Conference Agenda

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?

Throughout the last few decades, in Europe, social reality has greatly increased in complexity, and culturally diverse schools have become a reality (Bugno 2018). It is essential that formal education enhances its sensitivity and competence regarding cultural diversity in order to facilitate inclusion and well-being, as well as widespread school success and achievement (Alleman-Ghionda, Agostinetto & Bugno, 2021). Thus, teachers play a crucial role in this process.

The beliefs that teachers hold are relevant for three main reasons: they filter knowledge, influence the definition of a problem, and guide their intentions and actions (Civitillo, Juang, 2019).

According to Fives, Barnes, Chiavola, SaizdeLaMora, Oliveros & Mabrouk-Hattab (2019), beliefs' nature refers to how it is conceptualized, especially in regard to the relationship between knowledge and beliefs. Several types of belief content exist, such as general beliefs (i.e. teaching and learning) and more specific ones (i.e. about diverse student groups). Gay (2015) describes research in the area of teachers' beliefs and attitudes toward cultural diversity as both problematic and promising. Indeed, because of their ambivalent nature, it is possible to detect "a significant gap in the body of knowledge" (p. 344). Moreover, these authors affirm that teacher educators should consider the importance of teacher beliefs on teacher learning when designing and implementing learning experiences for preservice and in-service teachers.

In Italy, in order to become a primary teacher is necessary to enroll in the degree course in Primary Teacher Education: it is a combined Bachelor's and Master's degree 5 years long. One of the fundamental first year’s courses is Intercultural Education.

In the Italian context, Intercultural Education is in general understood as a pedagogical project inherent to the multicultural environment and oriented to four main proposes human rights, social justice, decentralization, and dialogue and mediation.

At the University of Padova the aim of the course is to provide the fundamental elements for understanding and framing the multicultural dimension from an educational perspective. The lectures intend to orientate towards the development of an initial intercultural competence. Moreover, the main cognitive and reflective elements relate on one hand to the theoretical constructs of intercultural education, and on the other, to the implications of cultural diversity at school.

Given these premises, the paper presents a pilot study aimed at investigating the beliefs of future teachers on the concept of cultural diversity before and after the Intercultural Education course.

The pilot research questions are: how do future teachers represent cultural diversity? What are their beliefs of cultural diversity? (How) do they evolve/change? Therefore, the main focuses are 2: future teachers' beliefs of cultural diversity and their representations.

Increasing migration in combination with social problems have led to concerns about social cohesion. Schools with diverse student populations may provide for positive structural conditions for social cohesion in diverse societies. The paper aims to examine how teachers contribute to social cohesion among students in terms of the three dimensions as described by Schieffer and Van der Noll (2017): (1) the quality of social relations (including social networks, trust, acceptance of diversity, and participation), (2) identification with the social entity, and (3) orientation towards the common good (sense of responsibility, solidarity, compliance to social order).

The study focusses on the role of the teacher by asking two research questions:

1. What are teacher practices with regard to promoting social cohesion among students in culturally diverse classrooms, in terms of social relations, group identification, and students’ orientation toward the common good, and how do teachers account for these practices?

2. In what ways are teacher practices related to the diversity of the student population?

By teaching practices, we refer to behaviour in terms of teaching methods, didactics, or work formats, but also in terms of interpersonal relationships both between teachers and students, and among students. Social cohesion is relevant in any classroom, but specifically so in multicultural classrooms, given the increasing diversity, and potential accompanying processes of tension and inequity, hence the second research question on diversity.

A qualitative study was conducted using interviews with teachers and students and observations in two urban secondary schools with diverse student populations. Students, teachers, and school staff from the selected classes from three classes in each school of the second year of secondary education participated. Groups of 4 or 5 students per class were invited for a focus group interview. The homeroom teacher of each of the participating classes was also interviewed. A content analysis was conducted combining a deductive approach in the first step and an inductive approach in further steps (Cresswell & Poth, 2016).

The results showed that most teacher practices seem to address the Schiefer and Van der Noll dimension of social relations. Teachers mostly invested in their own relationship with students, for example by paying individual attention to students, such as helping individual students, asking about home and using home languages.

The main themes in the dimension identification and belonging were bridging home and school, and group formation. The existence of different subgroups in schools and classrooms were considered to be acceptable, as long as all students belong to one or two subgroups.

Dominant in the dimension of the common good were teacher practices with regard to rules, the variety of ways in which rules were created and interpreted, and whether violations were condoned or punished. Fairness was also a topic that surfaces when the rules were discussed.

The three dimensions of Schiefer and Van der Noll could clearly be distinguished in our data, but there was a strong inter-relatedness and therefore we argue that the dimensions should be considered in tandem. Furthermore, because there seemed to be little reflection on relationships among peers and creating a community as well as on the meaning of diversity in schools, we also suggest that more explicit reflection by teachers on the three dimensions of social cohesion in diverse schools is needed. If schools are committed to strengthening social cohesion, they need to consider the three dimensions alongside each other and reflect on the role of diversity. Building up more explicit teacher knowledge and skills to develop and implement practices that strengthen socially cohesive classrooms, may ultimately help to address societal concerns with regard to social cohesion.