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Abstract

Abstract

This paper presents primary teachers’ and university-based teacher educators’ experiences of integrating language and content when teaching physical education (PE) through Irish. Two teacher educators, a language specialist and a content specialist collaborated in professional development (PD) with primary teachers in English-medium ( = 2) and Irish-medium immersion schools ( = 2) to teach two units of PE. A design-based research methodology was adopted in two six-week cycles. Qualitative data were collected from: individual interviews and a focus group interview with teachers, teacher educators’ reflective diaries and observation of PE lessons. Successes of the approach were children’s enjoyment and language development supported by the pre-teaching of language. Balancing language and content was found to be challenging for teachers in both linguistic contexts. This study suggests that dual-focused collaborative PD and tailor-made resources are necessary to support generalist teachers in navigating the complexity of integrating language and content in CLIL and immersion contexts.

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2025-04-25
2025-05-22

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‘How much is Irish and how much is PE?’
John Benjamins ; https://doi.org/10.1075/jicb.23020.nid
/content/journals/10.1075/jicb.23020.nid
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: CLIL ; integration ; physical education ; Irish ; professional development ; primary school ; minority language ; immersion

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