In Norwegian classrooms, as in other European classrooms, the number of multilingual pupils has risen. These individuals have a varied background, are from different parts of the world and represent different ethnicities, cultures and languages. They bring experiences and skills to school that are valuable sources for their own learning, for their fellow pupils, the school as a whole and society. For multilingual pupils, qualified bilingual teachers can be a potential support for academic and social improvement (Lillejord & Børte, 2017). The bilingual teachers’ competence can also help to level the differences between minority and majority pupils, and to maintain linguistic diversity (Banks, 2020). Berthele (2019) claims that the most common way of thinking about language is still dominated by monolingual categories, and thus bilingual teachers’ support is an important educational factor to add to a multilingual perspective.

Norway has established a bilingual education programme to qualify bilingual teachers for a profession in school. For 25 years the University of Agder has offered courses to bilingual teachers, and this has evolved into a teacher education programme awarding a Bachelor’s degree.  While several hundred students have been awarded a degree, little attention has been given to the content of this education programme and role of the bilingual teacher in an educational context.     

The focus of the research presented in this paper is on the intentions of the bilingual teacher education programme and its content. Our aim is to investigate and discuss the qualifications a bilingual teacher should have to support multilingual pupils in achieving learning outcome, feeling motivated and experiencing a sense of belonging (Banks, 2020). 

Bourdieu (1991) conceptualises linguistic practices as forms of symbolic capital, which opens an analytical space from which to study the discourses on linguistic practices that are legitimised in education. Using this conceptual framework, we can study the way in which a monolingual versus a multilingual horizon influences the intentions behind and content of the analysed documents, the teacher education programme and, not least, the implications and socio-political elements this has in the light of the efforts to satisfy the needs of multilingual pupils.  

Overarching research question:   

In what way does a bilingual teacher education programme contribute to supporting the academic and social development of multilingual pupils?

The method used in this research is document analysis as presented by Brinkmann & Tanggaard (2015). The analysis will be guided by research questions, and relevant, reliable and valid documents will be reviewed systematically to identify significant information about the conditions we are examining. Relevant documents in this context will be documents that affect the students (in bilingual teacher education) directly, such as course plans, semester plans and reading lists. Other documents will be course descriptions developed at the educational institution (university), and national policy documents, the national core curriculum, including values and principles for Norwegian school, and specific curricula for bilingual education. Legal texts and political background texts will also be relevant here. First, we intend to gain an overview of the collected material and second, we will systematize the content according to the research questions and highlight the most relevant and interesting information. Third, we will apply Bordieu’s concept of ‘cultural capital’ and interpret the content in the light of this and a wider theoretical framework.

As the paper is presenting an ongoing study, there are no clear findings at this point in time. Given the overarching research question, we expect some key topics to emerge. We intend to explore and analyse the bilingual teacher education programme and discuss different perspectives on multilingualism and educational goals. We expect that the findings will reveal whether the education is designed as a holistic teacher qualification with clear intentions to promote, recognise and contribute to a sustainable linguistic diversity for pupils.

Banks, J. A., & Banks, C. A. M. (Ed’s) (2020). Multicultural education: issues and perspectives (tenth edition). Wiley & Sons. Berthele, R. (2021). The Extraordinary Ordinary: Re‐engineering Multilingualism as a Natural Category. Language learning, 71(S1), 80-120. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12407 Brinkmann, S., & Tanggaard, L. (Eds.) (2020). Kvalitative metoder: en grundbog (3rd edition). Hans Reitzel. Bourdieu, P., & Thompson, J. B. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Polity Press. Lillejord, S. & Børte, K. (2017). Lærerutdanning som profesjonsutdanning – forutsetninger og prinsipper fra forskning. Kunnskapssenter for utdanning.