M-Spaces

The project explores multilingualism and language education in pedagogical professionalisation for preschools. Two groups of citizen scientists are involved: a) students of a vocational secondary school for early childhood education, who reflect on their biographical and pedagogical experiences with multilingualism and carry out small ethnographic studies in preschools during their internships; b) preschool teachers working in Carinthian and South Tyrolean preschools, who reflect on their experiences with multilingualism and language education based on their pedagogical practice. The empirical material contributed by the citizen scientists forms the basis for new scientific findings on pedagogical professionalisation for early childhood education in linguistically heterogeneous migration societies. In addition, recommendations for pedagogical practice are formulated and a training concept for early childhood education in multilingual regions is developed. The project takes place with the participation of a scientific team from the University of Innsbruck, the University of Teacher Education Carinthia and the research institution EURAC Research in Bolzano.

The main scientific goals are:

• the reconstruction of biographical and pedagogical experiences of students with multilingualism and their reflections with regard to their professionalisation process in the Carinthian migration society.
• the production of small ethnographic studies on multilingualism and language education in Carinthian preschools and an analysis of language and language-promoting practices.
• the reconstruction of experiences of active preschool teachers with multilingualism and language education in Carinthian and South Tyrolean preschools and their application in pedagogical training and further education of professionals in early childhood education.

Project funded by BMBWF (www.bmbwf.gv.at) and OeAD (www.sparklingscience.at).