Sixth International Conference on Immersion and Dual Language Education: Connecting Research and Practice Across Contexts

Discussion Session (1 hour)

Estonian and Russian

Two-Way Bilingual Immersion

Pre-K

This session provides the audience with an overview of the preparation for the launch of the two-way immersion program in Estonia. Presenters will invite the participants to discuss the main concerns of the three target groups: the teachers, the parents, and the community. 

The three whales of the one-way immersion model of Estonia – the teachers, the parents, and the community – favoured and supported the launch of the programme back in 1998. The need for the programme was clearly and objectively grounded – Russian-speaking pupils had to be provided with equal possibilities for education in the state language, i.e. in Estonian. In a nutshell – as the one-way programme deserves a presentation of its own – the Estonian immersion turned out to be a success, proven by research (Tallinn University researches, 2007-2008) and taken as an example both in Estonia and abroad (Mehisto, 2015).

The idea behind the suggestion to implement the two-way (Estonian-Russian) immersion programme 15 years later did not seem as clear as in the case of the successful one-way immersion model. The main concerns were the choice of the language (besides being a minority language, Russian itself represents a complicated issue associated with the neighbouring country, the contradictory interpretations of the common Soviet past, and uncertainty about the political future), the competency of teachers, and the support of the community.

The presentation describes the actions undertaken to address the above-named concerns during the two years of the preparation for the programme implementation (2013-2015), provides an overview of the current situation in the two pilot kindergartens, and invites the audience to discuss the present and potential concerns and their solutions from the position of the parties involved – the parents, the teachers, and the community.