Bilingualism and multilingualism have always existed in Sweden. Preschool teachers must provide a stimulating pedagogical environment adapted to bilingual children. The purpose of this examination is to study the perspective of the preschool teachers and their knowledge regarding bilingual and multilingual children. Their knowledge will be examined related to their language experiences. I hope to find similarities and dissimilarities in the preschool teachers’ opinions concerning teaching and learning what they actually do when they are teaching. My study is based on qualitative method, based on interviews and repeated observations. My study is based on interviews with four preschool teachers from different preschools. The information given in the interviews has been analyzed using socio-cultural and social constructivist theories and previous research. My conclusion is that the preschool teacher’s attitude towards children’s bilingualism and multilingualism is based on a positive perspective rather than a negative perspective regarding the importance of mother tongue and identity as well as ethics. Preschool teachers with foreign background and with Swedish background had similar thoughts. At the same time, they seem to have a critical perspective concerning bilingual children’s learning process in Swedish. In many cases these preschool teachers consider bilingual and multilingual children’s cultural and social habits a hindrance in learning the Swedish language. But at the same time, as preschool teachers, they are aware of the importance in learning at least a few words in the bilingual children’s language.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur pedagoger inom förskolans verksamhet arbetar med inlärning av det svenska språket hos barn med annat modersmål än svenska. Med inlärning menar vi att barn aktivt och medvetet tillägnar sig något nytt som de inte har kunskap om sedan tidigare. Studien genomförs med fokus på agerande i samlingar samt intervjuer av pedagoger. Vår teoretiska förankring utgår från det sociokulturella perspektivet eftersom vi har undersökt olika samspel och ageranden samt pedagogers medvetenhet vid språkinlärning. I resultatet har vi kunnat se att tydlig kommunikation, konkritisering av språket och repetition som undervisnings form har stor betydelse för inlärning av det svenska språket. Vi undersökte också om det fanns någon medveten strategi för inlärning av det svenska språket på förskolorna. Utifrån resultatet uppmärksammade vi att de flesta pedagoger arbetar efter strategier som de inte är medvetna om. Pedagogerna anser att de kommer långt med erfarenheten som de fått genom att arbeta med barn med annat modersmål. De flesta av pedagogerna som deltog i studien anser inte heller att det krävs någon speciell kunskap för att arbeta med två och flerspråkiga barn. / The purpose of the study is to examine how an educator within preschool is working in order to learn out the Swedish language to children with a mother tongue other than Swedish. By learning we mean that children actively and consciously appropriate themselves something new that they do not have knowledge of since before. The study is conducted with a focus on interactions in gatherings, and interviews with educators. Our theoretical support is based on a sociocultural perspective since we have examined different interactions as well as teachers' awareness at language learning. In the result, we have been able to see that clear communication, concretization of the language and repetition as a form of education has got a big significant impact in the learning of the Swedish language. We also investigated whether there were any deliberate strategies for teaching the Swedish language in preschools. Based on the results we alerted that most educators working for strategies that they are not aware of. The teachers believe that they are going far with the experience they have gained through working with children with a mother tongue. Most of the teachers who participated in the study does not consider that it requires no special knowledge to work with two and multilingual children.

<p>The dramatic shift of the demographics of the United States over the past thirty years is more pronounced in public schools than anywhere else in the country (Phuntsog, 1999). As the demographics of students grew, so did the disparity of achievement between diverse and White students. The achievement gap is one of the biggest problems within education (Dee, 2005). Due to the increasing achievement gap and growing diversity, teachers and schools are forced with the challenge of making instruction culturally relevant and responsive for all students (Brown, 2009). </p><p> The purpose of this research was to conduct a mixed method, naturalistic inquiry that examined teachers&rsquo; abilities to work with diverse populations and educate all students in a rural high school in Northeast Georgia. The relationship between the participating teachers&rsquo; level of multicultural training and teacher self-efficacy was compared, as was their impact on student achievement on the End of Course Tests. </p><p> The quantitative aspect of the study, conducted using surveys and archival test data, found a correlation between teachers&rsquo; levels of multicultural awareness and self-efficacy, but failed to find a correlation between self-efficacy and student achievement on the EOCT. The qualitative portion, conducted using interviews and an open-ended survey question, discovered the participating school was emerging in readiness to deal with diverse students. </p>

<p>Programs for gifted students have been criticized for narrowly defining giftedness as merely cognitive or academic performance. Teacher referrals are usually an important component of identifying gifted students. Teacher perceptions, low expectations, and lack of cultural competence are perceived as barriers to the access of Gifted and Talented Education programs for African American students. This study examined the impact of teachers&rsquo; knowledge of Gardner&rsquo;s Multiple Intelligence Theory (Gardner, 1983, 2006, 2011) on their perception of giftedness in the referral of African American students to Gifted and Talented Education programs. Research questions were: (a) What is teachers&rsquo; knowledge of the current district criteria for referral of students to Gifted and Talented programs? (b) Are there differences in the conceptions of referral criteria of teachers with training in MI Theory vs. teachers without training in MI Theory? (c) Are there differences in teacher attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs on giftedness in teachers having training in MI Theory vs. teachers having no training in MI Theory? (d) How do cultural factors impact teacher perceptions of giftedness in African American students, in teachers with training in MI Theory vs. teachers without training in MI Theory, and the referral of African American students to Gifted and Talented Education programs? Using a mixed-methods approach, a quasi-experimental design and qualitative inquiry were utilized. Findings indicated that all teachers demonstrated limited knowledge of district referral criteria. However, teachers having MI Theory training demonstrated greater knowledge of the district&rsquo;s Alternative Referral and Identification Criteria. Conceptual differences were found in the need for alternative pathways such as peer nominations. Findings noted differences for teachers having training in MI Theory with greater knowledge of characteristics of giftedness and the impact of that knowledge on cultural factors relating to students&rsquo; use of non-standard English in the perception of giftedness. Greater focus on leadership is needed in the current federal definition of giftedness. Overall, findings suggested that training in Multiple Intelligence Theory provides a framework for greater understanding of the multifaceted attributes of intelligence, which may result in greater opportunities to identify non-traditional areas of giftedness in African American students. </p>

<p> This case study examined how the campus culture influences the existence of a Black cultural center and a multicultural center at a predominantly White university. A qualitative ethnography was conducted using focus group interviews, personal interviews, archival research, and anecdotal observation. The results of the study identified five themes: (a) from isolation to insulation, (b) opportunities for involvement, (c) the perception problem, (d) challenges of change, and (e) leadership commitment.</p><p> A Pinchback model of relevance for cultural centers for predominantly White campuses was created for practitioners and administrators seeking ideas for making cultural centers relevant at their respective institutions. The model features external forces that influence campus culture and the forces within the campus culture that influence the cultural centers. The role of the cultural center is shown as broadening the difficult conversations around race, diversity, and inclusion.</p>

<p> Latino males from an English Language Learner (ELL) background are not successfully graduating from high school and going to college. This study seeks to understand this phenomenon through narratives of young Latino males in the Los Angeles area. Guided by Yosso's theory community cultural wealth theory, this qualitative study examines the challenges experienced by Latino males in their high school English Language Learner programs, and how these challenges were met. community cultural wealth theory provides six tenets of capital that communities of color possess: aspirational, familial, linguistic, social, navigational, and resistance. These types of cultural wealth exist in the lives of students and can assist students in attaining successful educational outcomes. Interviews with 16 Latino male ELLs between the ages of 18 to 25 were conducted over a 2-month period. The 16 Latino male ELLs were divided into groupings of high school graduates in college, high school graduates, high school students finishing their diploma requirements, and high school dropouts. Along with these interviews, four parent interviews were also conducted in order to gain a holistic perspective of the Latino males' experiences. Latino male ELLs illustrated the utilization of multiple forms of community cultural capital in their narratives; forms of social, linguistic, and navigational capital made a difference in Latino male ELLs that reported not only finishing high school, but also attending college. Conclusions of the study will be used to make recommendations for improvements in counseling services, assisting newly arrived ELLs to high school, and specific changes to policy.</p>

Magistro darbe išanalizuota ir susisteminta Lietuvos ir užsienio autorių mokslinė literatūra, apžvelgti specialiosios pedagoginės pagalbos teikimo būdai ugdymo įstaigose.Iškelta hipotezė, kad švietimo įstaigų logopedai naudoja įvairius efektyvius pagalbos būdus bei pritaiko juos ugdant vaikus iš dvikalbės ir daugiakalbės aplinkos. / The analysis and system of nonfiction of foreign and Lithuanian authors is presented. Moreover, the methods of special pedagogical assistance in educational institutions are reviewed. The erected hypothesis says that a variety of effectiveways in training children from bilingual and multilingual environment is applied by speech therapists at educational institutions.

Mūsų šalyje dvikalbis (daugiakalbis) ikimokyklinis ugdymas gana paplitęs. Tokios įstaigos atsirado po Lietuvos nepriklausomybės atkūrimo 1990 m. Nemažai daugiakalbių ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaigų Vilniaus krašte, kur dvi ar trys kalbos ir kultūros (lietuvių, rusų, lenkų) egzistuoja ir sugyvena kartu. Daugiakalbėje ikimokyklinėje įstaigoje lingvistiniu atžvilgiu situacija gana sudėtinga, o ugdymo problema nėra pakankamai tyrinėta. Trūksta aiškesnių rekomendacijų, kaip užtikrinti ugdymo kokybę tokiose įstaigose ir kokia linkme nukreipti vadybinius aspektus. Nepakanka žinių apie tai, ar daugiakalbių ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaigų teikiamų paslaugų pasiūla atliepia tėvų poreikį. Pokyčiai, kurie vyksta Lietuvoje, aiškiai reikalauja iš ugdymo įstaigų naujų veiksmų, darbo metodų, sprendžiant daugiakalbystės klausimus. / Multilingual institutions in our country is a widely spread phenomenon. Current institutions were mostly established after Lithuania restored its independence in 1990. These are most typical for Vilnius district, as two or three languages and cultures (Lithuanian, Russian and Polish) interact with each other. Considering the linguistic aspect, the situation at multilingual institution is quite complicated. Apparently, the problem of upbringing is not sufficiently explored. Therefore, the obvious lack of clear instructions prevents the proper insurance of the quality of education and smooth direction of management aspects. There is no clear and reliable data whether the services provided by multilingual preschool institutions satisfy parents‘ expectations and needs. The changes in nowadays life, require the implementation of new actions and methods to solve the problems emerging due to multilingual and multicultural social context.

Monolingual, monocultural approaches to education in Canada overlook the tremendous cultural and linguistic resources present in our classrooms and communities. Connecting language teaching and learning with a politics of global location and broader social issues relating to migration and diversity, this dissertation explores how dichotomous understandings of ‘native’/’nonnative’ students neglect these interlocking and intersecting dimensions of experience. The dissertation employed Lather’s (2007) critical praxis methodology to generate data from a collaborative research project involving teachers, students, and university-based researchers. The purpose of this project was to explore the educational significance of engaging students in authentic forms of cultural production that drew upon their cultural and linguistic resources, diverse histories, and multiple modes of representation in classroom-based learning. While endeavouring to contribute to positive change in education practice, the dissertation directs a critical gaze toward the dominant and marginalizing practices and discourses that materialized during this work. Drawing upon ethnographic data gathered over the course of the project, including classroom observations, interviews with students and teachers, multimodal artifacts of student work, and researcher field notes, the dissertation maps moments of ‘otherness’ that marked nonnative ‘others’. Located where sameness and difference meet, these pedagogical pivot points became sites for negotiating understandings of cultural difference. The discoveries arising from the study are presented as two stories, offering what Lather (2007) calls a “double(d) reading” of the empirical work of the project. The first story articulates a critical analysis of the research, based on efforts to incorporate plurilingualism in education and meet the needs of students as plurilingual social actors. The second story deconstructs these aims, examining the desires of liberatory educators to create contexts of empowerment for immigrant students. The significance of the study is its contribution to expanding conversations about how educators and researchers interested in language learning might talk about difference and the social subject in education, adding greater complexity to address the multiple dimensions of students’ experiences in globalized educational contexts.

<p> This research traces the historical development and foreign policy objectives of English language instruction in Japan as a state sponsored initiative. The primary objective of this work is to examine the role of English foreign language education over the past one hundred and forty years by comparing Meiji policy formation with post World War II occupation reforms in relation to the social, political, and intellectual objectives of changing Japanese approaches to internationalization. The widely held conceit among EFL scholars and historians that classroom methodology (and the entrance exam system it subsumes) is at fault for the poor state of Japanese communicative English, ignores the internationalization objectives historically central to national language education policy in Japan. Universal English education for widespread international communication was never an objective of education policy, but was the fabricated assumption of a chauvinistic West, perpetuated by conservative elements in the Japanese government to improve Japan's international standing. The anti-democratic Japanese Ministry of Education embraced the 'western methods with eastern philosophy' approach to internationalization established during the nineteenth century, rejecting English education policy for widespread oral fluency. The liberal-democratic perspectives attendant to the culture of English speaking peoples threatened the Confucian hierarchical structure of Japanese society. In order to resist western homogenizing forces, but still advance domestic interests in an interdependent world, it was necessary to sustain English-speaking elites to negotiate foreign pressures. As a consequence English education has served as the gatekeeper of a strictly meritocratic national education system designed to proliferate a minority of talent for modernization, administering the organs of government, and preserving Japanese identity against foreign cultural contamination.</p>