Spaces for multilingualism? An interdisciplinary study of pedagogical potentials and limitations of multilingual approaches and activities in mathematics and science education

The purpose of this project is to generate knowledge about the pedagogical potentials and limitations of multilingual practices in mathematics and science education.

We specifically aim to explore and problematise how multilingual approaches and activities may promote mathematics and science teaching and learning in school years 4–9.

The qualitative project is conducted by an interdisciplinary research team that integrates theories from educational research in didactics, sociology and linguistics, including translanguaging theories.

The project’s four-year period comprises initial exploration of existing pedagogical practices, mainly through workshops with teachers, classroom observations and interviews with students and teachers, in three culturally and linguistically diverse schools.

This phase is followed by a two-year period of pedagogical interventions, in which teachers and researchers together design, carry out and analyse classroom interventions.

The interventions involve exploring the pedagogical potentials and limitations for promoting multilingual resources for teaching and learning. Further, students’ identities as engaged learners of mathematics and science are explored. The project addresses significant knowledge gaps in research and responds to urgent educational needs.

Our ambition is for the project to contribute with new and multifaceted knowledge on the complexity of teaching and learning in multilingual mathematics and science classrooms.