Teachers are in the frontline in our changing world. We need a pedagogical approach that is open to other languages and cultures to deal with the new realities the changing world brings.
We need leaders and teachers who are prepared to push the boundaries.
What does being prepared look like?
Participants will be introduced to the ITLGs (the Interlingual Teaching and Learning Goals). Teaching & learning are grouped together because, with the Interlingual approach, the child and the teacher become involved in a more genuine, mutual learning process where each learns from the other. Children are allowed to use their languages as cognitive tools: they can transfer skills, concepts and learning strategies across languages. We will reflect on how schools have to change in order to implement this notion, moving from theoretical statements to effective, everyday practice.
We will also consider school / classroom / children / teacher and leader identity, and share ideas on how to plan effectively for, and put into practice ways of including home languages in everyday instruction so that all children have equal rights to the curriculum.
When Second Language Students join international schools at the secondary level without well developed academic English ability, they face enormous challenges. Outside of their ESL classes, they are faced continually with English at a high academic level in all subject areas.
How can we help them to access the curriculum content, increase their level of understanding and at the same time show that we appreciate and value their mother tongues?
How can we give their parents insight into what their children are actually learning?
Translanguaging opens up new opportunities for students (and their parents) in the twenty-first century - but of course we will still need the ESL and mother tongue teachers!
Globally, there is an increasing focus on the critical role a child’s mother tongue/home language plays in cognitive and linguistic development. It has also become a growing concern in international schools, with new research supporting the need for international schools to improve or develop provisions to ensure that all students continue using their mother tongue for learning at school, in systemic and systematic ways.
The issue for international schools then, is not if they should support the mother tongue languages of their students, but a more complex how should they support them. Given the diverse and super-diverse nature of most international schools, this question has no easy answer. An area of research and practice that has been increasingly of interest in this discussion is translanguaging. Bringing translanguaging into the spotlight as an ideology of multilingualism is a step forward in understanding normative multilingual practices, but bringing it into the classroom as a vehicle for integrating mother tongue languages requires more than ideology. This session will look at the practical aspects of planning for translanguaging in international schools, in particular looking at the structures of the PYP as a framework for understanding effective translanguaging pedagogy. Participants will leave will a clear vision of why we should translanguage in international schools, as well as how we plan for effective use in the classroom.
What kind of people are we educating?
Children need to understand from an early age that being a polyglot is not only a desirable outcome of education but also an achievable one. The building blocks for a better world must be seeded in Early Years. We must enable children to see themselves as agents of change, capable of understanding world views. Openness to other languages is essential.
In this session I will introduce The Glitterlings – a series of nine stories for the Early Years that develops biliteracy engagement, a positive sense of self and creates an affective bond between child and books. We will consider how parents can become co-educators in this process.
‘The Glitterlings is a unique resource because it helps young children begin the journey towards national, international and intercultural-mindedness, empowering them with the skills they will need to play their part on the plurilingual and pluricultural global stage.’
John Dabell
