England as a country with high rates of immigration has been addressing the issue of English as an Additional Language (EAL) since 1966. While in the 1960s the waves of immigration were linked to the Commonwealth ties and history, more recently the main influx of immigrants is from the countries of the European Union.

Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) in England mostly arrive in schools having had very little input, often one lecture, on working with EAL learners. In urban contexts such as London, Manchester, Birmingham they are likely to have majority of their lessons with highly multilingual learners. In such contexts their ITT (Initial Teacher Training) is a seriously insufficient preparation for the reality of many schools. This issue has been raised by NQTs themselves with the then TTA (Teaching Training Agency) (TTA NQTs survey, 2003). The Teaching Development Agency (TDA), TTA’s successor, has responded to these concerns by supporting the development of the Multiverse Website for NQTs which provides examples of good practice and relevant research findings. However, according to a NALDIC report existing training and support do not appropriately equip teachers: “Many class and subject teachers are struggling to offer the kind of language conscious pedagogy necessary to enable EAL learners to engage with the language and content of the curriculum.” (NALDIC, 2006).

For practitioners at the senior level and headteachers, the situation is somewhat similar. There is no compulsory EAL module in the NPQH (National Professional Qualification for Headship) training. Even though there is a compulsory module on racial and cultural diversity, again it cannot be taken for granted that multilingualism will be sufficiently covered. The data and evidence collected in a study with four London headteachers provides an insight in absence of professional development specifically addressing multilingualism (Mehmedbegovic, 2008). Securing sufficient input on multilingualism for future headteachers currently going through training and for existing heads through professional development is of vital importance in the system where headteachers have almost unlimited autonomy to decide how to utilise funds allocated to schools for bilingual children. London schools especially cannot afford a leadership vacuum in this area as without good leadership existing pockets of good practice in using first languages in the curriculum and supporting children to develop bilingually can easily be lost. This is a serious issue for the leadership of schools with multilingual pupil intake which need heads who will champion good practice that enhances acquisition of English and multilingualism.

In 2007, TDA envisaged an EAL Workforce Strategy encompassing all members of the teaching workforce across all key stages; those who have a classroom role (teaching and supporting learning), including EAL specialists and mainstream staff, as well as school leaders. The contract was awarded to a consortium led by the Institute of Education. Currently, with the change of Government and forthcoming cuts in the education budget, the future of this strategy is uncertain.

This paper reports on the research conducted with lead professionals in the field in preparations for the identification of key priorities and strategy development.

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