The contribution explains the 5 Building Blocks of Holistic (Language) Education concept developed in Vorarlberg/Austria, connecting recent research on multilingual development from a dynamic systems and complexity theory perspective with the five interconnected domains defined in this holistic teaching approach. The presentation closes with recommendations for teacher training courses.
The 5 Building Blocks approach to teaching subjects and language(s) in educational contexts is based on the assumption that majority language teaching, German in the Austrian case, and language development in general can never be successful when languages other than German are excluded from the learning process. A group of teachers and researchers, including members of the DyME group, developed the concept as a framework for (language) teaching at all educational levels on behalf of the educational authorities of the province of Vorarlberg/Austria. The 5 Building Blocks can be used as a planning tool for teaching, a basic structure for school development in the area of multilingualism and a tool for reflection on teaching content and methodology. The contribution presents and explains this multilingual teaching approach connecting recent research on the complexity and dynamics of multilingual development with the five domains defined in the concept: (awareness of) diversity, language (learning) awareness, concepts and world knowledge/experience, multilingual development, language of schooling (German). Special focus is given to the interconnected nature of these 5 Building Blocks and their theoretical underpinning (see handout for references). Experience gathered in teacher training courses based on the concept will be discussed. The presentation closes with an outlook and recommendations for future teacher training courses on multilingual teaching.
