In order to promote the idea of functional multilingualism in schools, it is necessary to bring together representatives from research, policy and practice and to facilitate an exchange between them.
This is why
the target groups of the network are decision-makers on three levels:
- Local and federal education authorities (provinces / cantons)
- Institutions of teacher education
- Principals of schools in multilingual and multicultural environments
The project can be divided into
two phases:
- Phase I – Researching the current situation
The focus is on investigating how schools in minority regions and metropolitan areas currently deal with the multilingualism of their students and whether teacher education is responding to the given social reality. Existing models for dealing with multilingualism in schools and relevant approaches to teacher education will be evaluated and prepared for dissemination.
- Phase II – Discussion with target groups
The results of phase I will be made available to the target groups and discussed by way of an online discussion platform and conferences. In addition, a major concern of the conferences is to bring together representatives of various European countries and to enable an exchange of so-called ‘old’ and ‘new’ minorities. A range of publications (manuals, brochures, articles, white papers etc.) will also support the sustainable implementation and dissemination of results.
Among the general aims of the project, the international consortium of project partners including research institutions, pedagogical academies, and universities focuses on different, complementary “
work packages”:
- Project management (European Academy Bolzano)
- Multilingualism in minority regions (European Academy Bolzano; Middle East Technical University Ankara; Pedagogical University of Vienna)
- Multilingualism in schools (Pedagogical University of Zurich)
- Diversity and multilingualism in teacher education (University of Tartu, Pedagogical University of Vienna)
- International Conferences (University of Gothenburg; Pedagogical University of Vienna; University of Tartu; Middle East Technical University Ankara)
Eesti keel Italiano Svenska Türkçe