Round Table discussion on Estonian language teaching in schools, organised by the Estonian Language Council and the University of Tartu
On 11 November 2024, a seminar and round table were held to discuss the teaching of Estonian as a school subject in the midst of societal changes. The seminar, co-organised by the Estonian Language Council and the MEDAL project at the University of Tartu, addressed various questions about teaching Estonian in schools, both to students whose first language is Estonian and those with other first languages. As an outcome of the round table discussion, recommendations were agreed upon for the development of Estonian subject teaching in schools.
There is a need for more debate on the content of Estonian (as a first language) classes in schools, according to Birute Klaas-Lang, Professor of Estonian (as a Foreign Language) at the University of Tartu and Chair of the Estonian Language Council. The seminar provided a platform for discussion of the status quo and issues arising in Estonian language teaching in Estonian-medium general education schools, as well as what linguistic knowledge speakers should have, and what adaptations are needed with an increasingly diverse student body.
Recommendations for developing Estonian classes in general education schools
- The number of Estonian language classes is very small, especially in upper secondary schools. The time available for classes about Estonian language is insufficient for students to learn the knowledge, skills and attitudes set by the national curriculum. We recommend increasing the amount of Estonian language teaching in both basic schools and upper secondary schools.
- In connection with the transition to Estonian-based education, teachers must be better prepared for classrooms including both students whose first language (L1) is Estonian and students with Estonian as a Second Language (L2). This is the case in schools already today. We must have a national strategy on how to ensure and organize high-quality teaching of L1 and L2 Estonian in schools with significant numbers of Estonian as a Second Language students.
- Funded activities supporting the teaching of Estonian are currently mostly geared toward teaching Estonian as a Second Language. Estonian teaching to children who speak Estonian as their first language also requires attention and development. Therefore, research into Estonian teaching for L1 students also requires funding and support.
- Creating content for Estonian classes must take the results of linguistic research into consideration. In schools, students tend to be taught with the aim of practicing for the national exams (including the basic school national exam): for instance, memorizing examples to use in argumentation and practicing the spelling of rare foreign words that students would not typically use in their own text. The content of the exams must be brought into alignment with the expectations of the national curriculum for each school level.
- It is imperative to create new textbooks and teaching materials and to systematically make collections of up-to-date teaching materials generally available in a reliable, online environment. Making teaching materials more easily accessible may also help toward solving the problematic issue of Estonian language teachers’ teaching overload. Substantive reviews of teaching materials by experts in the field are also needed.
- Educating Estonian language teachers and ensuring competent successors: the university curricula and course content needs to be reviewed, updated, and brought into line with the needs of contemporary society. In a rapidly changing world, diverse opportunities must be made available for supplementary education for working teachers, e.g. through micro-degrees.
- It is important to raise awareness that teachers of all subjects are responsible for teaching the language and terminology required in their subjects, while Estonian language teachers teach expressive skills. Greater integration across subject teaching should be researched and supported.
Events are organised by the Methodological Excellence in Data-Driven Approaches to Linguistics (MEDAL) consortium and are financed by the EU Horizon Europe programme (101079429) and UK Research and Innovation organisation (101079429).
