McAdory & Janmaat, 2015; NCCA, 2007; Nig Uidhir, Ó Cathalláin, & Ó Duibhir, 2016). However, Ní Thuairisg & Ó Duibhir (2016), suggest a further change in the home language of pupils attending these schools. They found that similar to previous findings, over half (50.8%) of all parents (N=321) reported speaking mainly English with a few Irish words or phrases included occasionally to their children. A smaller proportion of parents (0.3%) reported speaking only Irish to their children, and more interestingly 0.6% of parents spoke a home language that was neither Irish nor English. This figure demonstrates the increasing diversity among pupils attending IM schools. Hence, it is not surprising that many parents of pupils in these schools have reported having a low level of Irish language ability (Harris, Forde, Arden, Nic Fhearaile, & Ó Gorman, 2006; Kavanagh & Hickey, 2013; Ní Thuairisg & Ó Duibhir, 2016). The study by Ní Thuairisg & Ó Duibhir (2016) found that 25.4% of parents participating in their study
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(N=321) had functional Irish. This means that they were native Irish language speakers (7.3%) or could converse fluently in Irish (18.1%). The remaining parents (62.5%) had a lower standard of Irish. Of these parents, 2.2% had no Irish at all, 9.5% had a few words, 22.5% had some simple sentences, and 40% could make some conversation. Figure 2.2 shows the findings of the study by Kavanagh (2013) who analysed parents (N=552) and their partners (N=478) Irish language proficiency. The research analysed proficiency in terms of understanding, speaking, reading, and writing.
Figure 2. 2 Parents self-assessed Irish language proficiency in the study by Kavanagh (2013, p. 137).
In the RoI, research suggests that pupils in these schools are more likely to come from homes with a higher socio-economic status. Shiel et al. (2011) compared the parental
occupations of pupils from IM, Gaeltacht, and English-medium schools using an international socioeconomic index. As shown in Figure 2.3, the majority of 6th class pupils (45%) from the IM cohort (N=1,390) lived in families with a high SES, 36% came from families with medium SES, and 20% from families with a low SES. Findings for the 2nd class pupil cohort (N=1,640) were
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similar. Of these pupils, 45% came from a high SES, 30% from a middle-class SES, and 25% from families with a low SES. Within all three of these categories, pupils from IM schools were more advantaged in terms of their SES in comparison to pupils in Gaeltacht and English-medium schools (see Shiel et al., 2011, p. 56 for further details).
Figure 2. 3 Percentages of 6th class pupils from high, medium, and low socio-economic status families (from Shiel et al., 2011, p. 16).
In NI, Nig Uidhir et al. (2016) assessed the SES of pupils in IM schools through the number of pupils entitled to free meals in school. Those receiving free meals, generally come from families with a low SES, where parents are in receipt of income support, are asylum seekers, or are earning an annual income of £16,190 or less per annum (Education Authority, 2019). Of the cohort studied (N=101), 46% of pupils were entitled to free meals. This statistic was much higher than that of the Department of Education NI (27%) for all primary school types for the academic year 2012/2013. Hence, it can be suggested that pupils in these schools in NI tend to come from areas of lower SES than their peers attending English mainstream schools in NI, and those in IM schools in the RoI. As mentioned previously, 21 of the 28 IM stand-alone schools in NI were located in areas of low SES and included in the Extended Schools Programme.
83 2.12 Parental Involvement in IM Schools
Parental involvement in IM schools in the RoI is thought to be higher than in English mainstream schools (Coady & Ó Laoire, 2002; Mac Giolla Phádraig, 2003; McAdory & Janmaat, 2015). For example, Strickland & Hickey (2016), found that pupils in these schools were more likely to read with their parents. In the week prior to their assessment in the GUI study, 46% of pupils in English-medium schools (N=6,704) had read with their parents,
compared to 55% of pupils from IM schools (N=264). Furthermore, McCoy et al., (2012) found that these pupils are more likely to participate in out-of-school cultural activities. Of the 9-year- old, IM school cohort (N=569), 65% of pupils reported being involved in cultural activities (music, drama, and social networking), this is in comparison to 52% of children attending English-medium schools (N=6,704). Their involvement in these activities shows a greater level of parental involvement than their English-medium counterparts. A correlation was also found by the researchers for this cohort between participation in cultural activities and higher levels of academic achievement in English and mathematics, even when the factor of social background was controlled within the statistics (McCoy et al., 2012, p. 52). Kavanagh & Hickey (2013) conducted mixed-method research on ‘Identifying Challenges to Parental Involvement Among
Immersion Parents’ in IM schools (N=563 parents). Over two thirds of participants reported
their low level of Irish language proficiency as a barrier to their involvement (Kavanagh & Hickey, 2013, p. 12). Other themes that were identified as barriers for these parents include: (i) practical issues, such as time, childcare, and rival commitments, (ii) parents were often rebuffed by their child when they attempted to be involved in their education and speak Irish, (iii) school community factors, such as, the lack of suitable resources, (iv) a dissatisfaction with the support offered to parents enabling them to participate more actively in their child’s education, and (v) the lack of invitation or opportunity to become involved in school activities. It was stated that
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there were fewer opportunities for them to become involved in established schools (5 years +) than in non-established schools.