A multilingual preschooler’s school belonging: The role of translanguaging pedagogy

Students must feel a sense of belonging to engage in learning. They need to feel accepted, respected, and supported by peers and teachers. A well-cultivated sense of belonging has positive impacts on children’s well-being and school success. However, migrant children often go to schools where language practices are different from those of their homes and where they often feel alienated. In this study, we closely examine how the teacher’s translanguaging pedagogical practices influence one multilingual young child’s sense of belonging in a Luxembourgish preschool. Our focused video analysis shows the relationship of seven significant moments of translanguaging pedagogical interactions between the teacher and the child, and the child’s deepening relationship with the teacher, his peers, and the classroom space. The teacher’s use of translanguaging pedagogical practices was related to the child’s increased sense of belonging in this preschool classroom, as well as all the children’s sense of belonging as multilingual Luxembourgers. The findings are supported by the interviews with the child’s mother and the preschool teacher. This study holds important lessons for early childhood education of multilingual children.