Beschreibung

Language plays a central role in educational transitions as it can facilitate or hinder access to educational spaces and is thus implicated in the reproduction of social inequality. Educational systems set up for recognised linguistic minorities are particularly interesting sites in which to study how transitions play out for different children, since such educational systems have to balance the protection of the minority group by which they are legitimated with the need for inclusive and equitable education for all – including speakers of the majority language and speakers languages of migration (Heller, 2006). The interdisciplinary project EduLiM therefore examines the role of language in preschool-school transitions in German-language education in South Tyrol through a multi-sited ethnography (Marcus, 1995) conducted in first-year primary school classes and with children’s families. EduLiM builds on insights about preschool-school transitions gained from two ethnographic projects (2021-2023), in which the authors investigated language policies and practices in German-language preschools, from which transitions to school emerged as a major issue of concern for educators and parents (Giacomuzzi et al., forthcoming; Thoma & Platzgummer, forthcoming). EduLiM combines critical educational and sociolinguistic theories about educational transitions and the role of language in these processes. These theories understand transitions as complex and dynamic processes co-constructed by different actors (Dockett & Perry, 2015), and frame language not as a transparent medium for education but as a social practice. They recognize that the values of educational and language practices are shaped by specific historical and locally contingent conditions (Heller, 2006). This interdisciplinary approach allows for a multidimensional exploration of the following questions: Which transitional practices can be observed in preschool-primary school-transitions in South Tyrol? How is language made salient in these practices by different actors (teachers, children, parents and other family members)? How are transitional practices in the school and in families informed by normative framings and ideologies about language and education? The project will explore transitional practices at two sites: fieldwork in a primary school will allow for an investigation of preschool- school-transitions and related pedagogical practices from within their institutional context, while ethnographic research with children and their families will give insights into the ways in which families and their children co-construct this transition. The combination of the two research sites will create new knowledge on (language) education policies and practices related to transitions, on collaboration across institutional boundaries and between families and institutions, and on different ways in which children are constructed as linguistically minoritized.

Partner

Lead Partner Universität Innsbruck, Partner Eurac Research