Virtually all schools, vocational training colleges and early childhood education providers in the Netherlands encounter children or adolescents who speak a language other than Dutch at home. The Education Council advises making better use of this linguistic diversity. Making use of pupils first language can help them learn in and about Dutch. This does require that schools, colleges and early years providers set out in their language policies a strategy for pupils for whom Dutch is not their first language. And it requires investment in the support, training and further professionalisation of educational staff, for example by creating a central expertise platform or providing materials and technological support.
Beeld: © Onderwijsraad
Background: Linguistic diversity is a reality in education
Virtually all primary and secondary schools, vocational training colleges and early childhood education providers in the Netherlands encounter children or adolescents who speak a language other than Dutch at home. They may be languages spoken by migrants, for example, but also one of the many regional dialects that have long been spoken in the Netherlands.
Many primary and secondary school teachers feel inadequately equipped to deliver good education to pupils for whom Dutch is not their first language. It is a topic that rarely cropped up in their initial training. There are also not many schools which have developed a clear vision on the use of pupils’ first languages within the school.
The new draft core objectives and examination programmes mean it will soon be mandatory for schools to devote attention to multilingualism and pupils’ first languages. At the request of the Minister of Education, the Education Council has published an advisory report focusing on the question of what is needed to enable schools to accommodate linguistic diversity more effectively.
Advice: Make use of linguistic diversity in education
Schools could make better use of linguistic diversity. Pupils’ first languages can help them learn in and about Dutch. Greater attention for linguistic diversity is also important in helping create a sense of bonding between pupils, and helps them to function in a linguistically diverse society.
Pupils’ first languages can be used to help them learn in and about Dutch in all kinds of ways. Teachers do not need to be able to speak those languages themselves. With the right materials, expertise and support, they can deploy pupils’ first languages in a way that helps pupils to gain a good command of Dutch more easily and to play a full part in school life.
Recommendation 1: Schools, vocational training colleges and early years providers should develop policy that makes use of linguistic diversity
By no means all Dutch schools, vocational training colleges and early years providers have a fully developed language policy. Dutch primary and secondary schools are required to describe their language policy in their school plan. However, that policy is focused on learning Dutch; schools are not required to say whether and how they seek to harness pupils’ first languages in support of this policy. Vocational training colleges are currently not required to formulate a language policy at all. The Council recommends that the government revise the statutory mission of schools and colleges to incorporate strategies for dealing with linguistic diversity and making it mandatory for early years providers and vocational training colleges to develop a comprehensive language policy.
The language policy plan must show evidence of a vision that is shared throughout the school regarding the role given to children’s first languages in early years provision, at school and in the classroom. The plan can also include the roles of professionals outside the school or institution. The Council recommends that schools develop policy which utilises the opportunities offered by linguistic diversity. It is up to schools themselves to determine how they flesh out the practical details.
Recommendation 2: Invest in support, training and further professionalisation
Teaching staff need more expertise to enable them to make use of linguistic diversity. Currently, teachers often do not know that pupils’ first languages can be of use when learning in and about Dutch. The Council recommends that ‘making use of linguistic diversity’ be incorporated as standard in the competence standards for teachers and early years educators. This would involve them gaining expertise in multilingualism, knowledge of learning a second or further language, and developing the teaching skills needed to make use of linguistic diversity in the classroom. Also, opportunities are needed to provide further training for teaching staff to acquire this knowledge and develop the skills they did not receive during their initial training.
Schools, vocational training colleges, early years providers and teacher training and in-service training providers can already disseminate expertise via their networks. The Council also advocates the creation of an accessible, central expertise platform to enable knowledge, expertise and examples to be widely shared. It is also vital that teachers are given the time, materials and technical aids they need to make good use of linguistic diversity.
Recommendation 3: Devote attention to the legislative framework
The legislative and regulatory framework provides sufficient scope for schools, colleges and early childhood education providers to make properly considered choices for making use of linguistic diversity. Generally speaking, the legislative starting point is that education is provided in Dutch. It is also permitted to use another language if this is necessary due to pupils’ origin, for example if they do not yet have a sufficient command of the Dutch language.
Stakeholders within education are not always aware of this freedom. The Council therefore calls on the government and the sectoral boards to actively inform stakeholders about the legislative possibilities and to encourage them to use them, for example by making use of pupils’ first languages to help them learn in and about Dutch.