Page 33 - ELG1903 Mar-Apr Issue 464

SPECIAL FEATURE

handful of experimental bilingual schools,
“We do not select children. We find the
EMETERIO SUAREZ part of a British Council project. children who have become bilingual and we
invite them to join the section.”
“They were struggling,” he concedes,
I’ve give up arguing with Xavier Gisbert
“but I thought bilingual could be a very
interesting possibility. So I cleared my desk,
and I took a large piece of paper and I began about these things. His opinions are strong
and, when the evidence comes in, it tends to
to sketch out a plan.” support him. I remember, a couple of years
The plan became the Madrid bilingual ago, asking him whether bilingual schools
school project, a project which by 2017 had disadvantaged students with low Socio-
revolutionized the level of English in Madrid’s Economic Status, or SES.
state schools. At age 16, nearly 60 per cent “Children with low SES always do worse,”
of children in the programme test at B2 or he snapped back. “The question is can we
above with, 27 per cent reaching C1 or above, reduce the gap?”
according to British Council research. And reduce it they have. The L2 levels of
The figures are even higher in the elite low SES children in Madrid’s bilingual schools is
bilingual sections, the special secondary school lower than that of their more affluent peers, but
programme for children who test well in their L2 the difference is significantly wider in the non-
at the end of their bilingual primary. The British bilingual schools, the British Council found. In
Council found that 85 per cent fact, low SES children in
of them were at B2 or above, We do not select bilingual schools were
the kind of result you would at the same language
only expect to see in Sweden children. We fi nd the level as middle-class
or the Netherlands, the best children in non-
performing English language children who have bilingual education.
learners in the world. become bilingual and Not what the
were from immigrant families but most were Now, the whole bilingual centre left politicians
from Latin America. Only 5 per cent did not school project is contentious we invite them to join in the current Spanish
speak either Spanish or English at home. in Spain. The bilingual government probably
There is very little Xavier Gisbert doesn’t sections are a major political the section. want to hear.
know about Madrid state schools. Madrid is hot potato, with parties on Perhaps they hope
where, while working as Director General the left labelling it as selective. Xavier Gisbert is no longer there to answer
for Quality Improvement of Teaching for Selective education is not allowed under back. But though he has left the Madrid
the regional government, he came across a Spanish law. bilingual project, the warrior has not left the
field. He has set up an accreditation scheme
for bilingual schools across Spain, working
with language consultancy NewLink.
drid’s bilingual project piece of advice he gives the schools he is
And what is the single most important
looking to accredit?
“Your teachers must be C1 in the language,
In 2017 the British Council or your school will not be a bilingual school.”
tested the English of nearly It’s the Gisbert mantra.
2,000 16 year olds in 170 Madrid “And why do teachers need to be C1?”
schools, including 45 bilingual “Because the language of the student…”
state schools using Aptis for he starts.
Teenagers, an exam which is new “will never be better than the teacher’s”
to Spain. I finish.
We laugh. All migrant children know that.
The results, shown in the table All language teachers, too. He drains his
at left, are reported across all four coffee and stands up to leave. But I have one
skills for both bilingual and non- more question. He is the migrant child who
bilingual schools. On average, climbed the greasy pole of education, but why
students in bilingual schools did he never become a politician?”
tested at B2 and C1 level. He shrugs and smiles. “Because I always say
what I think.”

■ Xavier Gisbert da Cruz has a degree in French Philology from the Complutense
University of Madrid. He has been Education Counselor at the Embassy of
Spain in London, Director of the Regional Center of Innovation and Training
BRITISH COUNCIL “Las Acacias”, Director General of Improvement of the Quality of Education
of the Ministry of Education of the Community of
Madrid, General Director of Evaluation and Territorial
Cooperation in the Ministry of Education, Culture and
Sport and Education Counselor of the Embassy of Spain
in Washington. He was a promoter of the International
Congresses of Bilingual Teaching (CIEB). He is the
author of several publications and is currently President of
the Bilingual Teaching Association (EB).

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