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Article published In: Policy and practice in early language learning:
Edited by Janet Enever and Patricia Driscoll
[AILA Review 32] 2019
► pp. 138–159

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THE LEARNER

Perspectives on bi- and multilingual children’s participation in kindergartens in Iceland

 | University of Iceland
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 7 April 2020
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https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.00024.rag
Abstract
Cultural and linguistic diversity of kindergarten children in Iceland has been growing rapidly in recent years (Reykjavíkurborg, Skóla- og frístundasvið. (2017). Stefna og starfsáætlun skóla- og frístundasviðs Reykjavíkur. Retrieved from: <[URL]> (21 November, 2019).; . (2017b). Children in pre-primary institutions having another mother tongue than Icelandic 1998–2016. Retrieved from: <[URL]> (21 November, 2019).), creating challenges for kindergartens. The main aim of the paper is to explore how principals, kindergarten teachers and parents in three kindergartens in Iceland experience diversity, inclusion and participation in their kindergartens and what learning spaces and educational practices seem to be instrumental for their children’s participation. The paper builds on data from the Nordic research project Learning Spaces for Inclusion and Social Justice: Success Stories from Immigrant Students and School Communities in Four Nordic countries (2013–2015), the aim of which was to draw lessons from success stories of individual immigrant students and whole school communities at different levels that have succeeded in developing learning contexts that are equitable and socially just ( (Ed). (2015). Learning spaces for inclusion and social justice: Success stories from immigrant students and school communities in four Nordic countries. Report on main findings from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Retrieved from: <[URL]> (21 November, 2019).; Ragnarsdóttir, H., & Kulbrandstad, L. A. (Eds.). (2018). Learning spaces for inclusion and social justice: Success stories from four Nordic countries. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Case studies were conducted in three kindergartens, including semi-structured interviews with kindergarten teachers, principals and parents as well as observation (Flick, U. (2006). An introduction to qualitative research (3rd ed.). London: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Kvale, S. (2007). Doing interviews. London: Sage. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). The findings indicate that the kindergartens have developed various inclusive and empowering educational practices to respond to the growing diversity. However, some challenges appear in the findings, including lack of sustainability of good practices.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Background and context: Kindergartens in Iceland
  • Theoretical and conceptual framework
  • The kindergartens
  • Method
  • Findings
    • Leadership, empowering learning spaces and educational practices
    • Multilingual practices and heritage languages
    • Educational partnerships with parents
  • Discussion and conclusion
  • References
References (39)
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Pérez-Izaguirre, Elizabeth, Gorka Roman & María Orcasitas-Vicandi
2024. Immigrant minority languages and multilingual education in Europe: a literature review. International Journal of Multilingualism 21:2 ► pp. 932 ff. DOI logo
Schwartz, Mila, Hanna Ragnarsdóttir, Nurit Kaplan Toren & Orit Dror
2023. Towards a better understanding of preschool teachers’ agency in multilingual multicultural classrooms: A cross-national comparison between teachers in Iceland and Israel. Linguistics and Education 78 ► pp. 101125 ff. DOI logo

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