Parental Engagement in the Multilingual Classroom (For Primary Teachers and SNAs)

Parental engagement in the multilingual classroom

In this course you will learn about the Language Explorers approach to the engagement of migrant parents in classroom-based and home- based activities. Based on the core principles of the national curriculum, this course shows teachers how to use the languages children learn at home as a resource in the classroom by engaging parents and particularly migrant parents..

Attendees will learn to:

• Deliver Language Explorers sessions in collaboration with parents
• Identify ways to engage parents within existing curricular activities
• Meet the learning outcomes by using pupils’ languages as a resource
• Reflect on the benefits of parental engagement
• Creating an environment where migrant parents feel part of their children’s learning

The course will last 90 minutes and it will comprise of: an introduction to theories underpinning theories of parental engagement; an interactive development that blends theory with practice; group work on lesson planning and addressing challenges; discussion and conclusions.

Mother Tongues is a social enterprise working to promote multilingualism and intercultural dialogue in Ireland.
Our goal is to inspire everyone in society to be open to linguistic and cultural diversity and value the benefits that multilingualism brings to individuals, communities and to our society as a whole. Children can reach their full potential by developing English alongside Irish and their family language, but to do so they need parents who are motivated to keep up their mother tongue, teachers who are positive about every language and a society that welcomes linguistic diversity in all its forms.
This is why the projects we develop at Mother Tongues focus on children, by offering them opportunities to develop their language skills, parents, giving them the confidence to transmit their language to their children and teachers, enhancing their awareness of linguistically responsive practice. We work all over Ireland and collaborate with many organisations in the delivery of our programmes.
Since our foundation in 2017 we have inspired many schools, libraries and community organisations to embrace multilingualism and act as catalysts for change, showing that Ireland welcomes all linguistic and cultural identities, and inspiring future generations of bilingual and multilingual children.

Facilitator: Dr. Francesca La Morgia