An Introduction to Diwan

The following information is from a publication produced in 1998 by Diwan, designed to introduce its schools and pedagogy to prospective parents, or to others interested in better understanding its operation. I have translated approximately half of the information found in the Diwan booklet, and in some cases synthesized or rearranged a bit of the information. The best way to keep informed of what is going on in the Diwan schools is to consult the Diwan website: www.diwanbreizh.org
- Lois Kuter -

Some Key Dates

1977 - Creation of the first Diwan preschool.
1980 - First primary school class.
1988 - The secondary school level first opens
1994 - The Diwan high school opens in Relecq-Kerhuon (Brest) in September.
1995 - A second middle school opens in Plésidy (Côtes d'Armor)
1997 - Successful graduation (baccalaureat) for the first Diwan high school students. Opening of a third middle school in Quimper
1999 - In the Fall, a fourth middle school - Skol Diwan Morbihan opens, and the high school opens in Carhaix with approximately 90 students

Diwan in Numbers (2002-03 School Year)

33 preschools & primary schools (119 classes); 4 middle schools and a high school
In the 2002/03 school year there were 2,780 students enrolled in Diwan schools (2,139 in the preschools and primary schools, 504 in the middle schools and 137 in high school)

Why Diwan?

Inspired by the Ikastolak (of the Basques) and Meithrin (of the Welsh) Diwan's first preschool opened in 1977 in Lampaul-Ploudalmézeau. Diwan means "sprout" in Breton and is an association loi de 1901.

The Breton Language

There are Diwan schools because there is Breton-a living language with a unique oral culture and literature growing out of a European Celtic line going back 2000 years. It is the language of a nation that was independent until the 15th century and spoken up to the 9th century throughout the Armorican peninsula.

In 1900 Sébillot estimated that there were 1,300,000 Breton speakers; today we are at 400,000. That is still a lot if one compares Breton to the minority language of western Europe (of which there are some 40!) which range from 150,000 for the least spoken up to 2 1⁄2 million for the most widely found. Some with less speaker than Breton, but with official recognition, have ceased to decline and are even developing.

The survival of the Breton language will be played out through Diwan. The possibility of transmitting our language to future generations will require a positive political will in the area of the media and in public life in Brittany. If not, the race against the clock could be definitively lost and one of the most important elements of the Celtic patrimony will be no more than a curiosity in the archives. But beyond Breton, it is fundamental democracy and its respect that will be stuck down. To defend Breton is to chose diversity over uniformity, variety over monotony.

The Objectives of Diwan

To offer an entire schooling in Breton, for preschool to the Baccalaureat (high school graduation)
To draw on a culture rooted in a living environment. Many people, especially in Lower Brittany, speak Breton in their daily lives and many students have in their family one or several people from whom Breton is the mother tongue.
To allow children to learn their history, from its roots in the language of their ancestors.
To favor psychological, intellectual and a rich social development through early bilingualism, ant to prepare effectively them to master several languages, which will be a necessity for tomorrow's Europe.
The role of the school is not only to transmit knowledge but also to allow each child to build his or her own personality. To be free, that's to know who one is in order to recognizes others. A strong cultural identity gives a point of reference, something that is often missing for many youth today. This reference point is a factor in socialization based on tolerance and a desire for exchange.

The Diwan Charter

Article 1. The Diwan association is open to all families desiring the assurance of an education for their children through the Breton language, without socioprofessional, philosophical or political discrimination. The schools are free of charge and open to all.
Article 2. Diwan exists because of the deficiencies in the National Education system which does not give its proper place to the Breton language. It demands that the schools be taken charge of in a democratic and renewed public education service in Brittany, allowing the use of Breton as the language of teaching from preschool to the university in all areas of learning.
Article 3. Diwan is independent of any philosophical, religious, political, syndical, or other formation. In consequence, Diwan affirms that its fight requires that the religious, philosophical or political convictions of all of its members be respected, whatever their range as long as they are not contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This indispensable tolerance leads Diwan to defend and promote an undenominational character in its teaching and to guarantee the liberty of thought for each person.
Article 4. Diwan establishes a democratic teaching with the effective collaboration of parents, local collectives, and teachers. Diwan asks parents to create a climate conducive to expression in the Breton language in the daily life of the home.
Article 5. Diwan takes upon itself the encouragement of the use of Breton within the association at all levels. Additionally, Diwan promotes a cultural development in the Breton language giving each child the maximum opportunities to forge his or her own future, permitting children of Brittany to take charge of their natural, social and economic environment.
Article 6. Diwan declares its hostility to all linguistic uniformization and is supportive of diverse forms of cultural expression, affirming that only in being complimentary can they be a source of unity, and of mutual and collective enrichment. The Breton taught in the Diwan preschools is that used in their geographic and human environment.
Article 7. In conformance with the inalienable rights of people to express their own culture, Diwan calls on all people who love democracy, Breton cultural organizations, and unionized groups-especially of teachers--to fight with her for more justice and against all forms of cultural dominance.
Article 8. Diwan declares its solidarity with all peoples who fight for their cultural identity, including immigrant workers, affirming that their diversity contributes to the enrichment of the human patrimony.

The Objective: Early Bilingualism

The Strategy: Immersion

Scientific research has shown the importance of all the early learning that takes place in acquiring knowledge and skills through ones schooling. The child in its youngest age is, in fact, in the optimal conditions for learning. Because, it's during early childhood that most of the development of the brain and intellectual capabilities are developed. The richness and variety of external stimulations play an important role in each individual's capacity to develop certain areas of knowledge. In fact, it is between birth and 6 years old that most learning must be awakened. This is the ageduring which the child is very receptive and learns without effort. What is true for learning anything is true for learning most fundamental skills is true for learning languages.

Thus, learning another language must be introduced very early. The ideal being that this learning starts in the family.

Early bilingualism needs one or the other of the following combinations to succeed:

Father or Mother (example: the father speaks Breton exclusively to the child and the mother speaks French.
Parents or Breton in the external environment
Parents or Breton in preschool.

Immersion teaching which has been experimented with for thirty years in Canada has given provides a satisfactory answer to meet our objective: to foster early bilingualism in a linguistic situation (ours) characterized by an total imbalance between the two languages of the larger community. The exclusive use of Breton in school up to elementary school classes has the goal of correcting this imbalance. The fundamental learning is done without recourse to French (i.e., without translating) which would unnecessarily complicate the work of the child to learn. This is the paradox of immersion: one becomes bilingual through monolingualism.

The very principal behind immersion is not to teach a language as a goal in itself, but to use the language as a means of learning in various areas of activity. A child will not willingly learn a language when he does not see what this serves. His attitude is different when the language becomes a tool to acquire knowledge.

The other aspect of teaching by immersion which meets our objective of early bilingualism is its intensive character. The ineffectiveness that one often regrets to find in the teaching of foreign or secondary languages is linked in large part to its spread out character: few hours of classes over a span of seven years. We are not mistaken here; the objective of such teaching is not to produce bilingual individuals.

The Diwan Pedagogical System

As outlined in its Charter, the Breton language is used as the language for teaching from preschool through high school. The pedagogical plan put in place by Diwan takes into account:

The unequal balance of Breton and French languages in the family, public life, and media.
Scientific research in the area of child development, language acquisition, and learning mechanisms.
The state of research in the area of bilingualism and its use on a large scale (Walies, Catalonia, Canada.

The Preschool

The only language used by the teacher is Breton, in the method of immersion. At the beginning of preschool the child uses either French or Breton if he or she already uses it. In the case of children starting with French, the use of Breton comes progressively at the individual's own rhythm. This "natural" system of teaching by immersion has been practiced successfully in Canada for 30 years.

One looks at three stages of development in the acquisition of a language:

The threshold of understanding is generally achieved rapidly in preschool through daily use of a vocabulary directly related to the children's' interests.
The threshold of communication is next achieved. The exchange between child and teacher can be made in Breton. The language takes on a real sense as a tool for obtaining knowledge. The rapidity in achieving this level is linked to different parameters: the use and motivation for Breton in the family, the sense given buy the child to one language or the other, external linguistic influences (such as television). Immersion allows a mitigation in part of the imbalance between the two languages for children who do not speak Breton at home.
The threshold of conceptualization (generally achieved before the end of preschool) allows for a complex use of the language as a tool of communication, thought, mathematical reasoning, and creation. The child is thus ready to take on fundamental training: reading, writing, math.

Benchmarks in the Diwan Linguistic Strategy:

2 years old	Preschool	Language for teaching: Breton	26 hrs / Breton
6 years old	CP	Language for teaching: Breton	26 hrs / Breton
7 1⁄2 years old	CE	Language for teaching: Breton	24 hrs / Breton
7 1⁄2 years old	CE	Introduction to the dominant language: French	2 hrs / French
10 years old	CM2	Linguistic and scholastic: Breton	17 hrs / Breton
10 years old	CM2	Achievement equal for both: French	6 hrs / French
11 years old	Collège, 6th	Introduction to a 3rd language: English	6 classes a week / English
11 years old	Collège, 6th	French & Breton as languages for teaching	22.5 classes / Breton 6.5 classes / French
13 years old	Collège, 4th	Oral and written competency English in 3rd language, now used as language for teaching	5.5 classes / English
13 years old	Collège, 4th	Introduction of a 4th language: Spanish or German	4 classes / Spanish-German
14 years old	Collège, 3rd	3 languages used as languages for teaching	18.5 classes / Breton 8 classes / French 6.5 classes / English
14 years old	Collège, 3rd	Oral and written knowledge of a 4th language: Spanish or German	4 classes / Spanish-German

Elementary School:

In CE1 (7 1⁄2 years old) French is introduced. Mechanisms acquired in Breton are rapidly transposed. At first it is a matter of becoming competent in learning different spellings for certain phonemes. Very rapidly, one moves to the study of the language and its oral and written use. At this level many concepts can be transposed from one language to the other, directly or by comparative study. The time reserved for French progressively increases until the end of the primary level in the following way: CE1 has 2 hours, CE2 has 6 hours, CM1 has 6 hours and CM2 has 6 hours (see chart which follows).

At the end of the primary school level children in the Diwan schools should have a knowledge and a competence in French which is equal to that of children coming out of the unilingual school system, and their competence is equal in both languages.

The teaching material follows the official programs of the National Education system

Middle School and High School

The Diwan Middle Schools are the outcome of the work of some fifty people who have been working since 1985 to elaborate study programs and create school books in Breton. This allows for teachers today to work with a solid base and to use modern teaching materials.

The Diwan Secondary level is also the fruit of the work of parents and children who have all thought through and laid out the basic lines of the educational project.

Diwan Cocktail: 1.3 French and 2/3 Breton

The two languages are languages of learning and study.

In Breton: History, geography, physics, natural sciences, math, art, sports, music and computer.

In French: Civics, technology, math (one third of the program is studied in French in the 3rd level and exercises to use math in French are used at other levels)

English-a third living language

Because students are already bilingual when they arrive at the middle school level. English is a third language for them. To accelerate the learning of English, the students have six (45-minute) classes a week As is done with Breton, English is approached as a language for discovery and interaction and not as a "scholarly materials." Radio and television programs in English are used for teaching as are correspondence and exchanges with a Welsh middle school, and travel in Great Britain.

English-a language for teaching

Subjects taught in English are: History and geography of Great Britain (in the 4th level) and Natural Sciences in the 3rd level (the official National Education curriculum). When student reach the 3rd level (14years old), English becomes a medium for teaching alongside Breton and French. This program put into place with English-speaking teachers, allows for English to become a truly living language and readies students for the Europe of tomorrow. In the same spirit, the study of a second foreign language is begun (Spanish or German).

The rhythm of the school program

Classes are 45 minutes long to take advantage of student's attention span. Days are lengthened two times a week with a long break at noon to allow students to participate in various leisure activities: radio production, theater, sports, Welsh classes, music, etc.

Dynamic and active Middle and High School students

It's their school and they have worked with adults to prepare it during their primary school years. Today they live it with passion and enthusiasm through sports competitions, participation in various daily tasks, in School Council meetings, and a regular weekly meeting with the principal of the school.

The Pedagogical and Educational Team

To form a team means you must have the same goals, the same preoccupations and to work together. At the middle schools and high school, the teachers and those that manage school life (animateurs) - often the same-are part of the same team and work together so there is no gap between daily life and teaching. Two times per month the team meets to take stock and put new projects in place-educationally and pedagogically. These meetings have allowed them to decide how to put into place programs to support students or create new classes of methodology, but also to individualize the path of students, providing tutoring, for example.

Now, the High School

The Secondary level began in September 1994 with the 1st level starting in 1995 and the final level completing the Diwan schooling in 1996 to arrive at the doors of the university. For the first time in 1997, Diwan high school students took (and successfully passed) their Baccalaureat exams.

Questions Potential Diwan Parents Ask

Isn't it artificial to school a child in Diwan for whom the family language isn't Breton?
For over 50% of Diwan children the two parents are not Breton speakers. Nevertheless, all become bilingual. The aptitude of the child to manipulate two languages is natural. It's no more artificial to give a bilingual education to a child than it is to teach them piano when the parents are not musicians.
Yes, be bilingual, but why in Breton?
Because Breton makes up part of the environment and the culture which surrounds the child. The daily practice of two languages allows comparison, and the questioning and good comparison of rules of construction of a language. It is thus an extremely effective preparation for the learning of a third and then a fourth language at the middle school level.
Can I enroll my child in Diwan after completing preschool in French?
Yes, this is possible with the inclusion of some precautionary measures. Discuss this with the Diwan teacher.
What happens if the family moves to another region (of France)?<
A child who interrupts his schooling at the beginning of primary school could have some passing weaknesses in French. Collaboration with the new teacher and follow-up work at home will regulate the problem quickly enough.
Won't my child mix the two languages?<
This happens. But, more than other children, he will be conscious of the arbitrary nature of linguistic signs. In contrast to many monolingual adults, he will understand that there is no natural link between, for example, the word "ti" and the thing (a house) that could just as well be called "maison", "house", or even "Haus." In short, the effort he will make to not mix two languages will facilitate his learning of other languages. When you have such questions do not hesitate to discuss them with your child's teachers.
Will my child have difficulties with French?
The national tests (at CE2 and 6th levels) show the contrary. The results of students in Diwan schools were overall superior to national averages.
Won't my child have difficulty getting along with other monolingual children?
He will seek naturally to meet up with friends from his class. He will be proud to know how to express himself in two languages, but he will not feel different from neighborhood children with whom he will go swimming or to music lessons.
Won't there be too much Breton for my child?
Lets count up the total for a week: 7 days of 24 hours totals 168 hours, of which 70 hours are sleep. 98 hours remain. 26 of those hours per week are in school (in Breton with French at the primary level). 72 of those hours are with family and friends, etc (very frequently in French). Thus 25-30% of the waking hours are in Breton.
We are not Breton speakers. Will we be able to follow the schooling at the primary level?
Experience shows us yes. In your school parents have lived through this and can talk to you about it. The teachers can consult with you. There is tutoring (in the evening) in some schools. Ask the Parents Association at the school. And since you are demanding that your child make an effort to learn, you must make one too. That will be worth your while and your child will thus see your full support of the choice you have made in schools.