The participating teachers were asked what they would take away from the SILLiSS Project. What were their intentions for further action in intercultural language learning?

What would they do differently next time?

I think the main thing most of the staff gained from the project was the confidence to try things in different ways. The students were also able to engage with their teachers in different ways. The students often had to seek information or assistance from ‘expert’ teachers to help them complete their learning in other subjects. It let them see the relevance of their learning in one subject and that it could be transferred and was integral to their learning in other areas.

It is more cohesive for students. Students are more aware of how things are connected between subjects. It is more real life, more relevant to the students.

I enjoyed the experience of working with another colleague and sharing our project with other staff. If we did it again, we would include many more of the staff e.g. ICT, art, classroom teacher/s, library aide. So for me it was connecting with other staff and realizing that they valued my work in LOTE and that we could enrich the learning experiences of our students through our collaborative effort.

Where to from here?

• Build on the understanding that my colleagues now have about how language learning contributes to Essential Learnings.
• Find ways to conduct significant transdisciplinary learning experiences more often.
• Continue to evaluate students’ level of engagement.
• Audit against the IcLL principles.
• Improve the assessing part of learning sequence.
• Continue professional reading around IcLL.
• Share my learning with other teachers.
• Celebrate the work we are doing.

My timing would be different next time. I would involve grade 8s in the project as it would fit better with their language content.

I would really like to offer a unit at least once a year to the Grade 8 group, and if there isn’t the opportunity to work with music next year the other possibility would be to tie it in with Humanities.

Definitely doing more transdisciplinary next year – Yr 8 have a throughline of ‘identity’.

Emerging themes and common experiences: a synthesis

All teams reported a positive response from students as they perceived more ownership of their own learning. The inclusion of a culminating performance such as a video presentation, circus performance, play or anime cartoon provided students with an authentic reason for their learning and really motivated them.

There is a range of disciplinary links possible in intercultural learning - languages teachers collaborated with teachers of ICT, SOSE, English, and the Arts. Teachers needed to have sufficient thinking time to arrive at understanding goals to which each discipline can contribute.

Concern was expressed by several teachers that the time available for language instruction was adversely affected by the demands of working in a transdisciplinary way. Some found that there was a danger that the language content covered was reduced in order to accommodate the cultural component of their learning sequences.

I wasn’t really happy with the pace at which you had to move for the presentation. Students didn’t get as much out of it [from a language viewpoint] as they would have if they had had time to go back and review the language.

By the end of the unit students could apply a previous sentence pattern to new vocabulary and could demonstrate skills using two new constructions. Vocabulary was used and applied but also needed to be learnt more effectively. All students … claimed there was enough of the target language in the unit.

Other school activities impinged on planning and implementation of the sequences. The possibility of lost teaching and learning time needs to be taken into account at the planning stage.

Professional learning and support at central and local levels were highly valued.

You need someone from the outside to keep track of the theoretical underpinnings because one is so busy at school it is hard to even think about it – and that was done well.

I found the PL days to be of great benefit. The peer support, looking at one another’s plans, hearing what other teams were doing and the sharing of ideas were really valuable.

The profile of languages was raised as other staff in participating schools became aware of what was happening and began to see opportunities for collaboration.

There is a need to publicise the intercultural language learning program within the school community to assure students and parents of its validity and value.

Some difficulties were experienced in the practical management of transdisciplinary teaching. For example, lack of equipment at some stages, the challenge of supervising students in a more ‘fluid’ teaching environment, changes of staff, and disruptions to the timetable.

The notion of transdisciplinary learning is not yet fully understood by many students. There is a need for unit maps, explicit assessment information to assist students in making connections clear.