Building Empowering Multilingual Learning Communities in Icelandic Schools

Abstract

Linguistic and cultural diversity of preschools and compulsory school children and their families in Iceland has been steadily growing over the past few years, and currently around 11% of all preschool children and 7.6% of all compulsory school students have heritage languages other than Icelandic (Statistics Iceland. (2015a). Children in pre-primary institutions having another mother tongue than Icelandic 1998–2014 (Internet). Available from http://px.hagstofa.is/pxen/pxweb/en/Samfelag/Samfelag__skolamal__1_leikskolastig__0_lsNemendur/SKO01103.px/table/tableViewLayout1/?rxid=ff370e55-3955-4013-b760-49b3ec5d0fb8; Statistics Iceland. (2015b). Pupils in compulsory schools having another mother tongue than Icelandic 1998–2014 (Internet). Available from http://px.hagstofa.is/pxen/pxweb/en/Samfelag/Samfelag__skolamal__2_grunnskolastig__0_gsNemendur/SKO02103.px/table/tableViewLayout1/?rxid=ff370e55-3955-4013-b760-49b3ec5d0fb8). Although educational policies and curriculum guides in Iceland emphasize equity and inclusion, multilingual and heritage language issues have generally not been addressed thoroughly in these policies (see, e.g., Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. (2011). The Icelandic national curriculum guides (Internet). Reykjavík: Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. Available from http://eng.menntamalaraduneyti.is/publications/curriculum/; Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. (2014). White paper on education reform (Internet). Reykjavík: Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. Available from http://www.menntamalaraduneyti.is/menntamal/hvitbok/). The aim of the study was to explore innovative and empowering educational practices and processes of building multilingual learning communities with parents and children in Icelandic preschools and compulsory schools.

The theoretical framework of the study includes critical approaches to education (May, S., and Sleeter, C. E. (2010). Introduction. Critical multiculturalism. Theory and praxis. In S. May and C. E. Sleeter (Eds.), Critical multiculturalism: Theory and praxis. New York: Routledge; Nieto, S. (2010). The light in their eyes. Creating multicultural learning communities (10th anniversary ed.). New York: Teachers College Press; Trifonas, P. P. (2003). Introduction. Pedagogies of difference. Locating otherness. In P. P. Trifonas (Ed.), Pedagogies of difference: Rethinking education for social change. New York: Routledge) and multilingual education for social justice (Chumak-Horbatsch, R. (2012). Linguistically appropriate practice: A guide for working with young immigrant children. Toronto: University of Toronto Press; Cummins, J., and Early, M. (2011). Introduction. In J. Cummins & M. Early (Eds.), Identity texts. The collaborative creation of power in multilingual schools. London: Trentham books/IOE Press; García, O., & Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan; Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2009). Multilingual education for global justice. Issues, approaches, opportunities. In T. Skutnabb-Kangas, R. Phillipson, A. K. Mohanty, & M. Panda (Eds.), Social justice through multilingual education. Bristol: Multilingual Matters; Trifonas, P. P., and Aravossitas, T. (2014). Introduction. In P. P. Trifonas and T. Aravossitas (Eds.), Rethinking heritage language education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Methods included narratives and interviews with principals, teachers, and parents who have taken part in developing educational partnerships in three preschools and three compulsory schools as well as interviews with students in the compulsory schools and observations.

Findings from the study indicate that the development of empowering multilingual learning communities in the schools in the study has generally been successful and highly evaluated by parents. However, there are a number of challenges, such as educating and including all staff, ensuring succession, reaching out to parents and communities, and funding.