Multicultural Children in the Early Years (Bilingual Education & Bilingualism) - Softcover

Woods, Peter; Boyle, Mari; Hubbard, Nick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1853594342 ISBN 13: 9781853594342

Publisher: Multilingual Matters, 1999

Synopsis

* How do multicultural children and their parents experience the very beginning of their school careers? * How do teachers mediate the demands of the educational system, and how do the children adapt? * What kind of access to the National Curriculum is offered to multicultural children? In answering these questions the authors draw on two years' intensive research in three multi-ethnic institutions. They explore teachers' values and beliefs and how they attempt to put them into practice. They describe how, at times, teachers were constrained to get things done because of pressures operating on them, but at other times, taught creatively in a way particularly relevant to the children's concerns and cultures. The authors studied the children's experiences on their transition into school, and argue that they were inducted into not only a general pupil role, but also one based on an anglicised model of pupil. Opportunities for learning which children found most meaningful came notably from free play, but these became gradually more limited as they engaged with the National Curriculum. These young children were forming complex identities as they sought to respond to the varying influences operating them. Their parents saw a cultural divide opening up between home and school. Many suggestions for practice and policy are made in the course of the book.

About this title

About the Author

Peter Woods is Professor of Education at the Open University. He is the author of numerous books and articles on education and research methods. Mari Boyle was until recently a Research Fellow at the Open University, and is currently working towards her doctorate. She has published in the area of teachers' and pupils' work in lower schools. Nick Hubbard was a primary school headteacher. He is a school governor and school consultant and has a Master's degree in 'Child-Meaningful Learning in Two Nursery Settings'.

Edition details

• Publisher: Multilingual Matters
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1853594342
• ISBN 13: 9781853594342
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240