Twenty primary teachers in multilingual classrooms were followed in science lessons and in-service education, while provided with specially designed inclusive science education materials. Using pupils’ mothertongues was an important part of the interventions. We followed how teachers changed their ideas and practices and discuss how national contexts affected their understanding.
The diversification of classrooms in many European countries demands inclusive strategies for teaching and learning in all subjects. Different forceful approaches to meeting needs of students’ science learning have been identified, especially Using multilingual resources and language scaffolding. However, these have reached primary schools to a different extent across and within countries. Mainstream teachers do not use available support strategies fully, neither in the Nordic countries nor in the Netherlands. Adapting teaching practices to a linguistically diverse group of learners poses special demands on teachers understanding the nature of subject specific literacy and learning of multilingual pupils. An international (Norwegian, Swedish and Dutch) research project Inclusive Science Education studied primary teachers learning on inclusive strategies in multilingual classes. Twenty primary teachers across countries were followed in classrooms and in-service education, while provided with similar specially designed inclusive science education materials. Their beliefs were gathered with a pre- and postintervention questionnaire, interviews and group sessions during four professional development sessions (Bakkenes a.o. 2010). We present findings on a) teachers’ conceptual and attitudinal changes towards importance and use of mothertongues b) teachers perceptions of opportunities and obstacles towards the use of multilingual resources in science education during the intervention. Data consist of a pre- and a post-questionnaire (n = 20) and reflection logs of all teachers plus in-depth interviewdata from 2 teachers per country. Comparative analyses provide insights in relevant factors that affect teachers use of multilingual resources in classroom practice. We will specifically discuss the different outcomes found for the three national contexts (Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands). Bakkenes, I., Vermunt, J. D., & Wubbels, T. (2010). Teacher learning in the context of educational innovation: Learning activities and learning outcomes of experienced teachers. Learning and Instruction, 20, 533-548.
