Abstract Book of the 10th International Conference on Modern Research in Social Sciences
Year: 2025
[PDF]
Evolving open attitudes towards classroom diversity amongst future primary school teachers
kari Stunell
ABSTRACT:
The dynamic, interactive, evolving nature of language repertoires is largely accepted in the research world. That an individual’s various linguistic experiences, however partial, temporary, or unequal they may be, all interact to form a single, complex, plurilingual competence inseparable from their identity, has underpinned Council of Europe language policy at least since 2001. The 2022 Recommendations of the Committee of Ministers on the importance of plurilingual and intercultural education for democratic culture, again underlined the need to promote plurilingual and intercultural education as a tool for social justice and inclusivity. This presentation examines the effects of this approach in the French school system at classroom level. The Common European Framework for Languages was adopted by France in 2006, therefore, the majority of students currently enrolled in initial teacher education should have benefitted from a plurilingual approach to language learning throughout high school. How far have they appropriated a plurilingual vision of linguistic competences? Do they see themselves as plurilingual? And does this effect their feelings of self-efficacy when faced with the need to employ pluralistic approaches with the linguistically and culturally heterogeneous pupil population in French classrooms? This presentation analyses the responses of 300 student primary school teachers, to an online questionnaire with follow-up interviews designed to examine their attitudes to plurilingualism, their own and their pupils, their knowledge of pluralistic approaches to teaching, and their feelings of self-efficacy in plurilingual and pluricultural teaching situations. The participants were all enrolled in initial teacher education in a French university.
Keywords: curriculum development; inclusion; plurilinguism; teacher education