnie (2018) has also shown that where Gaelic is used in the home, this is often limited in scope and situationally specific. Gaelic can be described as the ‘marked code-choice’ (Myers-Scotton, 1988); a deliberate decision by the interlocutor to use the language: I speak Gaelic as often as I can with my youngest son. I was not fluent when the other children were born, and English was the main language we used. I am trying however to speak Gaelic as well. I speak English with the older children at the weekend when we are all together … I am aware that I use more English with the children when I argue with them. I had an argument with my daughter, and she was unhappy … I was speaking English to her without even trying to use Gaelic as well. (Translation of transcript BP02_01 from interview with Informant BP02, Birnie (2018)).

Furthermore, the language used by children in these families in interactions with their siblings is exclusively English. The main exception was when children were actively reminded by an adult to use Gaelic, for example in the presence of Gaelic-speaking acquaintances, or when engaging in ‘Gaelic activities’, such as Gaelic sports or afterschool clubs or cultural events (Birnie, 2018).

5.3 The community The use of the language outside the education system is further complicated as around 65% of those attending GME were living in local authorities where fewer than 20% of the population speak Gaelic. Gaelic is a minority language across all local authorities, with the exception of CnES and some parishes across the Highland Council, where a majority of the population claimed to be able to speak Gaelic. In none of these communities did the self-reported ability to speak Gaelic reach 66.7%, the figure identified by Ó Giollagáin, Mac Donnacha, Ní Chualáin, Ní Shéaghdha, and O’Brien as being the percentage of active speakers required for the use of the language in a community to be sustainable, with ‘communities [yielding] to the pressures of language shift when the proportion of active speakers … falls below this threshold’ (2007, p. 10). The percentage identified by Ó Giollagáin et al. (2007) is based on active speakers of the language, not on the linguistic competences of the language as measured in the Scottish census, especially as research has indicated that high levels of language ability in a community need not, of itself, result in active language use. English has become the unmarked code-choice in the majority of community settings and situations, unless these have been recognised or designed as “Gaelic spaces” – locations where Gaelic is the accepted or expected linguistic norm (Birnie, 2018). Without having a natural community of practice for the language in the domains named by Fishman (1991) as the sine qua non of language revitalisation, for example the home, the family and the community, this has further resulted in an institutionalisation of Gaelic; a reliance on the creation of designated “safe spaces”, for example Gaelic afterschool activities, where the expected linguistic norm is Gaelic, rather than natural, spontaneous community language use. This means that once children reach adulthood, they are unlikely to continue to use the language in these Gemeinschaft or community domains, with research by Dunmore (2015) indicating that only around 20% of those who had attended GME continued to make substantial use of the language. Individuals who reported high levels of Gaelic language use were typically employed in the ‘Gaelic sectors’ of education, the media, and language development. This participation in Gaelic employment (or study), as also shown by MacLeod (2009), was crucial in the creation of ‘networks in which the language is used socially’ (Dunmore, 2015, p. 288).

6. CONCLUSION

The use of Gaelic in the education system has seen a complete turn-around, from the medium of instruction in Gaelicspeaking communities as a mechanism for children to acquire English to being an initiative which aimed to reverse what it arguably precipitated – language shift (Oliver, 2006) – through the delivery of an immersion experience to non-speakers of the language in communities where the majority language is English. These initiatives have, both implicitly and explicitly, assumed that ‘every child taught Gaelic in the primary school … becomes a ‘Gaelic speaker’, and that the language will be ‘secured’ if the number of children beginning Gaelic-medium primary education each year exceeds the number of Gaelic speakers each year (McLeod, 2002, p. 283). The uptake of GME continues to be very low, with English being the language in which the children are most likely to socialise, both with their peers and with their (extended) families. English is the language which makes up the linguistic soundscape of the communities in which they are growing up and is the dominant language in the media. All these factors, combined with an educational model which focuses on ensuring that children achieve ‘equal fluency and literacy in both Gaelic and English’ (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (Scotland), 2011, p. 4), have ensured that Gaelic is, and continues to be, a minority language for the majority of pupils, and a language in which they are unlikely to be as competent in a range of domains as English (Dunbar, 2011). The language is, therefore, likely to remain a second language, and one in which is used in a limited number of domains, with English the unmarked code-choice for most, if not all domains, and Gaelic considered a potentially marketable skill, but not as a means of daily communication. ‘Languages need communities in order to live … this point is fundamental’ (Crystal, 2000, p. 134). GME faces challenges in terms of teacher recruitment and low pupil uptake, but perhaps the biggest challenge the language faces is the creation of a mechanism to take the language out of the classroom and into the community.

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