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This article examines the possibilities and challenges in turning a top-down action research project led by high-level public authorities into a shared and collaborative, multi-site and multi-professional bottom-up action research project. For this purpose, the article explores the initial stages of a European level action research project called 'Linguistically Sensitive Teaching in All Classrooms' that aimed to help teacher education systems better acknowledge linguistically diverse student populations in seven European countries. The analysis of the data sought to identify how to promote linguistically sensitive initial teacher education by incorporating reflection tasks into existing courses, and how to transform a top-down research project into a shared and collaborative bottom-up action project. The primary data consisted of 19 video-recorded online research meetings. Qualitative analysis was used to identify 'critical moments' in the data; these included a moment of major insight where transformation of project related ideas took place. The findings showed that linguistically sensitive teaching as a phenomenon is complex and the related terminology challenging to translate between languages and contexts. Furthermore, a European level action research requires negotiating a joint understanding of the roles of the participants and the individual perceptions of project ownership in each context. This suggests that a deeper understanding of the processes of participation and the partnerships involved in the action research may be as valuable as the actual reflection tools developed in the project in securing a systematic change towards linguistically sensitive teacher education.

This study sought to explore the ideological and implementational spaces for mainstreaming multilingual pedagogies (MPs) in initial teacher education (ITE) policies and curricula across the European Union. The concept of linguistically sensitive teaching (LST) was used as a lens to examine inclusive, equity-centred MPs in ITE. A multi-sited comparative case study was conducted to collect data in nine locations. As a result, a general trend of ideological spaces was observed for MPs in language-in-education policies at the European and (sub)national levels. However, this ideological space was not always implemented in ITE. As a second result, explicit mentions of MPs and LST were identified in the ITE curricula of seven sites, and in each of the nine cases, a potential space for implementation was observed. As a third result we found that the greatest potential for opening implementational spaces for MPs lies in courses that aim to develop general pedagogical and sociolinguistic knowledge as well as professional beliefs in future teachers. In conclusion, we contend that the linguistic ecology and the organisational structure of education systems (decentralisation) are factors that help explain the successful mainstreaming of MPs in ITE institutions.

In light of the growing diversity in European and Slovenian schools, equity-centered plurilingual pedagogies have gained prominence across the political, educational, and scientific spectrum. This gives particular weight to this study, which aims to contribute to the understanding of the complexity of factors that promote the mainstreaming of plurilingual pedagogies. The concept of Linguistically Sensitive Teaching (LST) was used as a lens to study pre-service teachers’ perceptions of plurilingual pedagogies in their educational context. More specifically, the study aims to examine pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the relevance of plurilingual pedagogies for their future profession and their understanding of the teachers’ competence in regard to the implementation of plurilingual pedagogies in Slovenian schools. Data from 27 pre-service primary education teachers from the University of Ljubljana of the Faculty of Education were examined. Reflection prompts were used to stimulate and guide the critical engagement of participants within the context of LST: a video, a document, and a SWOT analysis template. The findings illustrate pre-service teachers’ awareness of the relevance and the benefits of plurilingual pedagogies for their profession and their understanding of the complexity of factors, specifically in relation to teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, and skills that promote the mainstreaming of plurilingual pedagogies. The study highlights how the reflections of pre-service primary education teachers can support the development of future pre-service teacher training within initial teacher education. As such, it has positive implications for developing teacher education to better respond to the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse classes in today’s schools.

This study examined student teachers' beliefs about teaching multilingual classrooms across three European contexts; Slovenia, Spain (Catalonia), and Finland. Research shows that teachers' confidence in handling linguistically diverse classrooms is lacking. Linguistically sensitive teaching (LST) was used as a lens to explore different expressions of 'fears' in student teachers vis-à-vis handling plurilingual pedagogies. We collected reflections of 128 student teachers and carried out an inductive, thematic content analysis in multiple cycles. The findings showed that student teachers' fears were related to the following five categories: 1) languages in society; 2) building relationships; 3) teaching skills and methods; 4) external evaluation and teacher's autonomy, and 5) legislation and policies. Student teachers in all three contexts shared concerns over how to protect minority languages and how to obtain enough opportunities to train for LST. A major difference between the contexts emerged in the categories of building relationships and external evaluation. By examining student teachers' expressions of fear in the Slovene, Catalan and Finnish contexts, the study gives clues to better design initial teacher education courses that support the inclusion of LST in teacher practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]