Changing societies, static schools
Education has not kept up with the pace of change in our schools and societies. This is especially true in the global north where communities have diversified and yet schools remain largely monocultural and monolinguistic in their mindset and orientation. This has been my experience teaching in Australian and (surprisingly) Egyptian international schools, and again as a parent of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) children in schools both here and there.
In Egypt I witnessed Egyptian, emerging bilingual students being treated as Western, native English-speakers with little recognition of their Arabic language or culture by most of the expatriate teaching staff. ‘Arabic’ became one lesson in the day and, in some schools, was forbidden to be spoken by students outside of this lesson, even at break times. I have also observed similar monolingual approaches with the educational experiences of my own children in an Australian school. While my children self-identify as having hybrid identities, they received attention, confirmation and cultivation of their Australian, English-speaking selves whilst their Egyptian, Arabic-speaking and bilingual selves were relegated, except for a few lessons weekly, to other domains.
What does this tell students?
Whilst this may not be the intention these practices implicitly tell students that English is the language of education, English is the language of learning, school is not a place for their first languages and in fact, their languages constitute a barrier to inclusion. The framing of education in this way has the unintended consequence of devaluing a child’s language which results in bilingual children beginning to reduce their use of their first languages when they start school. This often ends with subtractive bilingualism where the teaching of one language (English) pushes out and takes the place of the child’s first language.
I am very aware that children living in English-speaking communities and in many other communities around the world require proficiency in the English language to succeed, but what most people don’t realise is that it is not a zero-sum game. Bilingual children do not need to give up their first languages to succeed in school, nor do they need to give them up to learn English to a high proficiency level. Students and their families may not realise just what they do give up when children stop using their first languages. For many first languages mean connection to family, to community, they join children to a culture and a history of a people and provide a sense of belonging. For parents they are the means through which they socialise their children, a way to share stories, thoughts and emotions for which a strong command of language is required to impart the nuance of meaning intended. Bilingualism has many benefits and one of the most important for bilingual children is being able to communicate fully with those who are closest to them.
Looking forward
A goal of education is to develop and enhance children’s capabilities and yet many bilingual children are entering school fully able to communicate in a language whilst often leaving struggling to converse adequately in that same language. The current systems are failing these students. With awareness of these issues however, and a commitment to our bilingual students, it is possible to implement multilingual pedagogies that recognise, value and engage with students’ languages in English-medium classrooms. And the effect of these practices can be transformational.
