West Tyrone Sinn Fein Sinn Féin -- Building an Ireland of Equals

Bilingual Education - The Best Possible Start In Life

Published: 1 July, 2010

Like all parents, my wife and I wish for the very best for our children and for them to receive the best possible start in life. This pursuit of a good quality of life includes the standard of education that they receive. This is essential so that they will be well positioned to compete for jobs and opportunities in an ever changing and increasingly competitive world.

The decision to send our children to a bilingual school was not taken lightly and, admittedly, was made in a context where a small number of sceptics said that learning a second language would confuse them or otherwise negatively impinge upon their intellectual development.

However, this perception is completely at odds with our experience as parents. For instance, our 6 year old has naturally absorbed Irish as a second language and can easily switch between his indigenous tongue (Irish) and English without any confusion. In addition to this, the Gaelscoil have organised a Spanish tutor and he is becoming increasingly proficient in a third language.

Inn addition to this, a huge body of national and international scientific studies have proven the cognitive benefits of bilingual education.

For instance, research which is well documented in a wide range of psychological and educational research journals indicate that children who are multilingual tend to have enhanced cognitive flexibility, are more analytical, creative and have an increased ability to analyse problems from a variety of perspectives.

Neurological studies also indicate that bilingualism enhances brain development and makes it easier for children to pick up additional languages as they progress on their journey through life.

Considering that many of the jobs we are currently preparing our children for in do not yet exist, these generic skills underpin virtually every career path which might be chosen.

As someone who has a professional background in education and Psychology, I have researched the topic of bilingualism in considerable detail, at undergraduate and post graduate level. As such, I was not particularly surprised last week to learn that children who attend Irish medium schools are continuing to achieve better Key stage 2 results in Maths and English compared to their peers who speak English as their first language.

These statistics were produced by the Department of Education who looked at pupil achievement in their Key, stage 2 assessments. As parents, these findings once again re affirm our commitment to bilingual education in the knowledge that this is a tried and tested international model of education which gives our children the best possible start in life.

Note:

Cllr Declan Mc Aleer, who is the recently elected chair of Omagh District Council is a qualified Lecturer in Developmental Psychology and holds an Honours degree and Masters Degree in Applied Psychology from the University of Ulster. His 6 year old son, Tárlach attends Gaelscoil Na gCrann, while his 2 year old daughter, Ríoghnach will commence the Naíscoil next year.