Policy and practice in bilingual education: Gaelscoileanna in the Republic of Ireland

This thesis is a study of schools in the English speaking areas of the Republic of Ireland1 in which Irish Gaelic is used as a medium of instruction. The schools, founded largely by parents, are known in Irish as Gaelscoileanna and are part of a grassroots movement of bilingual education2, which began in the early 1970s and continues to grow to the present time.; Drawing upon a framework of language policy and planning and language and identity, this study investigated how the national language policy was played out in practice in two Gaelscoileanna, language use in the schools, teachers' pedagogical beliefs, and whether these beliefs have changed over time. The study further explored the development of bilingualism among students of Gaelscoileanna and the link between language and identity. This study consisted of a collective case study (Stake, 1995) of two Irish medium schools, administration of a revised survey to teachers of Gaelscoileanna (Cummins, 1974), document analysis, and qualitative data methods.; Findings from the study revealed that educators in the schools attempted to follow a language policy of ‘all things through Irish’, the credo of the Gaelscoileanna movement. Schools attempted to counter English dominance and to elevate the status of Irish over English. However, English was present in the language environments of both schools and was used by teachers as an instructional strategy. Parents chose Irish medium education for a variety of language and non-language related reasons, including the link between language and identity, the attainment of bilingual ability of their children, and because the schools provide non-traditional options in education.; From a national policy perspective, this study reveals inconsistencies in policy and support required for Gaelscoileanna to most effectively implement their curriculum. Gaelscoileanna lack educational policies, appropriate teacher training programs, and teaching aids and materials necessary to support schools' efforts. Further, shifts in national language planning toward an all-island unified policy with the North may dilute future support for Gaelscoileanna. Finally, this study shows the need to unravel the complexities of Irish language policy and identity in the context of education, rather than harmonizing language and educational policies.; 1Throughout this paper the Republic of Ireland is referred to as Ireland. This does not include the six counties that comprise Northern Ireland. 2The schools are a type of bilingual education program often referred to as immersion programs. These programs are for language majority students being educated through a minority language and aim for additive bilingualism. I have purposely avoided using “immersion” in this thesis because of its confusion in the United States with Structured English Immersion programs, which educate language minority students with the goal of language assimilation or English monolingualism.