Page 90 - Linguistically Diverse Educational Contexts

LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS
In conclusion - On the potential of designing language curricula aimed at social change
As educators, our approach to curriculum design reflects not only our perceptions, values, and knowledge, but also our views on school and society. Our voices reveal our perspectives on school curriculum development and design, including the role of learners, teachers, learning goals, and other important issues that should be considered during planning (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2018, p. 20). School curriculum design can be viewed from a technical/scientific or non-technical/non-scientific perspective. Technical/scientific approaches align with traditional educational perspectives and models and reflect established, formal educational methods. Non-technical/non-scientific approaches have evolved as part of avant-garde and experimental philosophies and policies; they tend to challenge established, formalised educational practices and are more fluid and nascent (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2018, p. 20).
It is important to remember that learners will respond to an educational programme in different ways, depending on their cultural interpretations and previous life experiences. This applies to everyone involved in the education process: learners/students with and without special educational needs; people with disabilities, on whose learning process there has been a strong focus in recent years (although they are still to some extent excluded from language education)165; learners belonging to national minorities and migrants, all of whom are included in the implementation of a predetermined textbook created with the emphasis on educational content, without taking into account their individual needs and life situations.
In order to take into account all the people involved in the formal educational process, we should turn to the concept of multiculturalism, which places emphasis on the existence of different cultures and allows us to understand the essence of the determinants of different behaviours, values, attitudes, and social practices (Grzybowski, 2008, p. 29). Nevertheless, as I mentioned in Chapter 1, the concept of multiculturalism, although important for the understanding of this phenomenon, is not sufficient, as it concerns the way in which a multicultural state functions and defines, as it were, how to be side by side and not with each other in a respectful manner, which in turn is described by the theory of interculturalism, which refers to people's everyday lives and education (Bolten, 2006, pp. 108–130).
Languages are learned through participation in social practices where learners use their language repertoire to communicate and learn. All teachers are language teachers. The teacher's role should be bridge between the educational process and the learners as independent language learners. It is through language that we perceive the world, and it is through the language of the school that our pupils/students have access to subject/academic knowledge. The ability to understand and express complex linguistic concepts orally and in writing (in the mother tongue as well as in a foreign or second language), as well as metalinguistic competence, i.e., the ability to understand and express linguistic differences, are crucial in language education166. Therefore, education that is only focused on linguistic competence in one language and the directive actions of the teacher lose their validity in today's world. This idea is also outlined in a document issued in 2019 by the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) of the European Commission in Graz, which declares cooperation between European Union countries so that a common vision of inclusive, multilingual, and intercultural education becomes a
165 For example, by lowering requirements and failing to adapt educational programmes to individual psychophysical needs and abilities.
166Education begins with language. Thematic report, 2020.
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