Training for teachers and early childhood educators

We have designed a range of training sessions for early childhood educators and primary school teachers in areas related to linguistic and cultural diversity. All workshops are tailored to your setting and include both theory and practical applications.

The training can be offered to individuals, to groups of teachers from the same school/early years settings or to clusters of schools/early years settings. It can be delivered face-to-face or online via Zoom or through the schools’ online learning platform. All training is delivered through English.

Each attendee receives a certificate via email. Tailored training is available upon request.

We currently offer the following training courses (click on the title to learn more):

Download the informative flyer here

Cost

Training courses last two hours and they are open to groups of up to 30 teachers. 
The cost of each course is € 350 (inclusive of travel expenses in the Dublin region). If booking for a school outside Dublin, travel expenses will be added to the cost of the workshop.
If two training sessions are booked on the same day, a discount of 10% is applicable.

About the trainer

teachers' training with Dr La Morgia

Dr Francesca La Morgia is a linguist with more than 10 years of experience delivering training in the area of bilingual language development and bilingual education. Francesca has an MPhil in Applied Linguistics from Trinity College Dublin and a PhD in bilingual language acquisition from DCU.
She is currently a lecturer in Language Studies at the Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education. Francesca has delivered training to mainstream teachers, EAL teachers and teacher trainers in Ireland, Belgium the UK and Switzerland. Some of the locations include the European Commission offices in Brussels, the Ils International School in Geneva, the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Ireland and the EAL network at Leeds University.
In 2019 together with Pádraig O’Duibhir and Bozena Dubiel Francesca delivered a webinar on childhood bilingualism hosted by the Teaching Council.
Francesca’s publications include articles in international peer-review journals and books and contributions to the support materials for the Primary Language Curriculum and a toolkit for using the first language in English medium instruction for Oxford University Press. Her activity book Language Explorers, available in English and Irish, is used by hundreds of teachers in Europe.

An introduction to bilingualism:
the early years

In this course you will learn about the development of two or more languages in the early years and you will be introduced to techniques that educators and families can implement to support children’s linguistic development in each of the languages.

Attendees will learn to:

  • Distinguish between different types of bilingual/multilingual children
  • Identify phenomena typical of bilingual language development
  • Select appropriate techniques to improve children’s language and communication skills
  • Support multilingual families by giving evidence-based advice

2 hours

Target audience:

This two hour course is designed for teachers and early childhood educators working with children up to 6 years of age  who speak more than one language. The course is suitable for English medium settings, Irish medium settings and international/multilingual schools.

Book the training

An introduction to bilingualism:
the primary school years

In this course you will learn about the development of two or more languages in the primary school years and you will be introduced to techniques that teachers and families can implement to support children’s linguistic development in each of the languages.

Attendees will learn to:

  • Distinguish between different types of bilingual/multilingual children
  • Identify phenomena typical of bilingual language development in the primary school
  • Identify suitable approaches to use all of the children’s languages in school
  • Select appropriate techniques to improve children’s language and communication skills
  • Support multilingual families by giving evidence-based advice

2 hours

Target audience:

This two hour course is designed for primary school teachers working with children who speak more than one language. The course is suitable for English medium settings and international/multilingual schools.
A separate course is available for Irish medium schools.

Book the training

An introduction to bilingualism in language immersion settings: the primary school years

In this course you will learn about the development of two or more languages in the primary school years and you will be introduced to techniques that teachers and families can implement to support children who attend immersion education in a minority language. 

Attendees will learn to:

  • Distinguish between different types of bilingual/multilingual children
  • Identify phenomena typical of bilingual language development and second language learning in the primary school
  • Identify suitable approaches to boost language skills through immersion education
  • Select appropriate techniques to improve children’s language and communication skills
  • Support families by giving evidence-based advice

2 hours

Target audience:

This two hour course is designed for primary school teachers working with children in immersion settings. The course is suitable for Irish medium settings and schools that offer a language immersion model. A separate course is available for English medium schools.

Book the training

Supporting preschool children
who are new to English

This course provides preschool teachers who are new to teaching who speak English as an additional language. It offers guidance and strategies to support pupils and their families.
Attendees will learn to:

  • Distinguish between different types of bilingual/multilingual children
  • Identify typical phenomena in English language learning in childhood
  • Identify suitable approaches to support EAL in the preschool setting
  • Select appropriate techniques to improve children’s language and communication skills
  • Support families of EAL by giving evidence-based advice

2 hours

Target audience:

This two hour course is designed for primary school teachers working with EAL pupils. The course is suitable for English medium settings and international/multilingual schools.

Book the training
language explorers

Supporting primary school children
who are new to English

This course provides teachers who are new to teaching EAL pupils either in the mainstream classroom or as EAL support teachers. It offers guidance and strategies to support pupils who are starting to learn English as an additional language.

Attendees will learn to:

  • Distinguish between different types of bilingual/multilingual children
  • Identify typical phenomena in English language learning in childhood
  • Identify suitable approaches to support EAL in the primary school setting
  • Select appropriate techniques to improve children’s language and communication skills
  • Support families of EAL by giving evidence-based advice

2 hours

Target audience:

This two hour course is designed for primary school teachers working with EAL pupils. The course is suitable for English medium settings and international/multilingual schools.

Book the training

Making the most of linguistic diversity
in your classroom

In this course you will learn about the many ways in which your pupils can share their language superpowers! Based on the core principles of the national curriculum, this course shows teachers how to use the languages children learn at home as a resource in the classroom to benefit the linguistic, psycho-social and emotional development of all pupils. Note: no foreign language skills required!

Attendees will learn to:

  • Distinguish between different types of bilingual/multilingual children
  • Identify ways to use pupils’ languages within existing curricular activities 
  • Meet the learning outcomes by using pupils’ languages as a resource
  • Reflect on how to use translanguaging in the classroom
  • Design a language policy for your class
  • Support families by giving evidence-based advice on bilingualism

2 hours

Target audience:

This two hour course is designed for primary school teachers working in classes where a range of languages are spoken by the children and their families. Attendees do not need to know foreign languages.

Book the training
language explorers

Book your training by selecting the desired one in the dropdown menu below.