Plurilingualism as pedagogy has gained momentum in Europe and worldwide (Beacco, Byram, Cavalli, Coste, Cuenat, Goullier, & Panthier, 2010; Conteh & Meier, 2014; May, 2014). Multilingual realities are more striking, namely as a result of societal mobility, diaspora and migration, cultural, economic and politic changes, and the influence of new communication technologies.

To a certain extent, depending on the national and local landscapes, schools and classrooms embrace children with plural linguistic biographies and repertoires, but also children with reduced contact with linguistic and cultural diversity. The former call for more inclusive approaches based on the recognition and valuing of their linguistic capital in school (European Commission, 2015), a reality that may be interpreted in different ways, depending on the teachers’ linguistic ideologies and practices (Haukås, 2016; Young, 2014). The latter present us with a plurilingual repertoire in potential, and demand of schools and teachers the creation of learning environments that expand and enrich that repertoire (Andrade, Martins & Pinho, 2014). As such, both teaching multilingual classrooms and teaching for linguistic and cultural diversity can be seen as two sides of the same coin, mainly if plurilingual education is seen as a project and right (Beacco et al., 2010; Coste, Cavalli, Crişan, & van de Ven, 2009).

From a pedagogical standpoint, instead of being relegated to the periphery of curricula, the ‘integration of the language contact into the didactic model’ is advocated by Gajo (2014) as a route to foster a ‘global and joined-up perspective on languages’ (p.121). Accordingly, to teach plurilingualism, i.e. fostering a ‘favourable attitude towards languages, cultures and their diversity’, as well as a plurilingual teaching, i.e. ‘the development of a student’s plural repertoire by the situating of resources’ (Gajo, 2014, p.121). However, how curriculum is interpreted and managed to integrate such global perspective of plurilingual education is highly dependent on teachers. Consequently, as Luke (2008) states, it is crucial to look into contextualisation processes, and to teachers’ experiences and learning in their contexts of work.

In addition, several studies point out to the importance of teachers’ developing particular competences to deal with diversity (Arnesen, Allan, & Simonsen, 2010; Lucas & Villegas, 2014), and underline the role of professional development environments (Pinho & Moreira, 2012). Jensen (2010) reporting on the TALIS results regarding the issue of diversity, concludes that over 80% of teachers state having professional development needs in the context of teaching in multicultural settings. Interestingly, ‘those teachers with relatively few students from different language backgrounds still reported just as high professional development needs for teaching in a multicultural setting.’ (p.71). A major conclusion of the study is that, in order to ensure improvements in teaching, professional development initiatives should focus on the needs of teachers, and involve evaluation and quality, on-going feedback on that matter in the school organisational environment.

The present study investigates primary school teachers’ (i) perspectives on plurilingual (and intercultural) education, based on their experience in the joint development of projects; and (ii) their professional learning in this setting. Ultimately, it intends to put forward some reflections regarding plurilingual education and teachers’ professional development in this scope.

The background for this piece of research is a university-school partnership, involving a Portuguese university and a school cluster, in the context of which a group of 14 primary school teachers collaboratively conceived, experimented and evaluated plurilingual (and intercultural) projects throughout an academic year, taking advantage of the subject areas syllabi and contextual characteristics. These projects, with an action-research stance, intended to establish connections between diverse learning areas or curriculum components, in order to attain more integrative curriculum practices.

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