Leiden students help with primary school language lessons
Report from The Hague
De Regenboog primary school in The Hague has a high percentage of children whose first language is not Dutch. In the ‘Children of the City’ project, Education and Child Studies students help primary school children practise their Dutch.
Twenty-five infants listen as their teacher talks about birds and their nests. ‘Who has ever heard birds singing?’ she asks. Outside the classroom, a group of students waits. Teacher Ingrid Slierendrecht finishes circle time and it’s time for the children to burn off some energy. They jump, shout and rush around. Meanwhile, the students are rearranging the classroom, placing small chairs around five tables. Once the children are seated with their own student teacher, the next lesson starts, which is all about language.
Internship
The language lessons are part of a project run by Leiden University and De Regenboog primary school in The Hague’s Laakkwartier district. The project, Children of the City, was initiated in 2022 by Judi Mesman, Leiden Professor of Societal Challenges and Impact. In the project’s current form, students on the Master’s in Education and Child Studies do a 280-hour placement at this primary school. Jane Versluis is one of them. ‘I’ve been here two mornings a week since last December. I help year 2 pupils [5-6 year olds] with all sorts of tasks.’ The students all have a set group of around five children, which helps the children get to know them.
Letter recognition
Groups of children sitting on the small chairs around the tables are busy putting pictures of chickens and eggs in the right order, learning to recognise letters and counting the eggs in a birds nest. ‘Miss! Look! Is right?’ asks Anna (5). In front of her is a worksheet with letters in boxes: u, uu, n, a. Anna has just coloured in one of the boxes, the tip of her tongue sticking out of her mouth. Her sentence structure and pronunciation reveal that Dutch is not her first language. ‘Well done! You’ve coloured in the “u”. ‘That’s the right answer!’ says Jane Versluis.
Other first language
De Regenboog primary school, in a district of The Hague with many social problems, has a high percentage of children whose first language is not Dutch. Some of them do not speak Dutch at all when they start school, says Anne Floor Lubbers, the coordinator of the language project. ‘The more language they hear, the more they learn: that’s what various scientific studies have shown. So what the students here do is talk to the children as much as possible, at a level adjusted to that of the child. If the children make a mistake, they repeat what they said, but using the correct words. So without correcting them directly because that might discourage them. The students expand simple sentences and offer new words. This is while doing tasks with their group that are on the regular curriculum.’ This academic year there are 18 interns, who together cover four mornings a week.
Peer feedback and coaching
The students receive intensive coaching during their internship. They end each morning with peer feedback led by Anne Floor Lubbers. They also have a lot of opportunity to link the theory to the practice. ‘When they arrive at the school, the students have a large theoretical framework but many of them have no practical experience. They get the opportunity to apply what they have learned in practice. We think it is important to coach them properly. This helps them acquire skills for dealing with this complex group of children, something that will be very valuable in a later job, for example as a special educational needs teacher.’
Practical experience
Lotte Bakker, one of the master’s students at De Regenboog, agrees, ‘I’ve previously worked with children with a developmental delay but this is a really different group from a very diverse background. I’m learning so much. It’s a really easy way to gain practical experience in this field. I would definitely recommend this internship to other Education and Child Studies students.’
Extra attention
The language project is useful not only to the school children and students but also the class teachers. ‘I love having the students here’, says Ingrid Slierendrecht. ‘Their support gives me room to support the children who need more individual attention. In a class of 25 you usually have a few children who are a bit reserved, who really need more help. I can focus on those children during the students' lessons.’