A rush of bilingual blood to the head

Coucou Madame,
I've been thinking.....(as Richard Prebble is reputed to have said) and here is the product of my reflections:

Inspired by a recent stuff article based on a Uni of Auckland Education lecturer, John McCaffery's research into bilingual education, through a case-study of Richmond Road School, I was reflecting on the feasibility/desirability of setting up similar bilingual units in other primary schools around the country. It would necessarily involve only small numbers of students but it might answer a need/ be an interesting enquiry project/ promote sustainable, effective language learning/ be a basis for research into the value of bi-lingualism in cognitive development.

Why would I like to be involved in this process?

• It seems to me a worthwhile goal, relevant to my aim of encouraging students to share my passion for speaking other languages and experiencing other cultures.
• It would be a parallel structure rather than something that competes with any existing structures and initiatives.
• I feel I have a lot of expertise that would be valuable to such an initiative.
• I have doubts, as does John McCaffery, that the current regime is the most effective way to learn languages.
• Having taught primary students languages last year, I can see how rapidly they soak it up, even with relatively little time spent on it, and how enthusiastic and uninhibited they are about communicating.
• The primary level is undoubtedly when students are most receptive to learning languages (other than pre-school)
• The language required to teach other subjects in the Target Language is no doubt less complex at junior level than it would be at senior
• At last one would be free of the constraints of having to groom prospective NCEA candidates.
• Cohorts would be together all day, so it would be easier to be flexible about scheduling.

So, I've made a wee 'carte heuristique' with some preliminary musings which I submit for your input, in case you have a nano-second to think about it????
Am I being totally unrealistic to imagine that one might get something like this off the ground?
Even since I photographed this mind-map just now, I've added new things to it.  Such as:

• should one target public or private education? 
• Should it be restricted, as I think Richmond Road is, to families that have a TL speaking parent who can support their child's learning.? (which defeats the purpose of making it accessible to a wider public)
• Could one conceivably think of offering parallel classes to parents of students in bi-lingual classes to help them support the learning?
• Could one imagine incorporating virtual classes to make smaller units more viable and reduce costs?

Here are another couple of links to articles that have fueled my enthusiasm, in English and in French
What do you reckon? Am I being pie in the sky? It's a bit more challenging and interactive than sitting at my computer translating, although I'm still working on that idea too. I'm off to sit the C2 in AK on 3 May. Will I be 'à la hauteur'? It'll depend on the subject matter and my ability to process the info super quickly. Never my forte..... On verra.
Bises
^..^
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