Session Information
31 SES 13 A, Teachers' Beliefs about Multilingualism in Schools
Symposium
Contribution
In today’s linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms, educators across Europe are expected to be competent in teaching learners with diverse backgrounds. However, until recently, teacher education has not included content related to teaching linguistically and culturally diverse learners in their curricula (see for example Carlson et al., 2018). This is also the case in Finland, the context of this study. Lucas and Villegas’ (2013) framework for linguistically responsive teaching provides a strong starting point for teacher educators developing professional development for pre and in-service teachers. Because our actions are always connected to our beliefs (James, 1913), it is important to uncover the beliefs teachers hold in order to understand their needs for professional development in specific areas. In this study, we investigated Finnish teachers’ (N=820) beliefs about linguistically responsive practices in relation to their reported needs for professional development. Data were gathered using an online survey including Likert-scaled statements and an open-ended question. Lucas and Villegas’ (2013) framework was slightly modified and used in analyzing and categorizing the teachers’ responses. The results indicate that teachers’ beliefs related to linguistically responsive pedagogy were generally positive. However, regarding students’ home languages, many teachers were uncertain whether to use them as learning resources, or even whether the students should be allowed to use them at school. Teachers’ need for professional development was examined using frequencies based on answers to the open-ended question. The areas where teachers reported needing the most information were Learning about multilingual students’ language backgrounds, experiences and proficiencies (49.1%), and Methods to scaffold instruction to promote multilingual students’ learning (23.9%). The relation between teachers’ beliefs and their needs for professional development will be discussed more precisely during the presentation, but there was a clear link between beliefs related to home languages and a need for more information about students’ backgrounds and languages. The results of the study are important for teacher education throughout Europe as increasing migration changes the composition of today’s classrooms. The results provide guidance for the design of professional development for all teachers. All students’ academic outcomes can be improved by providing teachers with knowledge and specific strategies and practices reflecting the principles of linguistically responsive teaching.
References
James,W. (1913). Pragmatismi [pragmatism]. Translated by K. W. Silfverberg. Helsinki: Otava. Lucas, T. & Villegas, A. M. (2013). Preparing linguistically responsive teachers: Laying the foundation in preservice teacher education. Theory into Practice, 52, 98-109. Carlson, S., Köker, A., Rosenbrock-Agyei, S., Ohm, U., Koch-Priewe, B., Hammer, S., Fischer, N., & Ehmke, T. (2018). DaZKom – a Structure Model of Pre-service Teachers’ Competency for Teaching German as a Second Language in the Mainstream Classroom. In T. Ehmke, S. Hammer, A. Köker, U. Ohm, & B. Koch-Priewe (Eds.) Professionelle Kompetenzen angehender Lehrkräfte im Bereich Deutsch als Zweitsprache. Münster: Waxmann (pp. 261-283).
Search the ECER Programme
- Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
- Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
- Search for authors and in the respective field.
- For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
- If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.