[eal-bilingual] Michael Marland

Dear colleagues,

I've just received news that Michael Marland, former headteacher of
North Westminster Community School, died earlier today.

North Westminster was an extraordinary comprehensive school with a very
large bilingual population and Michael worked very hard indeed to ensure
that the school had as many EAL teachers as he could squeeze out of the
various funding formulas that came and went suring his twenty-five years
at the school. When I joined, in 1983, there were some 20 members of the
EAL department - an astonishing number and due largely to his effort.

Michael was also extremely innovative in promoting the teaching of
community languages (we had Bengali and Arabic on the timetable from the
mid 80s onwards) and supported the development of an in-hopuse
interpreters scheme that saw many of our students receiving training and
acting as interpreters at parents' evenings and other events.

He is probably best known for his work on The Bullock Committee and for
his seminal book 'Language Across the Curriculum', which enshrined the
notion that no child should have to leave the language and culture of
the home at the school gate - a view rare at the time of its voicing,
influential in its understanding of the 'non-standard' child and their
needs, and as vital for us to struggle for today.

A page has been set up on Facebook for people to contribute their
memories and thoughts about Michael and I am sure his family would take
much comfrot from these. 

We have much to be grateful to him for.

Frank

---------------------------------
The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302).