Language policies in STEM subjects: Inclusion, exclusion and abjection

in Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education (2023)

Language policies are of increasing importance in STEM teaching and learning in school systems, considering the increasing number of pupils who speak other family languages than the teaching language. The ... [more ▼]

Language policies are of increasing importance in STEM teaching and learning in school systems, considering the increasing number of pupils who speak other family languages than the teaching language. The latest PISA results as well as national testings (cf. LUCET & SCRIPT, 2021) have shown that pupils with family languages others than the school language tend to underperform in the STEM subjects. The combination of language policies, the global testing industry and the role of STEM subjects in school systems have been shown to undermine the inclusion of all pupils, especially in regards to language backgrounds. There are signs of systematic exclusion being the result of this. In this chapter we will display the language policies in two national contexts, the Swedish and the Luxembourgish ones, and specifically display issues of in(ex)clusion in relation to multilingualism in STEM teaching. The research question that guides this comparative and problematising endeavor is: What kinds of language policies appear in the STEM subjects and what processes of inclusion, exclusion and abjection does this enhance? The methodology builds on Popkewtiz’s (2013; 2014) approach on politics of schooling. Hence, policy texts are understood as inscription devices that attribute terms, possibilities and characteristics to different kinds of people (Hacking, 1999) and therefore produce norms that function to include social groups while others are absent by omission (Popkewitz, 2013; Valero, 2017). This chapter will unravel such in(ex)clusion processes and abjections by advocating discourse analysis aiming to examine laws and regulations on language use in STEM subjects in Sweden and Luxembourg for indications regarding the discourse on in(ex)clusion. Our results show, first, that different language and multilingualism policies become visible in the STEM documents which exist in the two national contexts. Secondly, this chapter discusses what impacts these policies have on matters of inclusion, exclusion or abjection in STEM teaching contexts at primary schools. [less ▲]

Herausforderungen und Zukunftsperspektiven des Sachunterrichts im Fokus von Migration und Mehrsprachigkeit

Scientific Conference (2022, March 11)

Ein zukunftsfähiger Sachunterricht nimmt auf lebensweltliche Erfahrungen, (Fach)Sprache und aktuelle Entwicklungen zu Migration und Mehrsprachigkeit Bezug (Kahlert 2016). Dazu bedarf es einer ... [more ▼]

Ein zukunftsfähiger Sachunterricht nimmt auf lebensweltliche Erfahrungen, (Fach)Sprache und aktuelle Entwicklungen zu Migration und Mehrsprachigkeit Bezug (Kahlert 2016). Dazu bedarf es einer partizipativen Zusammenführung aller Wissens- und Erfahrungsbereiche im Klassenraum (vgl. Stoltenberg 2004). Das Symposium diskutiert Zukunftsperspektiven für die Entwicklung und Umsetzung von Aufgabenstellungen im Sachunterricht, dargestellt anhand des Themenkomplexes „Schwimmen und Sinken“. Aus unterschiedlichen Blickwinkeln wird der Frage nachgegangen, wie zukünftig Aufgaben gestaltet sein müssen, um eine sprachlich heterogener werdende Schülerschaft in der aktiven Auseinandersetzung mit der Sache zu unterstützen. Ausgehend von einer Klärung der fach-sprachlichen Begrifflichkeiten und der fachlichen Anschlussfähigkeit von Phänomenen und Konzepten zum Thema werden Ergebnisse erster explorativer Untersuchungen entsprechender Aufgaben vorgestellt und aus fachlicher und sprachlicher Sicht diskutiert. Auf der Planungsebene wird die Text-Bild-Kommunikation in Schulbuchaufgaben als Ausgangspunkt gewählt, um den Prozess der didaktischen Rekonstruktion von Aufgaben zu erörtern. Auf der Umsetzungsebene wird sich mit dem Problem mangelnder fachinhaltlicher und -methodischer Kompetenzen der Lehrkräfte auseinandergesetzt, um Forderungen für die Qualifizierung zu formulieren – auch im Hinblick auf die wachsende Mehrsprachigkeit der Schüler*innen. Ziel des Symposiums ist es, zukünftige Entwicklungsfelder mit Blick auf Aufgaben und Lehrer*innenbildung – am Beispiel des Themas „Schwimmen und Sinken“ – aufzuzeigen und vor dem Hintergrund aktueller Entwicklungen zu diskutieren. [less ▲]

Perspective luxembourgeoise: Conclusions sur le caractère inclusif des supports pédagogiques

in Forum für Politik, Gesellschaft und Kultur in Luxemburg (2022), 423

Cette contribution s’appuie sur les conclusions du projet European Comparison of Inclusive Teaching Materials (ITM) lancé en 2018. Cette collaboration regroupant l’Allemagne (Prof. Dr. M. Vogt, C ... [more ▼]

Cette contribution s’appuie sur les conclusions du projet European Comparison of Inclusive Teaching Materials (ITM) lancé en 2018. Cette collaboration regroupant l’Allemagne (Prof. Dr. M. Vogt, C. Bierschwale), le Luxembourg (Prof. Dr. K. Andersen), la Suède (Prof. Dr. A. Bagger) et l’Italie (Prof. Dr. V. Macchia, Prof. Dr. A. Augschöll, A. Ardemagni) cherche un moyen de définir le caractère inclusif des supports pédagogiques. C’est dans cette perspective qu’a été développé un catalogue de critères permettant d’évaluer la pertinence des supports pédagogiques en vue de leur utilisation dans des contextes d’enseignement inclusif. La présente contribution présente ces critères en les mettant en parallèle avec les conclusions des recherches menées au Luxembourg. [less ▲]

Digitizing Inclusion in a Changing World: Comparing insights into four European countries for matching new global realities

Scientific Conference (2022)

Inclusion and digitalization are among the driving forces in global discourses on education and learning. These global realities cause extensive transformations at local, national, and international ... [more ▼]

Inclusion and digitalization are among the driving forces in global discourses on education and learning. These global realities cause extensive transformations at local, national, and international levels. At the same time, the goal of inclusion is directly interwoven with local conditions, understandings, and historically grown valuations. The concept oscillates between universally shared norms and highly divergent local implementations. Regarding the focus of the symposium it can be assumed that especially in the course of digitalization as one main reaction of the corona pandemic, learning materials are not only expected to be inclusion oriented but also need to be combinable with digital demands to address alls kinds of inequalities amongst students appropriately. Learning materials thus are a central momentum to expatiate on transformations of a changing world. In correspondence with the congress theme, the symposium will therefore discuss how a reflection on centrifugal forces of interdependence and individuality can be located in the context of the immediate everyday life in schools and educational practice. In order to be able to discuss these tensions and current changes within educational practices starting from learning materials, an anchor point is needed in order to open up the international comparison of local specifics. The anchor point for this symposium is a criteria catalog which enables the international comparison of learning materials in their cultural contexts and provides a visualization of local particularities in the field of learning materials (Vogt et al. 2021). If these results are put into relation with the inclusive landscapes in different countries, further insights of relevance for inclusion as a global topic can be generated. The data basis springs from the ITM project (2018-2021, funded by Erasmus+) and other international collections of material. Speakers with expertise in regard to the triangulation of learning materials, inclusion and digitalization from four European universities (Ostrava, Czech Republic; Bielefeld, Germany; Luxemburg and Örebro, Sweden) present their findings in the symposium, more in-depth talks about national perspectives as well as a concluding wrap up. The following research questions are a guideline for each section of the symposium: 1. What are the local specifics and constellations as well as understandings of inclusion as a global reality that are being mirrored in teaching material? 2. How can the international comparison of teaching material impact the advancement of inclusion on a local level? 3. How can international comparative educational research become a driving force in the productive negotiation of globally relevant tensions? The contributions are methodologically based on group discussions and expert interviews about selected learning materials, their quality and criteria for evaluating them. These exchanges have been evaluated with the qualitative content analysis by Mayring (2015). Discourse analysis and context analysis were applied. Furthermore, source corpora of learning material were developed and materials were examined using a qualitative content analysis. This refers to the ITM project from Luxembourg, Örebro and Bielefeld University (Erasmus funding line, 2018-2021) as well as the contribution by Ostrava University. The material mainly comes from primary school education and takes into account various subjects, e.g. mathematics and natural sciences. By looking at the results of the interviews and the analysis of teaching materials as well as on the findings about the cultural and local conditions the presenters were able to develop a deeper understanding about how learning materials are set up for inclusive learning processes and about the underpinning understanding of inclusion in different cultural settings. This is the needed foundation to contextualize everyday practices of teaching and learning with the demands of education within the digital condition. [less ▲]

Assessing Luxembourg‘s inclusive STEM materials

Scientific Conference (2021, September 10)

In the country of Luxembourg with its three official languages Luxembourgish, German and French, multilingualism is of special importance. The education system is based on a trilingual approach, starting ... [more ▼]

In the country of Luxembourg with its three official languages Luxembourgish, German and French, multilingualism is of special importance. The education system is based on a trilingual approach, starting with Luxembourgish as the language of instruction in Cycle 1, which corresponds to pre-school classes. In Cycle 2 (6- to 7-year-olds), German is the language of alphabetization and instruction, supplemented by French lessons in the oral use (7-year-olds) and in written language (8-year-olds). In addition, the schoolchildren speak multiple family languages as the country of Luxembourg has the highest percentage of schoolchildren with migration background within the EU (STATEC, 2020). Considering this special situation in the Luxembourgish school system, language has a high impact on the children’s participation and competence development in all subjects, but especially in MINT learning (Andersen, 2020). The results of the PISA studies show that Luxembourgish pupils with a migrant background have particular difficulties in acquiring sufficient competences in mathematics and science if none of the three school languages is their mother tongue (SCRIPT & EMACS, 2014; Ugen & Fischbach, 2017). This impedes their access to educational options and higher levels of schooling. Proceeding from these considerations, we see inclusion in a very wide conception that is not limited to those pupils with special needs or disabilities, for example, those with visual and hearing impairments, restricted movement and/or learning difficulties. Inclusion, however, also applies to all those children who are at risk of marginalisation or underachievement because of their language competences. This presentation focuses on materials in the subject mathematics that are used in inclusive settings at primary school in Luxembourg. Along the material “Einstern”, we show what challenges the multilingual children are facing in the use of this material and what kind of tasks the schoolchildren are working on when using the “Einstern” material. This presentation critically analyses selected tasks, including exemplary tasks that show potential for the support of the children’s inclusion, but also reflecting on tasks that may hinder inclusion for language reasons. [less ▲]

Inklusionssensible Bildungsmaterialien als „Must-have“: Hilfen bei der Bewertung von Vorhandenem und eigenen Erstellung von Neuem

in Grundschule aktuell (2021), 17(155), 18-21

Möchte man im Unterricht den diversen Bedarfslagen aller SchülerInnen gerecht werden, steht man als Lehrperson vor vielseitigen Herausforderungen. Dass hier personelle Ressourcen eine zentrale Rolle ... [more ▼]

Möchte man im Unterricht den diversen Bedarfslagen aller SchülerInnen gerecht werden, steht man als Lehrperson vor vielseitigen Herausforderungen. Dass hier personelle Ressourcen eine zentrale Rolle spielen, wird zwar häufig betont, jedoch kaum schuladministrativ ausreichend berücksichtigt. Um die Lehrpersonen trotzdem handlungsfähig zu halten, müssen deshalb andere Optionen mitgedacht und im Sinne unterstützender Maßnahmen realisiert werden. Hierzu zählen u. a. eine umfängliche Professionalisierung in der LehrerInnenaus- und -weiterbildung wie ebenso Beratungsstrukturen für unterrichtliche Problemlagen. [less ▲]

Wegweisende Themen in Fort- und Weiterbildung

in KiTa aktuell HRS - Fachzeitschrift für Leitungen, Fachkräfte und Träger der Kindertagesbetreuung (2021), 29(12), 281

Bildsprache als Ausgangspunkt von Sprach- und Facharbeit im Sachunterricht: Empirische Ergebnisse zu Darstellungs- und Sprachebenen in Schulbüchern

in Franz, Ute; Haltenberger, Melanie; Hartinger, Andreas (Eds.) et al Sache und Sprache. Probleme und Perspektiven des Sachunterrichts (2021)

Language is of high importance for solving tasks in science education, as results of international assessments have repeatedly shown (cf. Andersen 2020; OECD, 2019). The empirical study LiST (Language in ... [more ▼]

Language is of high importance for solving tasks in science education, as results of international assessments have repeatedly shown (cf. Andersen 2020; OECD, 2019). The empirical study LiST (Language in Science Tasks) raises the question, which challenges are to be found in terms of language in tasks used in current primary science textbooks. This article presents the results on tasks that activate the pupils’ reflection on basic concepts in science with special focus on pictorial language and the related verbal tasks. It shows examples of tasks that teachers see as supportive for the development of scientific concepts. The results presented here are discussed in the context of an increasing migration and linguistic diversity of primary school classes. On this basis, hypotheses are formulated for the successful conditions of a scientific concepts activating task construction for primary science education. On this basis, hypotheses for a successful task construction that activates scientific concepts in primary science education. [less ▲]

Das Projekt ESERO Luxembourg: Konsequenzen für die Lehrerprofessionalisierung zum Thema Bildung für Nachhaltige Entwicklung

in Luxembourg Centre for Educational Testing (LUCET), Universität Luxemburg; Service de Coordination de la Recherche et de l’Innovation pédagogiques et technologiques (SCRIPT) (Eds.) Nationaler Bildungsbericht Luxemburg 2021 (2021)

17 Ziele für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung, sogenannte Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), finden sich in der Agenda 2030 der Vereinten Nationen (BMZ, 2017). In den Blick geraten Themen wie Klimaschutz ... [more ▼]

17 Ziele für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung, sogenannte Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), finden sich in der Agenda 2030 der Vereinten Nationen (BMZ, 2017). In den Blick geraten Themen wie Klimaschutz, Energie und neue Technologien, die im Rahmen von Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung (BNE) ihren Niederschlag finden. Im Projekt ESERO Luxembourg werden Fortbildungen und Unterrichtsmaterialien auf der Grundlage der Ermittlung von Bedarfen zu BNE entwickelt. [less ▲]

Das Unterrichtsthema „Dinge im Wasser“ in Österreichs Schulbüchern des Sachunterrichts: Empirische Ergebnisse

in GDSU-Journal (2021), 10(12), 107-118

Textbooks are very complex subjects – with different graphical and textual representations and full of stumbling stones for pupils. This article focuses on Austrian textbooks in science education at the ... [more ▼]

Textbooks are very complex subjects – with different graphical and textual representations and full of stumbling stones for pupils. This article focuses on Austrian textbooks in science education at the primary level, especially on the topic of “objects in water (floating)”. The analysis aims at showing how important this topic is in Austria and which linguistic challenges appear in current textbooks. 148 textbooks between 1900 and 2020 were reviewed, evaluated and compared with another science topic, i.e. “magnetism”. In addition, the text (N=9) are analyzed with regard to linguistic difficulties using the “Wiener Sachtextformel” and criteria according to Bamberger et al. (1989). Throughout the twentieth century, the topic “floating” was increasingly paid attention in Austrian textbooks and the analyzed texts correspond in principle with the primary level. However, a large variance was observed regarding word and sentence length and the frequency of using technical terms. Some exemplary examples illustrate the linguistic challenges. [less ▲]