What is PALINGUI?

Teachers and teacher educators live in a world of change. Globalisation, technology, and increasing diversity in our society place new demands on education. Children are growing up in an increasingly diverse and multilingual society. Preparing children for the challenges of the 21st century means that teachers and educators should consider the child’s well-being and holistic development. PALINGUI aims to support all teachers and educators of children: those in contexts where plurilingualism either in the community or the education system, is the norm, but also for those living and working in mainly monolingual contexts.

Teachers and educators play an important role in supporting young children (defined here as being aged 3 to 12 covering ISCED Level 0 and ISCED Level 1) in the education system in negotiating this diversity and supporting inclusive practices in their classrooms and schools. Children’s language learning pathways are as individual as the young learners themselves. These language learning pathways are shaped by the child’s individual learning experiences and developments, both within and outside of the education system. Children’s language and development consists of big and small steps. Teachers and educators can make the children in their setting feel valued and support them in being active agents of their own language learning by recognising and respecting different linguistic practices and associated cultures and cultural values.

PALINGUI aims to help teachers and educators understand:

1. The importanceof making all the language learning pathways of the children visible in the classroom, the school, and the education system.
2. The key principles that support the diverse language learning pathways in the education system.
3. What making language learning pathways visible’ looks like in practice: in the classroom and the school.
4. How observation, documentation, and assessment can be used to support children reflect and progress on their own language learning pathways.