The experiences of multilingual children in primary school

This is an online event. Zoom joining details will be included in your confirmation email after you register.

About the event:

How do children who are multilingual experience primary school? Given the lack of policy on English as an additional language (EAL) support, this project explored multilingual children's views on their school lives. Using focus groups with children across four schools with different cohorts, alongside interviews with staff to provide context, we explored what matters to children labelled as EAL and how different their experiences can be. Key themes we discuss include the importance of language in friendship, the frequent lack of support for children with EAL, and the de-prioritisation of this group within schools. The online session will conclude with some suggestions for how the children's views could inform teachers' practices with EAL children.

Speakers

• Alice Bradbury, Professor of Sociology of Education, UCL Institute of Education; Co-Director, Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy (0 to 11 Years) (HHCP), UK
• Charlotte Hacking, Teacher Engagement Lead, (HHCP); and Research and Curriculum Lead at Herne Hill School, UK
• Emily Ranken, Research Assistant, HHCP, UK

Event chair: Alice Bradbury

Programme

4pm – 4:35pm: Hear what multilingual children themselves say about navigating school life—and what their voices can teach us about better EAL practice – Alice Bradbury and Emily Ranken

4:35pm – 4:45pm: What can teachers do? Practical ideas and resources to support multilingual learners – Charlotte Hacking

4:45pm – 5pm: Questions and answers

Webinar recording

Please be advised that the webinar video recording may be shared via our social media and communications channels for documentation and communication purposes.

Contact

Please contact hhcp@ucl.ac.uk if you have any queries.

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