Multilingual Thinking in Multicultural Classrooms
Written By: Author(s): Marcelo Staricoff
5 min read
Chartered College of Teaching · Multilingual thinking in multicultural classrooms
Schools are microcosms of society, and as such they draw upon the multilingual and multicultural richness and heritages of the societies in which they are based, and of every individual that is part of their community at any one time. I have always been fascinated by the prospect of setting up a teaching, learning, leadership and social environment in the classroom and throughout the school that not only reflects and celebrates the multiculturality of every individual but also uses it to drive every aspect of the school's ethos and philosophy of education.
Designing a philosophy of education that offers every individual, at all times, the opportunity to think multilingually across all areas of the curriculum and to co-exist as part of a multicultural classroom and school is one of the core principles that underpins the Joy of Not Knowing™ (JONK™) philosophy of education and approach
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References
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I found this article inspiring. It even prompted me to embed some of these practices into my own teaching. Could you post the JONK article that discusses this approach in-depth?
Hi Adeline, very glad to hear you were inspired by the article. This approach is the author’s own and is described in their book rather than an article. See Staricoff M (2020) The Joy of Not Knowing: A Philosophy of Education Transforming Teaching, Thinking, Learning and Leadership in Schools. Abingdon and New York: Routledge.