Details
- Identification
- ISBN: 978-92-76-55840-8, DOI: 10.2766/313414, Catalogue number: NC-07-22-851-EN-N
- Publication date
- 14 June 2023
- Authors
- Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture | Network of Experts on the Social dimension of Education and Training (NESET)
- Geographical scope
- European Union
- Level of education focus
- Early childhood education and care (ECEC)
- Thematic areas covered
- Quality and inclusive education for all
- Skills development
Description
An increasing number of children are growing up in environments in which more than one language is spoken. For many of these children, early childhood education and care (ECEC) is often their first contact with the majority language of the country in which they are growing up.
This situation adds to the crucial role that ECEC professionals play in children’s education. Children from multilingual families bring an added richness to the ECEC centre. Their full language repertoire is both a resource for the child’s own holistic development, and enriches the learning experiences of the other children.
Policy recommendations at European level, as well as the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child advocate for language learning from a young age and promotion of multilingual education in ECEC. However, multilingualism presents specific challenges for ECEC professionals. To support multilingual children and families, ECEC staff must possess complex knowledge, skills and competences, as well as an understanding of child development and early childhood pedagogy.
Many ECEC professionals feel an insecurity or lack of experience about working with multilingual children and families. In addition, educational practices are often geared toward monolingualism, and approach diversity and multilingualism as a problem instead of a resource. Multilingual parents (or non-native speakers of the institutional language) may also be uncertain when faced with making choices for their child, and often face barriers to engaging in reciprocal relationships with ECEC professionals.
Authors
Lisandre BERGERON-MORIN, Brecht PELEMAN, Hester HULPIA
Cite as
European Commission: Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, PPMI, Bergeron-Morin, L., Peleman, B. and Hulpia, H., Working with multilingual children and families in early childhood education and care (ECEC) – Guidelines for continuous professional development of ECEC professionals – Analytical report, Publications Office of the European Union, 2023, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2766/313414
