Learn more about Family and school promoting multilingualism together
1. Parents as teachers’ “knowledgeable partners”
Parents are rarely considered as “knowledgeable partners” (Epstein & Hollifield, 1996), although they are key-informants for teachers and children on development and learning issues. In order to sustain children’s multilingualism,
- teachers need to recognize linguistically diverse parents and involve them as competent and knowledgeable partners;
- parents’ linguistic experiences and backgrounds need to be recognized and made more visible and valuable at school as resources, rather than obstacles;
- parents need to have voice and being listened to as “experts” more than subordinated and marginalized actors as far as linguistic education is concerned;
- meaningful dialogue on the strength and challenges of educating multilingual children is needed to support children’s multilingualism.